Riding the Near Eastside

I get to share two things I love—bicycling and my neighborhood

It gives me joy to guide a weekly bicycle ride through our Near Eastside parks and neighborhoods.

It combines my love for cycling with my love for this urban community—with all its diverse wonder and weirdness.

I actually have the opportunity to pedal to and through our neighborhoods with friends on a routine basis and reveal a bit of our diverse community assets, historic places, hidden gems, emerging stories, and developing changes.

I’ve been kicking around the Near Eastside since 1987 and every time we ride through the area, I experience something I’ve not before noticed. It’s a way of tuning in and focusing on small things as well as taking in a bigger picture. Our community keeps teaching me. My appreciation and concern grows.

Our routes vary each week as we focus on different aspects of the Near Eastside: schools, churches, taverns, commercial life, nonprofit impact, distinct housing architecture, city parks, social dynamics, notable trees, community gardens, pocket parks, interesting yard art, porch life, distinct neighborhoods, and the histories and stories that abound.

I’m grateful for this community and the sense of place I’ve come to share in it. I enjoy gliding through the extent of it weekly and sharing it with others.