{"id":149165506,"date":"2009-09-23T10:51:46","date_gmt":"2009-09-23T10:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=149165506"},"modified":"2009-09-23T10:51:46","modified_gmt":"2009-09-23T10:51:46","slug":"baltimore-lawyer-bikes-to-work-from-owings-mills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=149165506","title":{"rendered":"Baltimore lawyer bikes to work from Owings Mills"},"content":{"rendered":"
CARYN TAMBER<\/div>\n
Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer<\/div>\n
September 18, 2009 7:15 PM<\/div>\n

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During rush hour, H. Mark Stichel says, his 14-mile commute takes about the same time on two wheels as on four \u2014 although going home takes a little longer on the bike, because it\u2019s uphill.<\/div>\n

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\t\tHis name is H. Mark Stichel, but drivers who take Falls Road to work may know him as that blur on a speeding bike who\u2019s making better time than they are.<\/p>\n

\tStichel, a litigator with Gohn, Hankey & Stichel LLP in downtown Baltimore, bikes to work two or three days a week from his home in Owings Mills, about 14\u00bd miles away. It takes him under an hour to get to work, a little longer to get back because he\u2019s riding uphill.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhat I discovered is, it didn\u2019t take me much longer to ride my bike to work than it did to drive, especially in rush hour,\u201d Stichel said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cFor an extra 20, 25 minutes, I get a workout,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tStichel starts his commute at about 8 a.m. on narrow, no-shoulder roads in Baltimore County. The roads\u2019 advantage is that they are lightly trafficked.<\/p>\n

\tAfter that, Stichel takes Falls Road down through the county and into the city. That road has more cars, but it\u2019s also wider.<\/p>\n

\tHe said he gets heckled occasionally by drivers who honk at him or shout things. One man called him a \u201cyoung punk,\u201d apparently unaware that the \u201cpunk\u201d was actually a middle-aged lawyer.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cDo you realize I\u2019m probably older than you are?\u201d Stichel remembers thinking.<\/p>\n

\tStichel carries no briefcase or backpack with him when he bikes. He keeps a substantial chunk of his wardrobe at the office, and when he gets there, he washes up and changes in the men\u2019s room.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt would be nice to have a shower\u201d in the building, but \u201cno one\u2019s complained\u201d to him about his post-ride hygiene, he said. That said, he generally doesn\u2019t bike in on days when he has an important meeting.
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\tStichel, 50, said he\u2019s in much better shape now than he was before 2001, when he began riding to work.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cBefore I started riding, I was 20 pounds heavier than I am now,\u201d he said. \u201cI can remember, this was about 10 years ago, [when] I went running after a bus, trudging through an airport with suitcases, I would get out of breath. Now, 10 years later, that doesn\u2019t happen. \u2026\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n


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\tStichel was hit by a car once on his way home. He was on Falls Road when a relatively slow-moving car came around a bend and hit him.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI was just riding along, and all of a sudden I was flying off my bike,\u201d Stichel said.<\/p>\n

\tThe driver stayed with Stichel until the police got there. Stichel\u2019s hip was bruised and swollen but nothing was broken, and he broke a tooth, but that was the extent of his injuries. <\/p>\n

\tHis bike helmet, on the other hand, was destroyed, reinforcing his fervent belief in wearing one.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAnyone who looked at that helmet after that accident would never go without a helmet as well,\u201d Stichel said.<\/p>\n

\tAnother time, he fell on Saratoga Street, right near his office, because a construction crew had left sand on the road.<\/p>\n

\tStill, he has no plans to stop.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI would have to say that my family and my partners probably think I\u2019m crazy and roll their eyes about my bike-commuting, but President George W. Bush almost choked on a pretzel while lying on a sofa watching a football game,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\nhttps:\/\/mddailyrecord.com\/article.cfm?id=13420&type=UTTM<\/a>oldId.2009092310514621<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CARYN TAMBER Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer September 18, 2009 7:15 PM During rush hour, H. Mark Stichel says, his 14-mile commute takes about the same time on two wheels as on four \u2014 although going home takes a little longer on the bike, because it\u2019s uphill. His name is H. Mark Stichel, but drivers … <\/p>\n

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