The Elkridgean Cyclist - On The Street Where I Live

Written on June 12, 2010

This is a post I put on facebook almost 2 years ago. I like it. Only a little bit has changed, particularly regarding the Cider Mill development.

_______________________________________________________

Landing Road. Not exactly a bike-rider's paradise, but a popular route nonetheless. It is a 2 mile stretch of rolling curving road with no shoulder, which connects Ellicott City and Elkridge, Maryland. It is on the elk's ridge, you might say, though there are no elk in Maryland. There are plenty of deer, and perhaps whoever named the area thought Elk Ridge was more exciting than Deer Ridge. I suppose it was either originally a deer trail, or a trail forged by the first Americans, hunting the deer. Why was it named Landing Road? I don't know, but I do know that Elkridge used to be called Elk Ridge Landing, and was an important port in the 1700s, until natural or man-made changes to the environment made it no longer viable. I imagine that Landing Road was a "high road" that led to the landing from Ellicott City (the county seat), as opposed to the "low road" (River Road) which has a propensity for flooding. Landing Road does not go all the way to the Landing on the Elkridge side, nor does it go all the way to the historical part of Ellicott City, but it just takes a little imagination to make it so.

I've lived on Landing Road since 1994, and in that time, there have been a lot of changes. Before that, old Elkridge-ites will tell you even more stories, before I-95 cut Elkridge in half, and our side of Elkridge was more rural, though it still maintains a few vestiges of rurality. Spell-checker tells me rurality is not a word. I call it a word. There. That is the beauty of the English Language. Wish for something to be a word, like "ain't" and "flammable" and "irregardless", and so be it.

But Landing Road is more than a neighborhood road, and more than a historical and somewhat still scenic byway. It is a lesson in life, for a cyclist.

Start at the Ellicott City end (at Ilchester Road), and ride toward Elkridge (to Montgomery Road). As you are adjusting your snacks and your water bottle and your saddle, you might notice the vast wasteland on the right. If I were writing this a few weeks ago, it would be a pastoral setting with 3 horses, buttercups and a lovely sycamore on the verge of suburbia. A year or two ago, it would have been an even bigger field with black cows grazing peacefully (which I naively thought went to their "winter home" every year). In a year or so, it will be an extension of suburbia with well manicured, though small, lawns around brick-faced mini-mansions. Right now it is an ugly smelly mess. Luckily, we are riding downhill past it as fast as we can, into a pleasant shady area, and the downhill escapade is blindingly, gloriously fast.

We coast along until we come to an uphill grade, and we have to change gears. We notice more suburbia on the right - well manicured lawns and brick-faced mini-mansions. Grovemont, says the entrance sign. We wonder why the neighborhood is named Grovemont. There is no grove. There is no mount. Just a little hill. Soon we are cruising past without a second look. We are breezing down an even longer and more glorious hill than before. Life is good. Soon we are in a woody area between Patapsco Valley State Park and Rockburn Park. There is a sprinkling of houses too, but all in all, it is a scenic section. The road starts to climb again, but it is pleasant and shady. The rest of the way to Montgomery Road is a roller-coaster of gentle hills, more down than up.

Suppose, now, we want to go from Montgomery Road to Ilchester Road. We embark on the return journey along Landing Road. It starts out easy enough, and then a gentle grade, and just when we think we've had enough of this gentle grade, it levels out in the woody area between Rockburn Park and Patapsco Valley State Park. We crest, and we are cruising. Glory! And then, all too soon, the expanse of Grovemont Hill is before us. It looks harmless enough, and we have some momentum. We start to climb. We climb and we climb. Soon we are cursing the first time we ever heard the name Grovemont, though the hill was there long before there ever was a Grovemont housing development. In fact, there was indeed once a grove there. It was there in the 90s when we came to the area, on 99 acres once owned by Trinity School. And now that we are riding up the hill, we realize, indeed, it does seem like a mount. Perhaps Grovemont is aptly named after all, because as often happens, a neighborhood or street is named for what was once there, though now long gone. And still we are climbing. Now is a good time to pull out the mental Rosary and start some Hail Mary's. They help.

Finally we crest the hill, and perhaps we stop for a drink of water and to catch some air, or perhaps we decide to cruise right back down the other side. Ah. Wonderful downhill again! Life is good. But once again, all too soon, good times come to an end. We have to climb again. We see a neighborhood on the left now, which we barely saw as we cruised by before. Cider Mill. Ah. Another neighborhood named for what once was, rather than what now is. The "Historic Cider Mill" was once one of Elkridge's claims to fame, in addition to the Thomas Viaduct, The Elkridge Furnace Inn, and the long-lost port. The Cider Mill was a wonderful place where you could buy, not only apple cider which was pressed right there, but all kinds of baked goods, dressings, preserves, and in the fall, pumpkins! There was a petting farm, pony rides, and hay rides. Most of these things were relocated to Clark Farm about 8 miles away, and the land was sold and is being developed, retaining the name "Cider Mill" and a pond in the middle which was once a nice fishing hole for the kids. We start to glide down hill again when, suddenly, we start to climb, and what's this? Another new neighborhood of mini-mansions we neglected to notice on the way down, this time on the right, called Cascade Overlook. Finally, a neighborhood named for something that is still there, and probably will be until nature take its course. The Cascade is a little waterfall down the ridge in Patapsco Valley State Park. We often hike there from my house. You can't see the Cascade from the neighborhood, but it is there. Really it is!

And now we are climbing. We see the stop sign at Ilchester Road ahead, but we thought Grovemont Hill was bad. This is worse, though not as long. It is steep. Pump. Pump. Pump. Puff! We did it! Now whichever direction we choose from this point is somewhat of a respite, though, as I like to say, for bike-riders, what goes down, must go up. It seems to conflict with the laws of gravity, but so it is, assuming we are riding back to where we started.

So there you have it. Landing Road is a lesson in life (and history). Which way will you choose? The easier way from Ellicott City to Elkridge, or the harder way? Both have their challenges and rewards. Will you even get to choose? You will probably have to do both at some point or other. Remember the Rosary, whatever happens! Here's a prayer I wrote, that you can recite between decades:

Lord,

Thank you for the downhills that make life exhilarating and fun.
Thank you for the flats that make life easy and wonderful.
Thank you for the uphills that challenge us, and sometimes make us miserable, but help us appreciate the downhills and the flats all the more!

Amen

I usually choose the Elkridge direction, and take a loop back either by the river or through Columbia, so I get that nice downhill stretch of Landing Road before my driveway near the end of my ride. And then I can imagine what it is like to fly.