I had the time, energy, and weather for a bike ride today, and wow, it had been a long time since I got to do that. I started with a quick ride down the hill to meet friends for brunch, in celebration of B. and D.’s birthdays. I had a cobb salad–classic brunch dish, I know–and a cup of coffee, cheers-ed the friends, felt grateful for this part of my community, and then hopped on my bike to head home.
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Ok, this isn’t what I saw while riding my bike around *today* but I finally have a minute to write about it. I went to Miami last week to watch women’s basketball and visit some natural parks. I have no desire to spend money in a state like Florida, but I have every desire to spend money supporting women’s basketball, and I also really needed a vacation after canceling everything good last year. Thanks a lot, cancer! No clean living in capitalism, so I headed down there by myself, sunscreen and sneakers in tow.
And oh, I had such a wonderful time. I fed so many parts of myself. I went to Biscayne Bay National Park and learned about coral reefs, mangroves, and how many different histories overlap in a single place, as always. I took the bus to Miami Beach and South Beach to hobnob with rich people and the people who are meant to stay invisible while making sure the rich people don’t have to know that it takes labor to get that effortless lifestyle–and I got to learn a new bus system. I also learned, again, that yes, I like my black beans Cuban-d.
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I was worried I wouldn’t still like riding my bike around, and then I’d lose access to the part of myself that likes riding my bike around. And then I thought to myself, if you don’t like riding your bike around anymore, that’s ok! Things change! You’ll always have enjoyed that, it will always have made your life so much more interesting, and you can be on to the next thing. It’s like getting a tattoo–what if I regret it? But regret or not, it will always have marked who you were at that moment, and that’s a record worth keeping.
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It has been a really long time since I sat down and wrote about what I saw riding my bike around today. I was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time in June, 2024, and it has been a whirlwind. It was the best kind of cancer you can get, sort of, I guess, but the way you treat this cancer, especially the second time around, is by cutting out and off everything. I had three surgeries in five months, and even when I got on my bike between surgery #1 and surgery #2, my heart wasn’t in it. I knew as soon as I got back to my old fitness I’d get knocked down again, and also I was just still so tired.
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When I first rode my bike around east Baltimore after moving to town 13-odd years ago, I often rode through the Perkins Homes public housing development. I wondered to myself why the city let public housing and the people who live in public housing live so close to the ritzy neighborhoods of Harbor East and Fells Point. and here we are, and Perkins Homes is gone, being rebuilt like this. It is like being in a whole new place I barely recognize, and I also know that once it’s finished, it will feel like it has always been here. Because we get used to things, for good or ill.
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It’s the first day of summer vacation or, for me, the first day of summer school. I have been teaching summer school for almost 25 years. Sometimes I think about not teaching summer school, but what would I do with all of my time? And could I get by without the money? The answer to the latter question is definitely yes, but it’s a hard habit to break, that grad student/contingent faculty worry that you won’t get paid again. I mostly do it at this point because I like that spice of structure to my summer, just a bit to keep me from falling into a what-am-I-doing-with-my-life hole.
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This will be a blog about bikes and the need for proper places to ride. It’s not about New Orleans, rebuilding, broken levees, crumbling infrastructure, music, Mardi Gras, weather, neighborhoods, or anything else. It’s just going to be a rant about biking conditions in this town. Continue reading
I’ve been itching to ride Jack around these past few days and finally had time tonight to velcro on my bike shoes and tool around for a bit. I rode to meet some friends for dinner, and I found myself racing my friend’s car for part of the way. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 