Puppy at McHenry Row in Locust Point

I was in Cleveland for the weekend, not riding a bicycle but being driven around the freezing town by one of my very oldest friends, who kindly listened to me imagine what it would be like to ride a bike in that town. They live about six miles from downtown–is there an easy bike route there? How are the hills? Are there any bike lanes going in? I spotted just a few intrepid winter cyclists, including one guy on a tricycle positively encrusted with lights. Most excellent. It was a lovely trip, but oh my I was itching to get back on my bicycle, which I did, for a ride to Federal Hill to run a few errands.

View of the Locust Point Harris Teeter From the Second Floor

Thursday’s ride took me down the hill early to meet my swim teacher for another lesson. These lessons have had me riding from Charles Village to the edge of Canton, not a trip I was used to taking, so I keep trying new routes. Today, though, I just took the straight shot down the hill, a left on Aliceanna, slight right onto Boston, and I got there in just 35 minutes, which is fast for a red-light-obeying cyclist like me.

Empty Lot Where Harrah’s Casino Will Go at Warner & Worcester

After a many-hour morning at the coffee shoppe grading papers it was time to get back on the bike and spin along on this beautiful sunny fall day. I headed down the hill, around the harbor, and up through Federal Hill toward my favorite pedestrian mini mall called McHenry Row.

Tree Growing Out of a Building on Williams & Clement

Today’s ride took me down the hill, around the Inner Harbor, and up into Federal Hill to  my favorite overdeveloped mini mall, McHenry Row, for a massage, because I am a decadent little thing. I thought today would be the obligatory “it’s fall, look at the colors!” post, but it’s still in the 80s here, warm and muggy, so instead of looking at leaves I thought about how the air felt warm and heavy around me as I flew down the hill, taking extra special care not to put on the brakes–it’s like flying; nobody told me about the downhills when they were complaining about the uphills.

Maryland Science Center at Light Street and Key Highway

It was gray and rainy out, but I was in no mood to drive a car over to Federal Hill, so I broke the “don’t start a ride in the rain” rule and pedaled down the hill, around the harbor, and up the hill on the other side. I spent part of my morning reading about Federal Hill, and once you know a little bit of history about the place you’re in, well, if you’re me, it doesn’t look the same. Take the Maryland Science Center, for example. Before today it was to me just a big behemoth of brick that marks the end or start of the bike path, depending on where I’m headed. According to David Harvey, though, it’s a windowless citadel guarding the “rebirthed” Inner Harbor, a cash cow for developers, from the “angry” poor whites and African Americans who used to live just up from here. The surrounding neighborhoods are now mostly comprised of young white professionals, but the Science Center is still there, blocking their view and complicating access, and i’d never know it’s history without the fine folks who remind us that our built environment and who’s in it is no accident. I rode up to Fort Avenue and down to the new McHenry Row. So many empty properties, but we’re still making new developments like this one, which was an empty lot today. Time will tell, I suppose, whether all this new housing will fill, but it seems like so much boondoggle to me. One thing’s for sure, though~these waterproof panniers are awesome on days like this one, because it was an awfully misty ride home.