bike racks

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Red-Gold Tree Near the UMMC Commercial Ambulance Bay

A street with a car and ambulance parked to the right, a walled-off sidewalk to the left. There's a big orange tree at the end of the block on the left. In the background is UMMC Commercial Ambulance parking.

This week was mostly the same ride down and up the hill to my favorite bike racks–the ones just left of the University of Maryland Medical Center Shock Trauma/ER entry doors. I have been parking here for years, and I have my preferred U–one of the two closest to the building, the right side so I can swing my bike around to face out and still have access to my bag on my rear rack. I pull up, grab my spot, lock my bike, take off anything that can be taken off, toss those things in my bag, unzip the back flap of my bag, make it into a backpack, hoist it on, and head east on Lombard to my bus stop at Greene Street.

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Crushed Safety Cone at MLK and Lombard

A picture of a sidewalk with a crushed safety cone in the foreground, cars parked along the curb, a parking meter pay station, and in the distance, buildings in downtown Baltimore.

Monday’s plan was to ride my bike to my surgical oncology follow up at 8:30am and then, after what would likely be a 15 minute appointment, take a ride around east Baltimore for an hour or two, a stop for coffee and reading, then back home for a day of meetings on the internet. But when I looked out the window at 7:22am, snow, and it was stuck to the roads.

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Ironwork at South Broadway & Baltimore

20180509_092129_HDR Today was a beautiful spring day–sunny, not too hot–and I had my penultimate radiation session at Hopkins. I rode my bike the way I ride my bike to the hospital, down Barclay, a left at the Tool Library, across the street and another left at the cemetery, a right, a left into a terrible bike lane, and a right into a slightly better one. I locked up outside on a rack that’s not bolted down and grumbled about that in my head before spinning through the doors to the elevator down to the basement. It’s amazing how quickly routine becomes routine, and this has been mine for the past month.

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The Surly Hanging in the Bike Corral at Baltimore’s Penn Station

The Surly Hanging in the Bike Corral at Baltimore's Penn StationDay 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 →

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Missing Front Wheel From a Bike at Lombard & Greene

Missing Front Wheel From a Bike at Lombard & GreeneI haven’t been posting a whole lot lately, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been riding the bike. When it’s your means of transportation 95% of the time, you’re pretty much guaranteed a ride every day. That’s my favorite part of living car-free, and it’s working. Some highlights from the past week or so include finally getting a good ride up the Fallsway bike path again and wondering why people complain so much about being routed by the prison–at least you’re not in it, and why do we want to hide what we do to each other with all our cages? Oh, I think I know some answers to that one, and they aren’t pretty. Continue reading →

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Orioles Game From the Bleachers at Camden Yards

Orioles Game From the Bleachers at Camden YardsFriday’s bike ride took me first to the train station and out to Catonsville on Brompty for a day at the office before swapping out for the Surly for a ride with N. down to Camden Yards to watch the O’s take on her beloved St. Louis Cardinals. It’s more than a little embarrassing to go to a game with your ladyfriend all decked out in enemy colors, but she donned an O’s wristband, so there was that. The ride down there was a bit slow–my left knee hurt on the inside and I was making the mistake of worrying how the ride back up the hill would feel instead of enjoying the ride down there. Staying present’s a tough job for this cat, but I’m working on it. Continue reading →

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A Limousine Under Wraps in a Silo Point Parking Garage

Limousine Under Wraps in a Parking Garage at Silo PointI had a dinner date with R. in Locust Point tonight after a long day of work and other work and swimming and work. It was still warm out, but all the weather reports said temps were about to drop and rain mixed with ice was moving in. But oh, I wanted to ride a bicycle, so that’s what I did. I pedaled with rush hour traffic on the way there, up and around and down Fort Ave., a right on Steuert, and then to find a bike rack. Continue reading →

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Bikes in Bike Racks at the 16th Street BART

I’ve been at a conference in Oakland, CA for the past several days which has meant no bicycle riding–too busy, too tired, no bike. But I see bikes everywhere. There are lanes in downtown Oakland, signs directing riders all over town. My dear friend S. reports there’s going to be a bike lane on the new Bay Bridge when it eventually opens. Tonight when I took the BART into San Francisco for dinner with D. and P., there were bikes boarding trains, a space in the car set aside for bikes, and a pamphlet on the floor from August when bikes could ride in any car on Fridays. I snapped this picture of bikes lined up on racks at the 16th Street BART station–so many riders! Bikes are clearly just normal here–they can be normal. The infrastructure is built with the assumption it will be used for biking, and it clearly is. How, though, do y’all get up some of these San Francisco hills? Next time I best find out.

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Bikes on Bike Racks at Harbor East

Today’s ride took me downtown to Harbor East, where I locked up my bike to one of the few spaces available–never enough bike racks, for sure. I did a quick turn at the gym and the grocery, and then I got back on my bike to head up the hill. I snapped this picture of a couple of bikes crowding up the racks. That red one is always there. I mean always. Continue reading →

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Lonely Bike Rack at Albemarle & E. Lafayette

And then sometimes you’re out for a ride, you want to stop at the fancy French pastry shop to get a little something special for your boo, you hit up the bike rack, and it looks like this, sacrificed to parking lots and street construction. Oh well, it’s the thought that counts, right? I pedaled on and right and snaked up the hill, getting impatient for cooler fall weather.