Day One

Part One
April 7, 2008

Leaving Minneapolis:

Five days ago I drove from Traverse City to Mankato Minnesota for a client – job. I decided to take my time rather than pushing the limits from airport to airport. If given enough advance planning driving can be relaxing. I also decided to take Emma with me. We crammed into my 1990 Saab 900 Turbo convertible, strapped my bike on the back and pointed the car west and north for 800 some miles.

I’d not been in the Twin Cities for some time and the changes were interesting to see. For the first time I stayed in the TownSuites on North 2nd street. It’s just north of downtown in the old warehouse district. I remember the entire area as a big muddy lot with salvage yards and thick weeds. When I left town in 1990 the first of the condos had been developed from renovated warehouses. But this new site was different. There used to be a pretty clear gap between the big buildings on Washington and the renovated dwellings closer to the river. Now the entire gap is filled in with various sizes and shapes of condominium units. For several years I dated a woman who rented a studio space at 700 North Washington, now all condos too, and situated directly behind the hotel. Gentrification doing its damdest. My friend Kate always predicted it would go this way. She'd seen it all before.... artists taking the financial and safety risks of moving into a depressed neighborhood, paying rent for years, then being dumped on the street. It presented an odd nostalgia for me.

While in town I took several rewarding bike rides around the city. Up and down Nicollet Mall, over to the Walker Art Center, along the river on the Great Rounds Trail. It’s a city vibrant with bicycle life. Everywhere I looked, and probably 50% of the bikes I saw downtown, were fixed gear rides. You do get the feeling it’s a full-fledged fad here. Middle-class kids looking urban and riding $700 Bianchi Pistas. It makes me grateful for the still rare occasion in Traverse City to glimpse a fixed ride. Gives me the notion that what I’m doing is still esoteric. At least my funky studded tire mountain bike stood alone. No one riding anything as practical as that here.

Emma accompanied me on several of these tours. She’s a good traveler, whether sitting next to me in the car or running alongside while I ride. She paces at a comfortable trot with occasional urgings to stop in a park or sip from a stream. I indulge her where I can and offer her undoubtedly delectable treats from my pockets.

I dropped Emma off this morning at my old friend Andrea Stern’s place. She’ll watch the pooch until Claudia flies in from the west coast tonight. A precise handoff of shared canine. Claudia and I haven’t seen each other in weeks, and won’t for quite a bit more time.

Now the land of the pyramids is calling... birth place of civilization and the home of some of the oldest and richest cultural treasures in the world.