Baltimore Bike Jam 2010

May 26, 2010

Baltimore Bike Jam 2010 took place this past weekend in Patterson Park, Baltimore. Spoke Apparel had booth space there as did our friends from Mobtown Velo Roller Racing. The rain held out, but it was cloudy and overcast all day long. It hurt attendance but the racing went on without a hitch and the crowds did show up none-the-less.

About Baltimore Bike Jam

Bike Jam is an event thrown by Corrigan Sports. Corrigan specializes in setting up and promoting various sporting events throughout the state of Maryland. Bike Jam is their only cycling related event. It’s a road event that takes place in one of Baltimore’s largest parks. The course is entirely within the park. The park roads are pretty rough. Lots of gravel, lots of broken pavement. While plenty of Category 5 riders attend, it’s a relatively small event compared to other races. There are also a handful of serious cyclists in the Baltimore area that feel the event could be better organized in terms of course preparation and emergency response. One rider I spoke to mentioned this and it apparently keeps a good bit of riders from entering the race themselves. A local shop owner even mentioned that his girlfriend raced Bike Jam in 2009 and wrecked badly due to the course conditions. She broke a rib and for some reason, it took 45 minutes to get an ambulance to her. Ouch.

Gary Lessner Trials & Matt Gilman, Blind Trials

My good friend Gary Lessner demos trials every year at Bike Jam. This year, he was able to partner with his friend Matt Gilman, blind trials rider, for a dual demo. The night before, I helped Gary assemble the platforms and we built two new triangle ramps that were set up for Matt to be able to use as well.

The day of the event, Gary & Matt put on three great shows. They were really entertaining. The crowds got larger and larger for each show as the day went on. At one point, the crowd was even lined up waiting 15 minutes before start time. For Bike Jam, this is sort of unusual, especially when it’s cloudy out. The trials demos always get a good crowd, but the crowds were especially dense this year. At one point, Gary even blind folded himself to show the crowd how polished Matt’s no-vision trails skills really are. It was entertaining and a great crowd pleaser. The Baltimore Sun even came out to cover the event. They wrote a nice piece on Matt and Gary’s demo.

Watch Matt Gilman’s Blind Trials Demo

Watch Gary Lessner’s Trials Demo

Still From The Baltimore Bike Jam Trials Demo