Month: June 2013

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Art in Downtown Denver Near Laramie & Broadway

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I didn’t think I would get to ride a bike this week, but guess what? Denver has bike share! For the relatively low price of $8, I could ride all day long, as long as I checked a bike in every 30 minutes. No problem, I thought, especially since there was a station right outside my hotel. Turns out the software running the kiosks was broken, so the bike was free for 30 minutes, and I used all of then tracing downtown’s bike lanes. I have to admit the place felt kind of empty, that ghost town feel of downtown Hartf ord or Oakland or Boise, but immediately that just felt like free roads to pedal. The place is flat and easy to ride, and the skyline is that mix of modern block skyscrapers and red brick boxes–a lovely combination. I had a vague memory of passing a bikeshare station on yesterday’s ride to the airport, so I retraced those steps, vaguely, until I saw this art installation I rememebered that centered me back where I was. I noticed it because the storage container’s been used in new artistical ways lately, in NYC and Brooklyn, especially, and in New Orleans as a possible new housing design. To me these massive crates feel like temporary, like a fix that means to break down and leave folks homeless again, so it isn’t really art, except it is. It depends who’s looking I suppose. Me, I pedaled back downtown, hoping my gut would lead me back to the bikeshare station I knew was still working. It did, and I docked the bike and spent the rest of my day on foot, passing through the classical architecture of the state and city capitals and the ultramodern art musuem and the simply wonderful history museum before walking back to the hotel where work belonged. It was a perfect day to explore a new city by bike and by foot, and it was absolutely my pleasure.

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Jugglers Preparing for a Show at the Baltimore Neighborhood Circus at 2640

Jugglers at the Baltimore Neighborhood Circus at 2640The day was so beautiful it deserved a much better bike ride than it got today, but what are you going to do–sometimes you have to work. But then I was done, and I hopped on the Surly for a ride through the construction on Charles to meet S. for a late lunch/early dinner before taking a quick zoom around the neighborhood and back the Charles Village for the dress rehearsal of the Baltimore Neighborhood Circus show at the 2640 space on St. Paul. I’m happy I get to negotiate the new Charles Avenue on bike and not in a car. But anyway. Continue reading →

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Row Houses and Gray Skies at Light & Barney

Row Houses and Gray Skies at Light & BarneyThe weather report called for thunderstorms, and the skies were growing grayer by the minute by the time I was ready to leave the house, but what am I going to do–drive to Federal Hill? Please. I packed my bag and hopped on my bike to fly down the hill, a song in my ears–a rare moment for a girl like me who follows the rules and knows better than to dull one of my most important senses when riding in the streets–please don’t tell. Oh, it just felt so good to fly down the hill, like being free and alive and like summertime and being a kid, and then I was dodging pedestrians around the Inner Harbor before shifting into an easier gear to ride up the hill to meet A. for beer. I locked up just as the skies opened up–I’m lucky like that. I snapped this picture of the corner of Light and Barney right before heading into the restaurant, and by the time I was ready to leave, the thunderstorm had blown right through, and I flew home, pumping my legs up and down and just enjoying the feel of the mechanics of the thing. It was a good weekend; all it needed was one more steady bike ride, and I’m glad I fit that in between the rains.

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Crowds of Bicyclists at Patterson Park

Cyclists Resting at Patterson ParkSo, I mostly like to ride a bike alone. I think. I mean, I usually ride a bike alone, and I love riding a bike, so I must prefer to ride alone, right? But then I started riding with one other person, or maybe two, and that was really fun, especially when we got to stop for lunch. The group ride from Ocean City was some of the most fun I’ve ever had on a bike…hmmm, maybe I don’t only want to ride alone. And then there’s Baltimore Bike Party, a growing event that can have over 1,000 riders tracing the streets of Baltimore–that’s a whole different ballgame, and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be into it because of crowds and fear of getting locked up with other riders and not being in charge of the route and all that jazz. When R. asked if I was really going (every month I say I’m going to go, but I never do),  and if so, could we go together, I figured now was as good a time as any to challenge my own assumption that as much as I love the idea of a massive bike parade through this fine city, it’s not really for me. Continue reading →