ville de moins de véhicules

So it's been a while.

My last post was just before I hopped the train to Montreal for a few days. I got back a week ago and jumped pretty much straight into the first week of the Fall term.

Now it's the weekend and although I have a long "to-do" list of mainly work-related tasks, I'd rather put those off a little longer and write about mon petit voyage.

First things first, let's discuss the train. My journey was broken into two sections, Windsor (just across the border from Detroit for those of you who don't know) to Toronto and after a very brief stop in Toronto it was time to jump on another train bound for Montreal. I left Windsor around 9:30am and arrived into Montreal a little before 9pm. It was a long day, but as Canada rocks there was free wifi on the train so I was able to get a ton of work done for my new classes.

My brief stop in Toronto was shorter than I had hoped, but was still long enough to have lunch with Sharon, a Canadian friend who had been living in London briefly just before I left. Our lunch probably didn't last more than 40 minutes, but Sharon, being the lovely person that she is she brought a lunch for me. We had a good catch up and I hope to make it to Toronto for a little longer next time.

To be honest, the train journey flew by. I had plenty to do, the scenery was pretty great and I had plenty of room. I'm determined to do more journeys by train. It didn't always feel like it in the UK (especially when three trainloads of people were squashed into one train), but there's still something magical about train travel here in North America. It takes forever to get places, but it will always beat driving in my book.

Once in Montreal, I met up with the fabulous Queen Elizabeth III, who I would be spending the next few days with. We quickly found our hostel and settled in to the funky little place.

The next few days were filled with plenty of museum visits, good food, drink and a slow-paced exploration of this fine city. I felt I handled the whole french-speaking fairly well. I don't think I realize how much I actually did learn after 4 years of french classes in school and another year in college, or at least I don't get to use it enough. I made an effort at least, which for the most part seemed appreciated.


Just before I had departed for this trip I had some bike issues at home. A flat tire that proved unrepairable meant I had missed out on a few days cycling. I was expecting to see a lot of bikes in Montreal, like most major cities. I don't know if there were just more or perhaps me missing my own two-wheeled friend was causing me to pay more attention, but there were bikes on every corner and the city even has one of those communist bike sharing schemes. If you don't know what I mean by that communist reference, read this.

Elizabeth and I did make use of the bixi bike rental scheme, and while we had a brief but enjoyable ride along the waterfront, we were blissfully unaware that if you're not a regular user of the scheme (i.e. you LIVE in Montreal), a deposit of approximately $250 is taken from your bank account. I had just been paid, so it wasn't a huge issue for me but let's just say her highness was not amused...


The trip was short but very sweet. I was in need of a good dose of european culture, it was wonderful once again to see so many people making use of and enjoying their bikes, and I came home with a bag full of cadbury's dairy-milk! (it's also fair trade in Canada). Wifi on trains, fair-trade chocolate. Returning to the US felt a little like stepping back in time. I find it rather amusing that for the most part, America thinks it's so ahead of the game when more often than not this isn't the case.

After a week eyeing up so many beautiful bikes (and a few of their riders!) it was time to head home and give my bike some much needed attention. After a failed attempt at replacing both tires and tubes (I had bought dodgy products), I'm happy to say as of this past Friday my bike and I are back in business.

Yesterday was rather windy, a little wet and a reminder that the autumn is upon us. Perfect weather for cycling though, so I can't complain.

I'm going to end things with one final photo of a little scribbling I found along with some other street art in Montreal. The text translates to "bike more elegant" - a lesson for all methinks.

ode to a bicycle

Just a brief post today.

Earlier this week a good friend of mine sent me an excerpt from Pablo Neruda's poem, Ode to a Bicycle. Here it is:

I thought about evening when
the boys
wash up,
sing, eat, raise
a cup
of wine
in honor
of love
and life,
and waiting
at the door,
the bicycle,
stilled,
because
only moving
does it have a soul,
and fallen there
it isn't
a translucent insect
humming
through summer
but
a cold
skeleton
that will return to
life
only
when it's needed,
when it's light,
that is,
with
the
resurrection
of each day.

Sadly, my bike has not been moving much this past week due to a rather nasty puncture that has yet to be fixed, and she won't be moving much this week either as I'm off to Montreal tomorrow. I hope she won't mind if I cheat on her while I'm away... I promise when I'm home to give her some much deserved attention.

2 wheels are sexier than 4

This weekend downtown Flint was a little more occupied than usual, due to the annual back to the bricks festival. For those unfamiliar with this event, it's an annual gathering of cars and car enthusiasts. People park their cars all along Saginaw Street and those not fortunate (or fortunate, depending on how you look at it) to own one of these classic vehicles wander up and down the street admiring these truly American inventions.

I had been joking with some friends about riding my bike up and down Saginaw with a hand-written "2 wheels are sexier than 4" sign attached to the back of my bike. While a lot of folks said I should or thought it would be hilarious, in the end I chose not to partly because there were so many people downtown that it would have been pretty difficult to ride, but also because I'm pretty sure it would not have gone down well with some people there and I didn't want to end up being pelted with empty beer cans.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking this event. I get that people put a lot of pride and hard work into restoring their cars, this is an opportunity to celebrate an important part of our city's history, and it's great to see so many people out in Flint on a summer's evening. However, as I walked along the bricks with some friends Friday night, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness amongst the celebration. Yes, the car helped to make Flint; to put us on the map so to speak. But it also played a major role in the decline of this city. Strolling past the cars, I felt as if we are clinging to a past that has proved both economically unviable (it's cheaper for cars to be made overseas) and that is keeping us from embracing a more sustainable and lower impact future.

Perhaps back to the bricks is simply for the old-timers of Flint. Those who remember when every Friday night downtown was buzzing like this weekend because everyone had a job and money in their pocket. These folk deserve a chance to celebrate. To be proud of what their city used to be. But I (and I know I'm not alone) still dream of what this city can be. Who knows, in many years to come those who travel to Flint especially for back to the bricks will be showing off their hybrids or electric cars. Or better yet, their sexy bicycles!

While I might still believe that 2 wheels are sexier than 4, I also understand that this city that I once again call home wouldn't be around if it wasn't for the invention of a certain 4-wheeled vehicle. For that I guess I'm sort of grateful.

Birthday Bike Rides & Glorious Gardens

It's 2 am and for whatever reason I am awake, so in an attempt to use this time productively I figured I might as well post an update.

Quite a lot happened over the last week. For starters, I turned 28 last Friday. It wasn't as scary as I had once imagined it might be, although it was rather odd spending a birthday in Michigan. I couldn't quite recall when the last one was spent here so I guess that means it was a) rather uneventful or b) I'm definitely getting older if I'm struggling to remember things like this.

This year's celebrations were simple, but it's true that often those are the best. I spent the day with the folks down in Fenton where my lovely Mum made me pancakes for breakfast (a tradition that began in my old house in London). Next we had a quick visit to a nearby consignment shop where I picked up a few bargains for my little rooftop garden (more on that later). The afternoon was spent in Kensington Park, where after a little picnic (again, thanks to my lovely Mum) my Dad and I proceeded to go on a birthday bike ride around the lake. Are there such things as birthday resolutions? Well if not I'm making one anyway, and that is to go on more bike rides with my pops.

Then we continued south to Ann Arbor, where a viewing of the flim The Kids Are Alright and a pretty fancy dinner finished the day off quite nicely.

As I finally got paid at the end of July, this past week I was able to get around ordering some worms to begin a mini worm farm in my new home. After a few days worrying they may not arrive alive, they finally did and are now munching away on my veggie scraps and coffee grinds.

With my new-found riches I was also able to purchase a few more plants for my rooftop garden (which I mentioned earlier) so it's now looking like this:





For now I'm growing a few tomatoes, some red bell peppers and lil' chili peppers and a variety of herbs (pronounced with a hard H). The photos don't really do it justice, but when the sun is shining and the butterflies are flying I'm certainly very pleased with it.

In other garden related news, yesterday marked the 2nd annual Edible Flint Food Garden Tour. In addition to my interest in the tour, I had also arranged to take approximately 60 students from one of my classes to give them a glimpse of some of the beautiful things happening in the city. I do have to say a massive thanks to the folks who arranged the tour who organized an awesome event and helped me get approximately 60 freshmen registered, fed, and on a bus around downtown Flint! Of course, most of the class opted for the bus tour but a few adventurous souls joined me on the bike tour! We got to visit some glorious gardens (including a couple right in my neigborhood) and even got to taste a few goodies along the way.


After the recent Critical Mass bike ride, it was great to be cycling around the city with a large group of people again. On the tour I bumped into an old friend who I met while a member of the students for social change organization at UM-Flint (ah, the memories). It was also wonderful to get a glimpse of some of the amazing work being done in this city to equip and empower local people to grow (and in some cases sell) their own produce.

Since moving downtown almost three months ago and as part of my attempt to live a more simple and lower-impact lifestyle, I've been doing most of my shopping at the Farmer's Market and choosing to buy food that is both in season and that has been grown right here in the heart of Flint. Both my conscience and my body feel better for it, although I have to admit I'm running low on fresh ideas of what to do with a zucchini so any recipes would be much appreciated!!

The more I get out and about and see the amazing things that are happening here in Flint, the more I envision myself sticking around for longer. While this recent birthday made me very aware of how blessed I am to have made so many wonderful friends during my six years in London (and how much I miss them all so dearly), I'm also aware of just how much I learned from so many of them. I may not see much of them these days, but with every bike ride, cup of fairtrade coffee, stab at a new vegetarian recipe, attempt at knitting or even a listen to the sound of the smiths, it feels like they're right here with me.

nerds on 10 speeds

First, a note on this weeks title:

This morning while attempting to get out of bed I was browsing through some articles on my treehugger iphone app and I came across this rather interesting article.

I had a bit of a chuckle reading this, and as a proud "nerd on a 10 speed" I can testify to often getting the feeling that folks think I'm a loser/hippie/tree-hugging queer simply because I've decided to live without a car. Do I agree with the writer of this article that "there is hope for cool carless protagonists after all"? Well as much as I'd like to say yes, I just don't think I have the faith in Hollywood that this will happen anytime soon. However, I guess there are plenty of folk out there who will change their hairstyle/clothes/car to keep up with the latest celebrity trend so if we do see Brad Pitt on a bike on screen someday and it does motivate a few individuals to follow suit, I'm down with that.

This past weekend along with a few other bike-riding losers I took part in the first Flint Critical Mass. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept go here. In short it's a bicycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month that aims to draw attention to how unfriendly cities (and drivers) can often be towards cyclists. Here's a pic I pinched from the facebook page of the first brave few who braved the streets of downtown Flint:



It was great to get out on the street with a few other like-minded folk who enjoy the pleasures of a bike ride but who also want to see this city become more aware and accepting of it's ever growing cycling community. Unfortunately I will likely have to miss the next one as one of the courses that I'm teaching has it's final exam the same day (which I feel is officially the worst time ever in the history of exam times: a Friday night!). I will however certainly be at the next one, and the one after that and hope that the numbers will continue to grow.

I'm slowly learning that it's perfectly possible to have a very enjoyable and productive existence in this city while relying only on a bike. Highlights of this past weekend included:

Friday: After Critical Mass I had dinner at 501's with on old friend followed by a visit to the Torch and then to the Loft for Flint Ninja Night and a rather late ride home.

Saturday: Once I was finally up the day commenced with a leisurely ride down to the farmer's market to stock up on some yummy goodies. This was followed by a not so leisurely walking of my bike (and shopping) home as I had inadvertently given myself a flat tire while attempting to lock up my bike (I know, how does this happen you might ask?) The day was finished off with a ride down through the cultural center to see a performance of the Neverending Story at Flint Youth Theatre.

Sunday: After a short ride down to Church and back, a lazy afternoon at home I once again jumped on the bike for another visit to FYT for a rehearsed-reading of the play boom by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. I enjoyed the show and the fun times at the White Horse Tavern after with a few more old friends I haven't seen in a while.

I'm aware that before I know it the summer will be drawing to an end and then it may become harder to get around with just the bike. But for the time being I'm enjoying the weather and the riding and don't have plans to stop anytime soon.

The Bicycle Thief

Don’t worry; my bike is still in my possession.

My title is referring to the 1948 Italian film of the same name, directed by Vittorio De Sica.

I watched the film for the first time about a week ago. I’ve just joined Netflix so I’ve been watching a lot of films. Mostly foreign.

This really is a lovely film, with such a simple plot. In my playwriting class I’ve been talking about how all characters in plays, films, novels, etc go on some sort of journey. Whether that journey takes the character across oceans, to the moon, or down the street to fetch a pint of milk doesn’t matter. It’s what happens to them on their journey, what they learn about themselves along the way and how or if they are changed in any way at the end of their journey. The journey in this film is not a long one, but boy is it an important one.

As I’ve been told in the past that I often spoil films for friends by revealing the ending before they’ve seen it, I won’t say anymore about the film. Although there’s a big clue as to what happens in the title and if you haven’t already seen it you should as soon as you can.

Incidentally, my housemate Tom almost had his bike stolen this week. He was visiting a couple in our neighbourhood and came out to find a guy about to ride away on his wheels. The bike wasn’t locked up so I guess you can’t really blame the guy (I think my viewing of the aforementioned film has made me a little more sympathetic towards bicycle thieves) but I wish we did live in a neighbourhood where you can happily leave your bike outside knowing it will still be there when you return.

I love my bike and don’t want to take any chances of it getting stolen, which is often why I use two locks when I leave it out for an extended period of time. One is my old D-lock I used with my previous bike in London. The other is a Mega chain lock that must weigh about 10-15lbs and cost me half of what I actually paid for my bike! If someone was able to break through both of those locks and take my bike, I guess I’d have to take my hat off to them for their excellent thieving skills.

In other news, this week I’ve finally got around to exploring part of the Flint River Trail, which has been on my cycling to-do list for a while. Yesterday I rode down to the Farmers Market to pick up some fresh milk, bread and a few veggies. The glass milk bottles made it home safely in my panniers, much to my relief. I can make pretty much the whole journey there and back on the trail as it winds through the UM-Flint Campus towards the Market. Then last night I ventured out a little further on the trail towards Kearsley Park as I was going to a concert there. I have to admit the ride there and back was more enjoyable than the concert itself, but it was nice to see a lot of people out in the park making the most of a rather overcast summers eve.

With the addition of cycling lanes downtown and the soon to be completed bike path on the west side of the city, it’s good to know this city is starting to take cycling a little more seriously.

On yer bike to fight climate change!

Just last week I stumbled upon a pretty awesome website about a new initiative called the 2 mile challenge. It’s sponsored by CLIF bar, makers of some yummy organic energy bars.

I was really happy to discover this, as I have to admit since I’ve arrived back in the US there has been little in the way of climate change related activism to get me really excited. Living in London for six years it was virtually impossible to go a day without seeing or hearing about another creative way to get people to wake up to the realities of climate change.

What’s this 2-mile challenge about then? Well if you haven’t already, stop reading this and check out the website yourself: www.2milechallenge.com

Or if you’d rather keep reading for now, here’s a little summary from yours truly along with some rather startling statistics that I found on the site.

In short, this challenge is all about encouraging folks to give up the car now and then and jump on a bike instead. You simply register online, join a virtual team (riding for one of three wonderful causes) and log your miles. The winning virtual team gets a $25,000 grant for their charity. I’m riding for the alliance for climate education.

So why should you do it? Well it’s better for you and the planet of course!

Alarmingly, in the US 40% of all trips are 2 miles or less. What’s worse is that a whopping 90% of those trips are made by car (grrrrr).

Something else I learned? That the US has more bike owners per capita then most countries, but it is near the bottom of the list for using them.

That statistic in particular makes me rather sad for several reasons.

On my first visit to Kenya I remember quite vividly walking along a dusty road with a group I was working with when suddenly a boy appeared on a beautiful old bicycle. The sheer excitement the sight of a bicycle brought to many in our group was incredible. There were plenty of smiles and laughter as we took it in turns to ride the bike.



In places like Kenya and many other African countries, bicycles are often the only means of transportation for health workers and teachers to travel huge distances to reach out to some of the most needy people in their communities.

The image of thousands (perhaps millions?) of bikes sitting in dusty old garages across America really breaks my heart. There’s something lovely about getting on a bike that many Americans are missing out on. A gentle breeze across your face or a reminder of a time when things were much simpler. I could go on…

If I chose to, I could certainly afford to own a car. Some still show a little smirk when I try to explain why I don’t. This week however I’ve been reminded of what a gift it is to simply own a bike, let alone ride it! And I’m reminded once again of what an incredible gift our planet is. Okay, riding in the heat this last week has not been fun but knowing I’m doing what I can to curb my carbon emissions is worth it.

So if you’re one of those Americans (or insert your own nationality here) who have had a bike sitting in the garage for a while, I urge you to dust her off and take her for a ride this week.

Or if not, donate it here: www.bicycles-for-humanity.org and send it to someone who can really use it.

Happy travels.