Humans of Hopkins: Matt
“I’m a big cyclist. I got into cycling when I was living in Chicago, starting about 2005 or so. In my 20s, I was mostly riding a single-speed track bike, commuting in the city. It wasn’t a fixed gear; I wasn’t one of those totally crazy people who ride around without brakes in the city. I still have it. It’s a beautiful steel frame Bianchi track frame. I lived pretty far north of Chicago at the time, and I was riding down to the University of Illinois Chicago, where I did my PhD work. I had a 20-mile round-trip commute. I just loved it, and I eventually got another bike with gears and would do longer rides, do charity rides. It wasn’t until I got to D.C. that I got sucked in. There’s such a vibrant road cycling community here in D.C. with all kinds of shop rides, races, stuff like that.”