Today’s ride started early early, up with the sun in anticipation for the short ride to Waverly to meet J., C., and our new beehive! I spent a goodly portion of my childhood wanting to be a beekeeper, so when they asked if I wanted to go in on a hive together, well, that was a no brainer. We spent an hour and a half moving the combs from the home hive to our new one and then staring at the hive, wondering if the bees were ok, if the bees that were in the box would find their way home to the new hive, if there was a queen in there even though we didn’t see her, and just generally being excited about the appearance of bees on the scene. Continue reading
bikes
Tree Growing Out of a Building on Tyson Near Mulberry
The unthinkable has happened: I’ve misplaced my bike helmet. Now, I know there’s controversy about whether or not bike helmets really help, and I also know that in some of the most common accidents, a bike helmet will do little to keep me safe, but I also know that I feel naked without one. I am somewhat skeptical of the helmet’s ability to keep my egg uncracked in the case of a serious crash, but I also know that I always wear one, I don’t think they make things worse, and if, god forbid, I should ever be seriously hurt or killed when riding a bike, the last think I want E. to have to do is shake her head when asked the inevitable question, “Was she wearing a helmet?” Continue reading
View From a Footbridge Near Ashbourne & June in Arbutus
I had to come into campus for a full day of meetings and things today–a total bummer given that the sun was going to come out after several days of rain and I was feeling a bicycle ride. Solution: multimodal commute with the Brompty, and that’s what I did, flying down the hill to catch the 9:25 train to the Halethorpe station, not even 3 miles from campus. Continue reading
Train Tracks Along Some Part of the NCR Trail
I got up super early today, choked down some coffee and oatmeal, and went outside to meet A. for a drive out to the beginning of the NCR Trail in Hunt Valley and the mission to ride the whole thing, up to York, PA. That’s 80 miles, and I was kind of terrified that I wouldn’t be able to do it. Long story short, I did, and along the way I saw a river, flowering trees against green backdrops, a zillion other cyclists, far fewer dogs than expected, and I crossed the Mason-Dixon Line and rode into Pennsylvania where I saw the green turn into the industrial wasteland that is every city everywhere, it seems. Continue reading
Share the Path Blaze on the Inner Harbor Path In Front of the Aquarium
Today was positively beautiful and just right for a long bike ride, but I spent most of the day inside, helping judge for Maryland History Day before falling asleep for a once-in-a-blue-moon afternoon nap, which clearly I needed. Fortunately, the days just keep on getting longer, so there was still plenty of time to sneak in a ride, which I did, down the hill to Harbor East to pick up a pair of padded bike shorts. Yep, it is time, methinks, to acknowledge that tomorrow’s 80 mile training ride just might be better made in gear rather than the ol’ skirt and a tank top get up I’m used to. And then I was riding around the Inner Harbor toward Federal Hill to A.’s house for a party. Good weather means a whole lot more people using the shared path, and pedestrians seem largely oblivious to the idea that bikes might be there too. I used my super-outside voice to gently encourage groups to make way for ducklings, but to no avail. The same problem plagued my ride back, even as the crowd had largely dispersed. I stopped to snap this picture of one attempt at a solution–a reminder painted on the road to encourage sharing. These were put there by Bike Blaze Guy who takes matters into his own hands when it comes to marking our trails for ease and safety. I have seen him at work–he doesn’t appear to ask for permission, but instead just dresses the part with his safety vests, brings his safety cones, and goes to work. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Here’s hoping some pedestrians look alive, or it is going to be an awfully long summer.
Bike Lanes Down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. at 5th
Some days you just need to get out of town, and today was one of those days, so I dragged myself out of bed at an entirely reasonable hour, carried Brompty down the stairs, and zipped to the train station for a ride to Our Nation’s Capitol. Lucky me, I bumped into S. on her way to the archives. We don’t know each other well, but we always have a good conversation, and today was no different. The ride was quick with discussions of summer reading lists, how history is activism, why your community engagement might maybe be best if it engages with your actual community, and how much harder is is to do work when you know you are exploited labor, even if you love what you do. Continue reading
Scrap Metal at Cambridge Iron and Metal Recycling Center at O’Donnell & S. Haven
Finally, I had an afternoon free enough to ride a bicycle around, so after work and talk and work, I took the Surly out for a ride. We went down the hill with traffic and then a left and a right and a left again to Fells Point and past all the new construction, gravel pits ringed by facade walls saved for history. A quck snack and I was off again, toward Patterson Park for loops with seemingly all the dogs and babies in Baltimore, plus soccer and softball and kickball leagues, all divided by age and race and income, it seemed. I headed east through Highlandtown and the dead end at Haven Street, which leades to all the really good stuff, like this, piles and piles of discarded metal bits and sheets, from what, I’m not sure, but cameras are watching, so don’t even think about it. I went under an underpass, no idea where I would shoot out, and rode around a development ringed by its own gravel pits, surprised to find the kickball demographic there. We had talked in my class that day about how places are temporary resolutions of struggle, and I wondered what will happen as that demographic hits up against the manufacturing corridor, and who will have to move where. I’m guessing the heavy metal that has been piling up since 1909 will be a hard limit, but you never know. And then I was in Greektown, found again. I pedaled back toward home on signed bike routes and a date for pizza with friends, happy to have been lost, if only for a short bit. Getting lost feels like home, and its good to be here.
Yellow Flowers Along a Fence on 31st Between Old York Road & Frisby
I meant to take the bike out earlier today, but I got wrapped up in work and then I heard about the sadness in Boston, and it took awhile for me to drag myself off the couch and pull my eyes off the screens that had nothing to say but kept saying something. And then I did, and I flew down the hill on my bike, because what else are you going to do? A quick swim, some food and compulsive screen watching, and I was riding back up the hill for a quick stop at J.’s in Waverly before heading in for the night. I snapped this picture of early spring’s bright yellow flowers. I’m not sure what they’re called; to me they are the cat’s claw of the mid-Atlantic, and oh so pretty. It’s only my second spring here, and already these are the flowers I’m waiting for. We really do live in some beautiful places, even when it’s not always pretty.
Storage Container in the Field at Frank C. Bocek Park at Edison Highway & E. Madison
Monday was a beautiful sunny day that called for bare arms, bare legs, and a bicycle ride. I started with a quick flight down the hill to meet E. for lunch and a chat about public history. I tried to stay after to get a little work done, but it was just too tempting, the fresh air and warm breeze, so I packed up my things, hopped on the bike, and took a left on Biddle. Continue reading
Trees and Trucks at Falls & Shawan in Cockeysville
It’s Saturday, which meant it was time for another long ride in preparation for the big ride coming up next month. J. was leading the same ride as last week, this time with an extra loop to get the mileage up. I woke up to sunny skies out my bedroom window, warm in the sun, so I put on not-enough-layers and sunscreen before heading up to the farmer’s market to meet today’s riders. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 