My dear old friend S. is in Philadelphia for a conference this weekend and I had the day free, so I got up early and drove up I95 to the City of Brotherly Love. Now, I hate driving, but not nearly as much as I hate parking, especially in a tourist district in an unfamiliar town. It makes me anxious, and I don’t think I’ll ever be rich enough to feel good about paying twenty bucks so I can leave a car alone for a couple of hours. Answer: toss the Brompton in the trunk, park in a residential neighborhood, and bike downtown. Continue reading
Brompton
Cloudy Skies at Druid Hill Park
I woke up early to a lovely morning and then an afternoon full of work. My whole self wants to be on summer vacation, but I’ve got a whole lot of everything still on my plate, which means I am just tired, weary, and not very excited to be stuck at my computer. Today, I didn’t even feel like riding my bike, so lazy was I. Continue reading
Looking Up at Trees From a Bench on a Trail in Damascus Regional Park
Many moons ago S. asked me to accompany her to her mom’s fundraising party for the MS 100 ride in Damascus, MD, and then it was finally today and time to head that way. Because she is awesome, S. kindly requested I fold up my new Brompton and bring it along for a ride on a park trail. She borrowed a mountain bike, and we were off. The bike is just so much fun to ride, and the gearing lets me keep pedaling while going down some fairly steep hills. I was flying, and damn, it was so much fun. But, as my father always says, what goes up must come down, and that’s true the other way, too. Yeah, I think I need a grannier gear on this thing for sustained climbs, or maybe I just need to get stronger. Overall, though, it was most perfect to be pedaling in the shade offered by trees like these, which we stared up at from a bench near the end of our ride. What a treat.
Heritage Sign & Blighted Building at Lafayette & Division
Oh, it’s finally here, my itty bitty clown bike! I got a call yesterday evening from the bike shop, so I waited impatiently this morning before walking down to the shop for its 11am opening to fetch the newest member of the family. It was just as lovely as I remembered, and as I took it out for a test spin along the Jones Falls Trail, I started to get good and giddy. It’s just so much fun! I rode it back home to grab my helmet and to show it off to S. before heading back down the hill to meet V. for work that couldn’t get done because I was too bust thinking about riding my new bike. I then rode it over to Upton to meet J. so we could nerd out together along the Pennsylvania Avenue heritage walking tour. I snapped this picture of the new bike against a new public history sign and increasingly old blight. The tour tells the history of a culturally, politically, socially, and economically vibrant area, but it doesn’t explain at all why so much of that has been lost as parts of this neighborhood continue falling to pieces as others keep it alive. Upton and Pennsylvania don’t look like they do now by chance. Decisions were made that make that glittering past “history,” right? I pushed my bike from sign to sign, historic church to historic church, stopping along the way for a chat here or there, and a chance to demonstrate the Brompton’s quick fold to a woman sitting outside in the sunshine with her cigarette, watching people pass on by. And then it was time to ride the new bike up the hill to home for one last fold on its birthday before lugging it up the steps to its new home. I can’t wait to see what we learn next. *squeal*
Bridge Under Construction Over the CSX Railroad Tracks & Fort Ave.
I woke up early, checked the weather, saw it was going to be in the mid-1970s, and looked at my relatively empty Saturday afternoon, and got excited for a bike ride to nowhere in particular. First I hopped on the Surly and headed down to meet L. for brunch followed by some test-riding of bikes at the bike shop. She did her rounds of various commuter and hybrid bikes while I looked longingly at the clown bike and tried not to look impatient about its delivery. L. found a favorite, and I was sated with a loaner copy of the documentary film about the clown bike–yeah, this is a good shop. We parted ways and I flew down the hill to the Inner Harbor. Continue reading
Boarded-Up Buildings at Gay & High
Another spring break day meant another day of riding my bike around town, and oh, but it feels good to pedal around aimlessly! I rode down to the bike shoppe to take the clown bike out for another spin and then headed down to Fells Point for some frozen yogurt and a think. I mean, I don’t need another bicycle, not at all, and for that price I could get a real bike. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 