Oh, thank goodness Saturday’s here! I woke up in that mood that is only made better by a bicycle ride, so I hopped on the Surly and flew down the hill to War Memorial Plaza for the Unite Women–Maryland rally. The crowd was small, but we made the best of it. I got to give a little talk about this and that at the microphone and talk about stuff with folks after, but I wish there’d been more people–we need warm-body activism alongside our internet posting about warm-body activism. Continue reading
parks
Trees and Blue Skies at Little Bennett Regional Park
I spent my weekend with S. and her family in Damascus, Maryland, which meant no bicycling for me (though when the folding bicycle gets here, that won’t happen again). On the plus side, I got to go on a couple of lovely walks, one along a paved path where I saw a gajillion deer, and today’s at Little Bennett Regional Park. The sign said bikes were invited, and I thought about how maybe I should have a mountain bike, but then I reminded myself that sometimes it’s good to take a walk, and you can see entirely different things on a walk that you can see from a bike, so perhaps it’s best that sometimes my feet are on the ground. Continue reading
Pink Carnation Flower Tree at Druid Hill Park
I had a busy last few days of the week and didn’t get a ride in, and I am going out of town for the weekend, so this morning I decided I best get in a quick pedal in order to preserve my sanity. I put on some bike shorts and a jacket made especially for bicycling, marvelled at how much faster that outfit made me feel, and headed up the hill and over to Druid Hill Park. I did a number of laps and thought about what you get to see if you do the same ride over and over again. I watched the leaves on these trees turn brown and fall, waited as they stayed all twiggy, watched them turn green with buds, and then burst out in two rounds of flowers. Now they.are this, puffy pink popcorn balls, row after row. On the other side of the round is a row of blighted buildings that have been crumbling, and today I noticed the one on the end~the roof has fallen in. I have a feeling I’ll be watching the trees change and buildings fall and maybe get built for a long, long time. I did my last lap and zipped down the hill to home. Yep, when in doubt, take the bike out.
Birds on an Island in Druid Hill Reservoir
Today’s ride took me up the hill to Hampden to the coffee shoppe for some afternoon writing. I was pretty tired from a marathon day yesterday and some ill-advised late night TV viewing and it all made the uphill-in-the-wind feel unnecessarily hard. I got myself in an easy gear and let myself spin along until I got to the top. It was downhill on the way home, so I just let myself fly in the sunshine over to the park to do some laps. Continue reading
View From the Great Falls Overlook at Great Falls National Park in McLean, VA
Well, I didn’t ride my bike today, but I got a ride in a car to Great Falls National Park where I walked and walked and saw the Potomoc make its way from the Piedmont Plateau to the Atlantic Coastal Plane. Turns out that’s a big jump, especially after the Ice Age made the river levels drop 300 feet. Continue reading
View From Patterson Park From S. Patterson Park & Bank Street
It has been bitterly cold the past few days, but I knew today was supposed to be sunny and warm, so I made plans for a bike date. I got up early, shivered a little on my morning ride to the coffee shop to get some work done, and read and wrote and graded things until S. popped in to meet me. And told me it was warming up. Yay! Continue reading
Train Crossing at Clare & Kloman
I had a ton of work to do today, but I could see the slightly warmer air from my desk, and I just wanted to ride my bicycle–grrrrr, work. After finishing up what absolutely had to be finished up, I took the bike out for a ride. I was in the mood to listen to music while I pedaled, so I headed downtown to pick up the Gwynns Falls Trail where I could spin without watching for cars. Continue reading
The Sun Setting in the West From Druid Hill Park
I spent my day reading and writing, proposing and meeting, and when I got home, there was only one thing in the whole world I wanted: a bicycle ride. I put on some different layers and my bike shoes, brought along some music, and clipped in to pedal over to the park to do some mindless laps. Continue reading
Sunset Over Druid Hill Park From the Reservoir
Some days the bike ride really does feel like a hamster wheel, and today was one of those, which is exactly what I wanted. I woke up with the sense that something wasn’t right, couldn’t shake it through reading, meetings, emailing, or writing, so at the end of the day, I put on my bike shoes and took my bike to the reservoir to do laps, one after another, listening to a song or two on repeat. Continue reading
Blighted Building in Carroll Park in Pigtown
Oh, it was a beautiful day for a bike ride, so after a morning reading in bed with cats, I hopped on the bike and whizzed down the hill to meet J. and J. for lunch. We wandered from their hotel to the Inner Harbor, passing all the other conventioneers, before settling in for turkey burgers and side salads and fries. It was so good to catch up with an old friend–just what I needed. It was still warm out at the end of the afternoon, so I took my bike on a ride past Camden Yards, into Pigtown and Washington Heights, and then along the Gwynns Falls Trail. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 