Two wheels: one Dot

It doesn't matter how you get around Dorchester as long as you are in it. I usually use two feet, the T, or my little Ninja motorcycle. I've decided to add another tool to my kit: a bicycle. Dorchester is bicycle-friendly overall.

There are hills in the Dot. There is a Mount Bowdoin and a Pope's Hill and some other slopes that are steeper. None of them are insurmountable. You only need one gear and chutzpah to stand on the roof of Dorchester and, by extension, all of Boston. You need the gumption to reach your destination and then you will be master or mistress of all you survey. Dorchester is a blooming onion, but you have to pass through all the layers in close contact to appreciate its hard-earned musk and savor.

I bought a bicycle today. I intend to take it to work pinioning along Dorchester side streets. Good intentions, of course, are Dorchester's bitter pill to swallow. I intend to swallow it, for good or ill effect, one back lane at a time. At high speed and low speed, Dorchester has never disappointed me. At medium speed, on a bicycle, I will drink up every dram the Dot has to offer. Streets are a community's arteries, the more people on them the better. Cars are coffins.

Some bicyclists make Dorchester home and they love it the way everyone in Dorchester comes to love this neighborhood. Many, many peole live here, love here and learn here.