This Department is conducted in the Interest of Bicyclers, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our maps and tours contain much valuable data kindly supplied from the official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen. Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L. A. W., the Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership blanks and information so far as possible.
Copyright, 1895, by Harper & Brothers.
To run from Baltimore on towards Washington it is necessary for the rider to retrace his "steps" over the journey of the day before from the Carrolton Hotel out through Druid Park to Arlington. Here a sharp turn is made to the left, and a run of two miles or more made southward on the road to Wetheredville. There are one or two climbs along this stretch of the road which will seem unusual to one who has come down from Philadelphia by the road we have been giving for the last few weeks. In fact, for the first ten or twelve miles of this stage of the journey the road runs through or across several valleys, winding about the sides of hills, and occasionally going over a hill. After passing Catonsville, however, and keeping sharp to the right, the run out to Ellicott City is very free from irregularity of ground, and from Ellicott City to Cooksville the road is straight, level, and moderately good. There is no difficulty in keeping to the correct road after you pass Ellicott City, as, in fact, you may easily see by reference to the accompanying map of the journey; but from the hotel in Baltimore to Ellicott City, or at least to Catonsville, there are several sharp turns and not a few opportunities for getting into the wrong road. There are two ways of avoiding this. One is to inquire as you go along, using the accompanying map, and only inquiring where a sharp turn on the map is hard to recognize along the way. Another plan is to secure a map of the environs of Baltimore at the hotel, and get yourself posted before leaving there as to the names of streets, particularly those which enter and leave Wetheredville.
In Baltimore itself the bicyclist should make it a point to see certain places of note, especially Johns Hopkins University, which, while it is in no way remarkable for buildings, is such a distinguished educational institution that no one should leave Baltimore, once having arrived there, without going over its buildings and seeing something of the methods of instruction and study there. There are many other points of interest in the city, and half a day can well be spent in going about seeing them. As the run to Cooksville is but thirty miles at most, a fair rider can easily make it in an afternoon, and can thus give a morning to the city.
It is our purpose, after the completion of this trip to Washington in the next number of the Round Table, to take up bicycle routes in the vicinity of Chicago. Many letters have been received complaining that routes in the Eastern parts of the United States were being given entirely, while the readers in the Western and Central parts of the United States had nothing to interest them. It is necessary for us to explain that in course of time bicycle trips will be given in the vicinity of the principal centres of the United States; and, meanwhile, by keeping the record of maps already published, which appears at the bottom of this column, any reader can find the number in which any map he may desire was published, and obtain it by sending to the Messrs. Harper & Brothers for it.
Note.—Map of New York city asphalted streets in No. 809. Map of route from New York to Tarrytown in No. 810. New York to Stamford, Connecticut, in No. 811. New York to Staten Island in No. 812. New Jersey from Hoboken to Pine Brook in No. 813. Brooklyn in No. 814. Brooklyn to Babylon in No. 815. Brooklyn to Northport in No. 816. Tarrytown to Poughkeepsie in No. 817. Poughkeepsie to Hudson in No. 818. Hudson to Albany in No. 819. Tottenville to Trenton in No. 820. Trenton to Philadelphia in No. 821. Philadelphia in No. 822. Philadelphia-Wissahickon Route in No. 823. Philadelphia to West Chester in No. 824. Philadelphia to Atlantic City—First Stage in No. 825; Second Stage in No. 826. Philadelphia to Vineland—First Stage in No. 827; Second Stage in No. 828. New York to Boston—Second Stage in No. 829; Third Stage in No. 830; Fourth Stage in No. 831; Fifth Stage in No. 832; Sixth Stage in No. 833. Boston to Concord in No. 834. Boston in No. 835. Boston to Gloucester in No. 836. Boston to Newburyport in No. 837. Boston to New Bedford in No. 838. Boston to South Framingham in No. 839. Boston to Nahant in No. 840. Boston to Lowell in No. 841. Boston to Nantasket Beach in No. 842. Boston Circuit Ride in No. 843. Philadelphia to Washington—First Stage in No. 844; Second Stage in No. 845; Third Stage in No. 846; Fourth Stage in No. 847.