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
parks
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
View From a Bench at Quarry View Park Off E. Old Penitentiary Road
I have been in Boise, Idaho this week, my hometown, visiting my family for the past few days. I haven’t been here in almost three years, and I haven’t spent more than about a week in this place since 1993. I didn’t ride a bike around here much as a kid, though this is where I got my first bike–a white one with a purple banana seat, Miss GTO in sparkles on the chain guard. I was so jealous of E.’s yellow Schwinn–I think even then I had a sense that my gender wasn’t quite “sparkle.” Continue reading
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
Pierce’s Park on Pier Five at the Inner Harbor
And some days you are pretty much just going through the motions, but fortunately, going through the motions for me means I get to ride my bike, which I did, down to Harbor East for a quick swim and then over to the Inner Harbor piers for lunch. I walked my bike to lunch so I could give my legs a different stretch, and I heard what sounded like a xylophone coming from over there. It’s Pierce’s Park, and it was all wavy lines and dulcet tones and children running around and climbing things like they do at every park. It was seriously a class act. Continue reading
View From a Bench Along Riverside Park Path in Riverside Park in Federal Hill
Baltimore’s getting the temperature right, but wow, this place had the wind machine on high today, so I had to keep pedaling down the hill to keep from being pushed off my line by the wind. It was good, though, just to be outside on a bicycle with naked legs, so many promises for the months to come. Continue reading
Pedestrian Bridge Welcome to the Eastern Deciduous Forest at Oregon Ridge State Park
Today I got to ride a brand new kind of ride for me. J. was leading a training ride up to Oregon Ridge State Park, and I have to admit, I was kinda a-skeered to join her because of all the hills. I ride up the hill and down the hill all the time in Baltimore, but this was going to be different, all rolling hills, and I didn’t know what they’d be like AND WHAT IF I HAD TO GET OFF MY BIKE AND PUSH IT UP THE HILL. Continue reading
Waiting for the Unveiling of a Historical Marker at Camden Station, Howard Street Side
Today’s bike ride started early with a run downtown to join folks for the unveiling of a historical marker to commemorate the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. It is just the third historical marker honoring labor in Maryland (there’s one for Mother Jones and another for the Lattimer Massacre, though that happened in Pennsylvania, mostly), because we don’t often tell the stories of labor or the ephemeral history left by people who were illiterate and lacked the outlets and power to put their thoughts down for posterity. Continue reading
Bicyclists Speed Limit Sign in the Trees Along the B&A Trail Near Pasadena
A long ride was on my calendar today, so even though I really just wanted to laze on my couch and watch college basketball and looking at cats, I strapped the Surly onto my car and drove us out to BWI for a ride around the airport and off toward Annapolis. I’ve already figured out that 2-3 hours on the bicycle’s a teensy bit boring, especially when you’re treading the same ground you did three days ago, so I put some podcasts on my portable listening box to take along with me. Continue reading
Pier Into the Bay at Middle Branch Park
Oh yes, it’s spring break, and I need it, badly. I have a zillion things to get done this week, but this weekend I am going to take a much needed actual vacation, and it started with a bike ride on a relatively warm day, in and out of the wind. I hopped on the Surly and headed down the hill, a quick stop for bike gloves and and then for a sandwich, and I was on my way to the Gwynns Falls Trail and a ride over to Middle Branch Park. I took my time, pedaling slowly into the wind–every direction was a headwind today, it seemed–and enjoying the sights. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 