walking a bridge on weakening cables

so we were all excited about the first shop ride of the season, last sunday morning, the great lakes cycling crew getting together and hitting the road at 9:00 a.m. sharp to kick off a new season of sunday morning group rides. and while the weather had been nice up to that point, soon after we headed off a thunderstorm slipped in, big drops of rain pounding down at about 42 °F, and just like that we were spraying each other with grit-laden stream of water, soaked and chilly. but loving every minute of it. it was actually not easy for me to keep up with the carbon-fiber guys, bruised ribs and all, but it is never really a bad thing to be out riding a bicycle. i was a little sorry i had gone to so much trouble to clean and lube the izumi super toughness chain the night before, but hey - i got to do it all over again.

last night after uploading to flickr the pictures i took that afternoon along fleming creek (i let my class out a little early and had the brilliant idea of checking out the bot gardens, where i hadn't gone in quite some time) i poked around looking at other photos tagged with "ann arbor", sort of an exercise in vanity, and found myself somewhat disturbed by the description accompanying this picture

overbuildingannarbor?please.the loudest complaints i heard about this project were from the condo dwellers in one north main who didn't want their skyline views interrupted. and we didn't want that building built either, but somehow, here we are.

i was tempted to respond but thought the better of it. it just seemed so precious - or maybe parochial, or%20even chauvanistic. i am tired beyond lucid description of persons wanting ann arbor to be the small town that isn't really a small town, but is still like a small town, but isn't really like a small town, but is small anyway. what i grieve is the loss of open space and woodlands and waterways, which i have seen in my lifetime of living here. the only sensible answer is to develop the urban core, to build up instead of out. unless of course you believe you can somehow keep the people out, and impose restrictions on who moves in. and that would be one slippery slope.

part of the reason i don't even want to get started arguing with these people is that i would be compelled to bring up my lifelong residence in town, and i find that distasteful. my "native" status is a combination of accident, intent, coincidence and resignation, and ultimately adds up to something totally uninteresting. even so there are some people who always need to bring that sort of thing up. now and again i see these bumper stickers that say "ann arbor native- right from the start", and i just want to stop those cars, and drag those driver out ontothe street, and pour something corrosive all over their shoes while they wring their hands in apoplectic angst. i love this placeas much as anybody does, or even could, but guess what: the forces working on it are larger than me. i'm not powerless but i am only a part of the flow. are you happy that pfizer is leaving town and taking thousands of intelligent jobs with them? are you angry at google for opening their adwords office here instead of in scio township? do you ever just wish you could decide who stays and who goes?

anyway. i am ranting and it is late. go ride your bicycle. spring has come 'round again, and honor her by going 'round yourself.