weather

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Looking Up at Redwood & Light

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I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the Mid-Atlantic’s having something of a heat wave. All these day at or near 100 degrees can wear on a girl, but I have decided that the best thing to do is hydrate and pedal slowly~it’s still better than getting in a car. Thursday’s ride took me flying down the hill (when they warned me about hills, they forgot to tell me how awesome that part is) to Federal Hill for a massage and then a trip to the wine bar with A. for a good ol’ 1% afternoon. the heat’s not really an issue on the downhills, so I had plenty of ire saved up for the FOUR vehicles parked on the bike/ped path around the Inner Harbor. I grr’ed my way around and then granny geared up the hill and over for a long cooling session in the Harris Teeter. After a positively lovely conversation it was time to head home, this time under ominous clouds with strong winds. The sweat was pouring by the time I stopped at the light at Redwood and Light. I looked up and snapped this picture; from this angle it almost looks like we live in a big city. Back on the bike, back up the hill, a quick stop to snag S. from the outdoor concert at Mt. Vernon, and on to home, another steamy day of cycling for transportation done. It really is a better way to go, even if it does mean more showering.

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Row of Houses at Potomac & Fait

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It was another scorching and humid day in Baltimore, and I spent most of it working and reading in front of the window ac unit and wondering if this is an unseasonable heat wave or if it’s just going to be this hot for the next five months. To be honest, I didn’t exactly feel like going out on a bike in this weather, but I best get used to it, or it will be a long summer off the bike and whining. (And yes, I know I bicycled daily through multiple New Orleans summers, but that doesn’t make this less hot. And yes, I know I grew up in Idaho, but I haven’t lived there in almost 20 years, and I still get cold in cold weather.) I took the Surly down the hill and against Beryl’s fingertips blowing hard on our way to Patterson Park, where the drinking fountain was out of order. Not cool, man. Then I biked around, panting, until I hit the shops at Brewer’s Hill, I think it is~the sandwich shop has mad air conditioning and unsweetened iced tea! After my break I headed home. Cloud cover was rolling in, and that made the ride back exceedingly more pleasant. I stopped at the stop sign at Potomac & Fait and snapped this picture of the same house after house after house; this block needs some serious tree action to stay reasonable during the summer. That house in the middle has built a deck on top~now we’re talking. I hope they can install one of those misting fans up there. Pedal, pedal, pedal, and then I was home. Sometimes a ride is all about the weather.

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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 →

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Icy Bike Rack at 32nd & Greenmount

Yep, still cold and icy, so when it was time to meet L. for brunch, I decided to go ahead and walk. I put on my snow boots, lovingly sent by by E. upon my arrival in the Great White Mid-Atlantic, and marched slowly up the hill. The ice is just worse, so where it was still coating the sidewalk, I took each step like a New Orleanian until I made it to my destination. Continue reading →

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Snow and Ice on the Sidewalk on Chase & St. Paul

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Well, it was bound to happen eventually, this thing where water would fall out of the sky on a day so cold it would freeze, so here you go: ice. It looked pretty this morning, but it made for a slooow walk home from brunch as I measured each step to avoid slipping and bouncing off the sidewalk like the newbie I am. I spent the day at home writing up a syllabus and watching terrible movies, but I’ve got a dinner date in Mt. Vernon, so it’s time to get on the bike. Because it’s new to me it felt treacherous as I white-knuckled my way down the hill, taking the whole lane to avoid even the faint touch of visible ice. But what about the ice you can’t see, Kate? I got off and walked the last block to the restaurant. I figure, though, that it’ll be like anything else new–I’ll do it for awhile, get more comfortable, fall, realize falling won’t kill me, and then I will just be somebody who rides in wintertime. Or not. Maybe I’ll take the bus.

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View of the Reservoir at Druid Hill Park On An Unseasonably Warm Saturday Afternoon

I don’t know what’s going on with the weather, but S. called on Saturday afternoon and told me to drag my sickly self out of bed and put myself on the bike to enjoy the mid-60s weather we were having. I pulled on my summer skirt and a sweatshirt and headed out. She was right–it was absolutely beautiful out, and even the sweatshirt was a little warm. Continue reading →

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Blighted Houses on Druid Hill Park Drive and Linden

I just haven’t been getting my bike rides in lately, what with trips and visitors and hard rains, and it is starting to grate on me. I mean, I need to ride my bicycle, and I need rides to stop these terrible dreams about losing my bike from waking me up like one did this morning. The weather report promised rain, as did the sky, but after a lovely and lazy morning, I managed to get on the bike and pedal over to Druid Hill Park for a trip around the reservoir. Continue reading →

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Cloudy Skies at Preston & Howard

I checked the weather report before I got on my bike to ride to work this morning: high winds and a 90% chance of rain. I looked at the sky: blue with clouds out my bedroom window, ominous gray outside my west-facing living room (and I was heading west). Yeah, everything said don’t take the bike, but I wanted to ride, so I tossed my new rain cape in my bike bag and headed out, hoping to maybe beat the weather. Continue reading →

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Blue Skies Over Lake Pontchartrain

I woke up kind of anxious, so after much hemming and hawing and reading the paper and about Malcolm X and eating a bagel, I remembered that what I really needed was a bicycle ride. I rode up Baronne, wondered if next time I ride it that pool will be in at the Y on Dryades, took St. Charles the rest of the way to Tulane, wondered if next time I ride it that gravel pit will be asphalt, and back and around to Carrollton, wondered if they will ever actually finish whatever they’re doing on Earhart. Continue reading →

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Gwynns Falls Parkway a Half Mile Or So From Frederick Avenue

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So back when I thought I might be a runner before figuring out it hurt my shoulder (don’t ask), I followed that Couch to 5K program to the letter, and it worked. Where’s the training program for the ten mile communte through hills both ways? Because that’s what I need. J. drove me and the rental bike to campus today, I did a few paperwork things, and then it was time to practice the commute back to the city. It started with a 3/4 of a mile ride up the incline of the aptly-named Hilltop Circle and then a right on the busy Wilkens Avenue. That offered some downhill respite, thank goodness, until another slow climb up Caton Avenue, where the traffic scared the pants off me, and I actually got off the bike and walked–I’d rather be safe than sorry. And then all of the sudden I was at the head of the Gwynns Falls Parkway, no cars allowed! How wonderful! I happily pedaled along the paved trail, stopping to take pictures like this one, of green walls hiding water and falls. Is this part of my commute, really, I thought. Turns out, no, so I turned back and retraced my steps and was back on the road with cars speeding by as I huffed and puffed my way to North Avenue. One guy shouted from his stoop on Fulton that I would catch more of a breeze if I just pedaled faster. Excellent plan, sir, but not one I am yet able to follow. Pedal, pedal, pedal, buy a bottle of water from a guy on a corner–aid stations!–take a right, take another right, take a right, and I was back at the bike shoppe, returning my rental, rehydrating, and after all that, feeling surprisingly good. It took me forever, and ithe traffic got a little nuts at times, but I did it, and I can do it again. But I am going to need to be patient and to practice. Project, yay!