biking

By Charles Sercombe – July 29, 2008

I’ve jumped on the bandwagon.

            Well, I’m not really much of a jumper on bandwagons, and in truth I’ve been gearing up for the past few weeks to begin riding my bike instead of driving around town. At least as much as possible and weather permitting.

            I have to admit, when Citizen reporter Terry Parris Jr. started biking to work from his place in Ferndale as part of an assignment he has from Model D (a webzine about all things Detroit), I became motivated.

            I’ve been going kind of green – sort of. – by walking to The Citizen office as much as possible. Heck, it only takes about 10 minutes to walk here from where I live. But the problem with walking to the office is that if there is a fire or some other breaking news event on the southend of town, I’m kind of stuck.

            It would take about 20 minutes to walk there, so I have found myself driving more than I want to.

            The solution to zipping around quick in town has been sitting, deflated, in my garage. My rusty old Royce Union three speed was in need of attention. Namely, I had to get a working tire pump to see if the tires were still good.

            I tossed around the idea of going to the store to get one for a few weeks until last Sunday. Not to my surprise, tire pumps have come a long way since I’ve dealt with such things.

            Now they have all sorts of high-tech attachments that not only aggravate me, but cost about $40. That’s right, 40 bucks for a lousy tire pump.

            I went to Target and found one for $15.

            Long story, short, my bike is up and running, and I am rolling through the streets of Hamtramck. It takes – oh – four minutes to bike to my office. Half of that time I’m coasting.

            Some things I’ve noticed along the way: When walking the first thing you see are large amounts of filth and broken glass. When you bike around town, the glass thing becomes a lot more critical.

            Folks, what gives with this? You’d think people would care enough to sweep up the glass. But, sorry to say, I’m not surprised by the apathy.

            Another thing you encounter on the streets is the range of odd behaviors by drivers. Some are timid and trail behind you, not wanting to pass by. Others could care less and roar by.           

            I haven’t yet come across an outright crazy, reckless driver, at least while biking, but I know my day will come.

            I’ll let you know more about biking in Hamtramck in the weeks to come. Meanwhile, check out Terry Parris’s blog. He’s a lot more amusing to read.