Revolutions

Last week was my first week of commuting via two wheels almost every single day, to school and to work. Despite vowing to do so two years ago when I moved back to the United States, it took a car accident on the second day of classes to finally get me to say FUCK ALL THAT. The next morning I got myself a bikeways map, found the safest route bypassing one of Houston’s busiest streets, and got back in the saddle.

Wednesday I rode to class at 1 p.m. and rode home at 7 p.m. through the Greater Third Ward. Part of what has made me more willing to get on the bike is the cooler weather. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still damn hot in Houston but it’s less make-you-think-you’re-gonna-die hot. (The other convenience factor is that bike and motorcycle parking is available just outside the building where most of my classes take place.) The cooler weather is also what made part of my bike ride home so pleasant.

Much of Houston’s third ward is still filled with shotgun shacks and decidedly low-income families. Most of these families, I would venture to guess, don’t have air conditioning. On Wednesday night almost every single house I passed on Alabama and Holcomb had people sitting outside on their porch or front yard.

I saw a one-legged man walking down the street on crutches. I saw three preteen girls singing pop songs in harmony. I saw an elderly couple sitting silently with each other, dudes barbecuing, and what appeared to be an ENTiRE GAME NIGHT (dominos, checkers, cards and even board games) on another front lawn.

Earlier this summer, David Byrne wrote about his bike ride through Houston the afternoon before his show at Jones Hall, and he wrote about seeing my city — hell, my own neighborhood in a way that I had never seen it.

Thursday (and today), because I had to get from one place to another quite quickly and cleanly, I rode my scooter, which takes me through the most direct route. But I am still convinced that two-wheel commuting is the way to go. I even have a rain plan — city bus 42 stops the next street over and takes me directly to U of H, in about the same amount of time it takes me to bike it.

I can’t wait to see something new tomorrow.