Plans for a long Tuesday bike ride were scuttled by this season’s cold, but that didn’t mean I was going to drive to my meeting in Waverly, lunch date in Station North, and acupuncture appointment in Hampden. I mean, really–drive there? Please. And contrary to what some folks might think, having a cold is no reason to lock yourself in a metal box to get from place to place, no siree. And the rides were beautiful–the yellows, reds, and oranges of Guilford Avenue, the empty streets of Waverly and Station North in the late morning, and that afternoon ride to Hampden ran me in to several other cyclists, all with different stay-warm and stay-safe strategies. One woman asked me when we were stopped at a red light if I ride year round and at night, and if it’s safe. Continue reading
bikes
View of the Gwynns Falls Along the Leakin Park Branch of the Gwynns Falls Trail
Oh, I needed that bike ride on Saturday. I headed out for a lap around the reservoir at Druid Hill Park to see the fall colors, made a stop for food and some community acupuncture in Hampden–I play to type–and then I headed west in a vain attempt to accidentally run into Leakin Park, at the request of N. I rode out Gwynns Falls Parkway for a bit until the unruly traffic pushed me onto the sidewalk and then to the right to get away from screaming drivers (no, I do NOT belong on the sidewalk, actually). I pedaled through a park that I thought might be some far edge of Leakin Park (nope–it was Leon Day Park, I think), disturbing a field full of blackbirds that all flew to the trees in unison where I could not longer see them. They are the best communicators, birds are. Continue reading
Pedro Noguera Speaking at Centerstage on Calvert & E. Monument
Tuesday was all meetings in the city, all a couple of miles apart, the perfect day to take the bike. I can’t believe people think it is easier to drive those short trips rather than bike. Lucky me, I have a bike, so I hopped on it first thing and pedaled through the changing leaves over to Waverly for a most excellent meeting with R. and O., two of my favorite co-conspirators. Then it was time for a ride down to Mount Vernon to meet B. and N. for a meeting about redesigning the website and using social media strategically–they pay people for that, but I think we can manage the twitter account without too much trouble. The last stop was at Centerstage for a many-hour symposium, brought to us by the Open Society Institute–Baltimore. Continue reading
Giant Red Tree at the Convent at Ellerslie & Parkwyth
Friday started with a relatively early ride over to Waverly to meet R. for another brainstorming session and some quality time with her handsome gray cat. We had so many good ideas, and I felt so excited about what we’re going to do next, that I just had to ride my bike around after instead of heading home. Continue reading
Cars Turning Left at President & E. Fayette
Tuesday’s bike ride took me to Locust Point, but I took a different route than I usually do. Usually I take Guilford down and up to the Inner Harbor bike/ped path around and up through Federal Hill, but on Tuesday, the very last thing I wanted to do was dodge pedestrians. I took Maryland Avenue down instead, dodging the cars turning on Franklin/40 and merging into one lane on that steep hill at Saratoga. I love taking all the lanes in this part of just-west downtown because there aren’t quite so many cars and besides, it’s just the safest way to travel. Continue reading
Tree Stump on Rutland Between Chase & Eager
Today started with a zippy ride down the hill and to the right to the GLCCB in Mount Vernon to meet up with my fellow tour guides and goers for Baltimore Heritage‘s LGBT history walking tour of the neighborhood. We did our slow walk around the neighborhood, learning about the first gay bars and nightclubs, the first screenings of John Waters’s very queer films, the Friday night lesbian supper clubs of the super-rich in the late 19th century, and Gertrude Stein’s Baltimore homes where she learned to smoke, box, and not wear corsets. It was a perfect way to start a Saturday, made better by the brunch follow up and the post-brunch solo bike ride. Continue reading
View Up the Block From the Northeast Corner of Charles & Chase
The last thing I felt like doing after a long day of work was riding a bicycle, to be honest, but I had a meeting in Mount Vernon, and it is against my religion to drive a car to that neighborhood–it’s less than two miles away and parking a car there has made me cry more than once, the price I pay for being a sensitive bird when it comes to driving. I swapped out my teaching skirt for my biking skirt, changed my shoes, and felt better the second my wheels started turning. A quick glide down the hill and up again for a quick meeting and I was quickly back on the bike, riding home in the gloaming. I know, dramatic word for 6:30 on a Monday in Baltimore, but the hints of sundown are so pretty, and they feel better from the seat of a bicycle. I snapped this picture as I made my left on Charles because look at that urban layering, the old and new buildings marking time and reminding us that people have been here before, building stuff and hoping people would come. I took a long way home, grateful for the reminder that taking the bike out, even if for just a minute, is always a good idea.
Close Call at Lanvale & Calvert
I’ve been off the bike for quite a few days, spending them wandering around beautiful (and I do mean beautiful) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with N., checking out museums and historic sites and restaurants and views–a lovely vacation. It isn’t a vacation without at least thinking about bicycles, so here’s my report: I want to ride my bike all over Pittsburgh and its many bike lanes, but I’ll need to be in my granny gear most of the time–that place is seriously hilly. Today, though, I was back on the bike in Baltimore, zipping down the hill and around the harbor and up the other side to meet A. for an early glass of wine before turning around and going back the other way to drop off the Surly for her end-of-summer check up. Continue reading
Leaking Water at 36th & Falls Road
The rain stopped today, so I stayed dry on my ride up to Hampden to meet N. for beer, fried things, and some football. We got there early to grab seats, and we waited for the sports bar–a place covered in televisions and filled with purple jerseys–to turn up the sound. A guy asked if they’d turn on the sound, and the server asked, “Which game?” I think this might be a sports bar opened by hipsters who don’t actually watch sports, but once we were all sorted, we were set. Continue reading
Layers of Buildings at 32nd & Brentwood
Friday was a day of riding errands, first up the hill to get lunch and then over to Hampden and then back home for a quick rest before heading back over to Waverly to meet R. for a little scheming. I lifted my bike into her living room and we headed back toward Greenmount Avenue on foot to take pictures of the sides of buildings. Would any of these make a good location for a short film projection? What we do about the windows? Would that be high enough? How do we get people to look this way as they travel by instead of that way? Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 