I left the house early this morning, though not as early as I’d planned–I got waylaid by a pan of those cinnamon rolls that pop out of a can, and headed down the hill toward the Gwynns Falls Trail on my way to Annapolis. It was time to get in another long ride, and I was oddly nervous, I think because Annapolis sounds really far away, and it’s really, really hot and humid here right now. Continue reading
Flowers in My Pannier at Local Color Flowers at Brentwood & 32nd
I’m not really sure what clicked in me that made riding a bicycle as a primary form of transportation so normal. I mean, from the outside it looks pretty scary, what with all the cars and pedestrians and chances to fall in sinkholes, and I’m hardly a daredevil, but somehow it was just instantly the best way to travel for me, and it’s totally the logical choice. When I moved to Baltimore the plan was to keep biking to work every day, like I had in New Orleans. That, though, was a quick two mile ride on flat terrain–10 miles each way to Baltimore County, hills included, riding with the big cars on Wilkens Avenue…well, that wasn’t so easy to stomach. Continue reading
Shiny New Asphalt on 26th Between Charles & St. Paul
Tuesday’s ride took me up the hill and east to Morgan State for a conversation on the Marc Steiner Show about The Wire–about how even though it’s a great television show, it can’t tell the full range of stories about what make this city tick, and the many ways folks work to make it tick better (or worse). It was a good conversation with smart people, and a reminder to me that if you don’t have someone there to talk about women, women fall right out of the discussion. Patriarchy’s a real thing, which means I’ll never be out of a job, amirite? Continue reading
Crossing a Bridge Along the Niagara Parkway Near The Falls
It’s the seventh anniversary of this blog today. I’ve been riding my bike and writing about what I see pretty regularly for a full seven years. That sounds like a long time, sort of, but what seems like really forever ago is me not riding a bike and writing about it. I ride a bike–it’s what I do, for transportation, for fun and pleasure, for vacation and work, for everything. Seven years ago this was not the case at all. Seven years ago I had recently moved to New Orleans with a car, and I was mostly driving to get places. Continue reading
View From the B&A Trail Ranger Station in Earleigh Heights
I woke up early Saturday, choked down some carbs, smeared on the sunscreen, and headed out to fetch R. for a ride down to the light rail station out to Linthicum where we rode our bikes for miles and miles along a trail with no cars–just a whole lot of folks on bikes, feet, and skates. It was hot but not too humid, and we barely noticed the wind. I was a gooey, sweaty mess right away, and so was she, and it was all more than worth it as we rode behind malls, past courthouses and restaurants and ice cream places, followed the solar system to scale, waved our hellos to the people and the greenery, but boy howdy, did I wish we’d had more water. Continue reading
Vacant Home and Abandoned Railroad Tracks Near Cole & Stricker
Thursday was a perfect biking day in Baltimore. I headed out mid-morning, taking a new route south and east to Highlandtown to meet A. for lunch. Not only did he pay, but he wanted me to go on and on about what I love about bikes. That was absolutely no problem, and by the time we were done, all I wanted to do was ride my bike all over town. And that’s just what I did, heading west as far as I could go before hitting the Westside Mall and then zigzagging the neighborhoods until I was tho hot and out of water, time to head back to a coffee shop for iced tea and cooler air before heading to Federal Hill. I snapped pictures along the way, of a WWII monument that felt out of place, railroad tracks that have seen better days, this house, skin off, guts hanging out. I said dozens of hellos, shook more than one angry fist at a driver passing too close for my comfort, and thanked myself for my foresight to bring a dish towel along for the ride to mop up the sweat. Sweet, sweet summertime in Baltimore, I thought, many adventures to come. And as I looked through my pictures later I reminded myself how much framing went into them, and how little I know about what I see. That’s not a frustration, it’s a gift.
The Midas Car Shop at Reisterstown and Liberty Heights
I’ve been riding my bike all over town this past week–zig zagging through East Baltimore for late lunches, zipping down to graduation ceremonies at Royal Farms Arena–yes, it’s called that, and yes, I got to lock up on the fence right in front while everyone else was stuck waiting in traffic to find a way to pay $20 for a parking spot–and riding to SoWeBo Fest in West Baltimore for the first funnel cake of the season. Vacation has been oh so lovely, and I’m sad to see it come to an end, though it certainly won’t mean an end to biking around.
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The Surly Hanging in the Bike Corral at Baltimore’s Penn Station
Day 2 of summer break caught me doing a couple of quick chores around the house before hopping on the bike down to Penn Station to catch the 9:05 to DC for a day at the museums. The part where you don’t have to live in DC or own a car but can, for $14 round trip, ride in and take advantage of all the cool stuff they’ve got there is one of my favorite things about living in Baltimore. I don’t take advantage of it much, but sure glad it’s there–it’s like Baltimore Bike Party in that way. Please don’t make me put on a costume and ride with a thousand other people, but please make room for everyone else to do it, I’ll just buy the t-shirt (which I wore on yesterday’s ride, ftr). Continue reading
Frank Bocek Park at Madison & Ellwood
The spring semester is over and summer school doesn’t start until next week, so in spite of the grading and class prep that lingers, I’m treating this week like my vacation. I kicked it off with a a whole bunch of reading in bed interspersed with grading and rec letter writing–there’s always some work to do–before checking the weather report with my lunch to see if it was going to rain. Continue reading
Field of Yellow Flowers at Druid Hill Park
I’ve been riding my bike all over the place over the past week or so. The weather’s been perfect for it, and we’ve even had some days where I’ve gotten to get a good sweat on. It’s awesome. I haven’t felt much like writing about it, though. The uprising took all my words right out of me. I found myself writing and writing, as fast as I could, as if narrative could somehow make the very complicated things that are happening here–have been happening–make sense. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 