On a breezy 70-degree morning, dozens of the diehards and the curious navigated to the Harbor Point peninsula in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor to catch a little history.
This was the starting line for the Maryland Cycling Classic, and for the first time women had the opportunity to ride the 17.9-mile circuit winding from the waterfront, over the cobblestones of Fells Point, up the hills of Falls Road to Northern Parkway and back through downtown.
“We love everything about this,” said Holly Ross, who came from Virginia with her husband, himself a cyclist, and their daughter Jessika, to watch. “It’s brought us places we haven’t been before. We’ve been able to build relationships with the cyclists. We’ve met so many people. We’ve met Olympians.”
After pausing the race last year following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March, the nation’s biggest cycling race returned to Baltimore this year with a women’s race in addition to the men’s competition and a new course entirely within the city limits.
With so many local roads closed, Ross, like many others, either traveled the day before and stayed in a hotel or came by bike, foot or scooter to this spot to see the female cyclists start their race at 8:35 a.m.
The women would do four laps and ride 71.6 miles and the men would later do seven laps and ride 107.4 miles. Cyclists came from 28 countries, and at least one local rider, Kenna Pfeiffer, was hoping for a big day. Fans noted that the circuits allowed them to walk to different places to catch the riders multiple times.
The surreal site of car-less roads thrilled residents and visitors, including Jon Breece, who came from Bethesda. He watched with his sons George, 4, and Alex, nearly 8, both with Tour de France caps.
Breece said he got into cycling a couple of years ago after watching a Netflix show “Tour de France: Unchained.” Both boys now ride with their dad and wanted to come see the races.
“We’ve watched all the women on TV, on YouTube, and gotten to know them. They’re like action figures to us,” he said. “We’re here all day. We want to see the start and the finish.”
The crowds were good news for many businesses, particularly those on the race route. Dooby’s in Mount Vernon was busy, with lots of outdoor tables filled with spectators. Marie Louis Bistro, up the road, was not quite as busy. Some businesses had griped about the closed roads and blocked parking at their shops.
There was just a sprinkling of spectators on many parts of the course in the early hours of the race, including some people trying to get to work and a couple of Los Angeles Dodgers fans who came to see them play the Orioles and didn’t know about the race until they ran into cyclists in their hotel.
Some people sat on bus benches and walked along the fencing erected on Pratt Street, which was where the men’s race was expected to wrap up by 5 p.m.
Traffic did back up at points. That may worsen later in the day, with the Orioles set to play the Dodgers at Camden Yards in a game starting at 7:05 p.m. and a Benson Boone concert at CFG Arena set for 8 p.m. The Dodgers reportedly planned to take a boat from their hotel to the stadium.
The Baltimore Department of Transportation had warned of heavy traffic all day, and some cars were towed from the race course the night before. Officials planned to reopen roads at 6 p.m.
“Operations for the Maryland Cycling Classic have been going smoothly,” the city DOT said in a statement Saturday. “Crews had to clear vehicles from the course prior to the start of the race, which is typical for events of this nature.”
City officials said they have tried to keep pedestrian and vehicular traffic moving by allowing traffic to cross the course after cyclists had passed through an area.
The agency urged those traveling near the race route to allow extra travel time, use alternate routes, arrive early and stay late, and consider using mass transit.
And while the weather was clear and warm in the morning, the National Weather Service was forecasting showers and thunderstorms for the late afternoon and into the evening.
Erin Murphy, chief of staff for the Baltimore Police Department, was keeping an eye on things from a perch in downtown Baltimore. She said it was a “large task” to plan for such a big-day long event, plus the concert and game.
She said there were more than 500 officers manning the event by foot, motorcycle, vehicle and in the police helicopter Foxtrot. She said they aimed to keep things going smoothly as best they could with so many events at one time, including a couple of weddings on the route.
“We are thrilled to show off the city,” she said.
Johnny Fisher was among those happy to be on the receiving end of the hospitality. He had come to Baltimore from Virginia with several BMW motorcycles used to keep order on the race course. He had volunteered for the trip, interested in what such a race would be like in a city.
And after watching the cyclists speed past on Pratt Street, his verdict: “Love it.”