Bike Bike Revolution

Capybaras for President!

2006-09-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

Capybaras United is gearing up for an exciting 2008 election. Will he make history as the first capybara ever elected President? Only time will tell.

And now - (drumroll please) - here is Capybaras' platform!

Capybaras for Energy Independence

Research: A Capybaras administration will find those energy alternatives! We'll underwrite research into alternative energy sources and encourage its adoption. Without our petrodollars, those Middle Eastern despots can't cause as much trouble.
Tariffs and Subsidies: When Capybaras is your president, we won't put tariffs on alternative energy, and we won't subsidize car or oil companies aside from real alternative energy efforts.
National Bikeway Administration: A vote for Capybaras is a vote for a fit and energy independent America. We'll fund a National Bikeway Administration that will make it easy for people to commute by bike.

Capybaras for National Security

Port Security: With Capybaras as your president, we will check every cargo container before it's shipped. The $120 million cost is chump change that should have been spent years ago.

Capybaras' Foreign Policy

Dire Poverty: capybaras need to look out for each other. With just 1% of our GNP to fund self-help programs like microcredit and literacy that help the poorest of the poor, we'll save millions of lives, make friends, and make the world safer!
Genocide: Capybaras says to heck with national sovereignty for genocidal regimes. We need a rapid-reaction military force that will intervene to prevent genocide, without being held hostage to the whims of China or Russia. Through the UN or a new international organization, or even a charity that hires paramilitary contractors, let's just make it happen! Hey, it's a tax deduction.
Silent Treatment: Capybaras will talk with anyone. Even evil dictators who we hate. Capybaras knows that miscommunication causes disaster and backs people into a corner.
Pay them off: Capybaras appreciates how far that filthy lucre goes behind the former iron curtain. When Capybaras is president, he'll try to pay off China and Russia to do our foreign policy bidding so they'll stop funding despots.

Capybaras for Education

Capybaras says, small classes for everyone! How small? If you can see them, they're still too big.
Capybaras, an International Capybara of Mystery, says "Oh, Behave!" During his presidency, disruptive kids will be booted out of the classroom (he has hoofs, after all) and shunted into their own classrooms until they learn to behave. An unenumerated right: The Right to Education for Kids Who Behave.
College costs: Why should a private university education cost more than a hardworking Capybara earns - every year? Is it all going to the students? No. These costs are getting out of control. Capybaras likes carrots but he knows how to use the stick. He'll reduce research grants to colleges that don't get their costs under control - with slower increases than inflation.

Capybaras for Economic Honesty

Pension underfunding: Capybaras knows the law - and the law lets companies underfund their pension plans. Baah. Capybaras won't allow these accounting gimmicks: let's close that gap until companies have fully funded the pensions they've promised.
Social security: Capybaras hopes to become an old Capybara who is not forced to nibble on wilted grass. If that's to happen, let's fund social security now. In fact, over the next half century, we should overfund social security so that each generation of capybaras pays for itself, not the previous generation.
Gross National Happiness: Capybaras supports the pursuit of health and happiness. To achieve a goal, you've got to measure it, so Capybaras will add Gross National Happiness and Gross National Health to our economic statistics. If Capybaras runs for reelection you'll see whether his policies made us happier, healthier and wealthier.
Realistic Budget Projections: Capybaras despises budget shenanigans. He'll make it a crime to use scams like artificial 'sunset provisions' to spend past our debt limits.

Capybaras for Healthcare

Universal healthcare: As all capybaras know, we pay for people's health care one way or the other - but when someone doesn't have coverage, the costs skyrocket. Capybaras proposes a basic universal healthcare plan, paid for through payroll deductions. Want your share to go toward a better but more expensive plan? No problem, as long as it covers everything the universal plan covers, and more. Healthy capybaras are happy capybaras!

Capybaras for Electoral Fairness

Capymandering: As your president, Capybaras wants legislation that makes districting fair and apolitical, to eliminate gerrymandering.
Electoral College: One Capybara, one vote! Let's allocate votes proportionally within each state.
Voting Shenanigans: As your President, Capybaras will make vote counting fair and consistent, and keep partisans from positions of election oversight. Capybaras will personally flog and neuter folks who intentionally interfere with the fairness of an election.

Capybaras for Online Privacy:

A heads up from Capybaras: when you're online with the big search engines - especially Google and Gmail - you have no privacy. If you're not worried about this now, you will be, because Google keeps track of everything you've searched for, forever, and it might become subpoenable and public - even if your gardener sues you and challenges your character. Capybaras challenged his gardener's character, and believe me, it wasn't fun for anyone. In combination with your email and calendar, Big Brother is back. Capybaras will give Google a gentle slap on the hoof, and see to it that Google and its cohorts delete your search history - and all other private data - that's more than a month old.

Capybaras for Animal Welfare:

Factory farming: When Capybaras is president, abusers of animals will be shot. Even if they are animals themselves. We'll also ban veal and foie gras, and punish violators by locking them in narrow cages and force feeding them until they pop. Then we'll compost their remains to help grow luscious organic food.
Organic food: Is that organic label for real or are they stretching the truth? Capybaras will put your mind at ease by setting stringent standards for organic labeling. We'll put violators in the foie gras cages.

Capybaras for Arms Control:

Who deserves the right to arm bears? Responsible bears. Most gun crimes are connected to just a few gun dealers, and we can't have that. Capybaras will put those gun dealers in the foie gras cages.
Capybaras will also ban sales of semiautomatics, and make sure all guns are registered after a waiting period. Remember: an arm for an arm, a bear for a bear.

Remember: a vote for a capybara is a vote well voted! Capybaras United for President in 2008!

13.9 miles to Riverside State Park

2006-09-04T18:56:00.000-07:00

Stir crazy after just too little biking, I headed north on the Hudson River bike path for an afternoon Labor Day ride. Took it easy except when some fellow tried to pass me when I slowed down to avoid a gaggle of pedestrians. That wasn't fair! So once we got past the pedestrians I had to pass him, of course.

On the way back I passed a dozen geese who were fraternizing in the 60's on the grass near the water. Some kayakers were also making the most of the day.

Hours later my back started giving me real problems. So the chiro says no exercise for the upcoming week - not even swimming, which I ordinarily wouldn't be into (but gotta get that exercise somehow).

11.9 miles to Fairway

2006-09-03T07:13:00.000-07:00

Bearette's friend T visited us this weekend from DC. We all had a great time. We played scrabble, heard about T's band (they are finishing up an album), and ate well. We patronized these fine dining establishments:

Il Bastardo: The only disappointment of the weekend. We had never been here before - because of the moronic name - although this is the sister restaurant to Cara Mia, which is quite good. It was a nice atmosphere though - the glass doors were opened up, so we sat half in and half out of the restaurant. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and I'm never cold, but it began to get a bit too windy and rainy. Their bathrooms are incredible though - they take up the entire downstairs and have the feel of a posh and trendy spa.

Good: On Saturday morning, T and Bearette headed off to Pilates so I went here alone. I had a craving for scrambled eggs, and they have amazing scrambled eggs.

Angelica Kitchen: We had a croquette dish which was the special of the day. At Angelica the thing to get is the special of the day; call ahead to make sure it's a good one. If the word 'croquette' is spoken, it will be a good one.

We stopped by B&N and then bumped into S on the way home. At home, scrabble was played (and won!)

Le Graine: The rebranding of Le Gamin, with better service. In the past you would wait at least an hour for your food, once a table even opened up. Now it's much more manageable. For Sunday brunch I had french toast ("pain perdu") with scrambled eggs.

Dallas BBQ: Just joking -- we have never gone here. This swamp does attract a following, with its bargain "two whole chickens for $9.99" and patrons the size of trucks.

We talked through the far West Village, by the water, then returned T to her train.

BTW for the curious among my myriad blog friends, on Thursday I set the office record at the chiropractor's: level 30 on the "Stim"! He admitted that the machine would go past 30, but he refused to increase it further. The previous recordholder got a 28.

More sets with Allen

2006-08-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

We had a good workout - I didn't go crazy (on the advice of the chiro) but Allen did encourage me to add weight to the Leg Press, which made it more fun.

Yesterday I got the MRI results back - alas, a herniated disc at L5-S1 (the lower back)! Supposedly if I do the back exercises, it may get 95% better in a couple of weeks. Seems brief for a herniated anything, but what do I know.

BTW, for those of you who haven't had an MRI, they're (shockingly) -- fun! They make all sorts of noises while you're in them -- a disco/breakbeat rhythm with funky tones. Despite what they say, it's not particularly claustrophobic; it's wide, and the area past your head is open to the outside. Plus it was just 15 minutes, with the musical scans taking just 2 or 3 minutes apiece.

A bunch of sets with Allen

2006-08-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

How many? Can't remember, but you know it's a good workout when you start getting nauseous ;-). Only briefly though, thankfully.

I've been going everywhere by bike these days, even to client meetings. Much faster than being stuck in NYC traffic! Alas, my back has been burning intermittently - probably from carrying the bike up and down staircases so much - and the chiropractor's trying to get me to ease up briefly. Traumatic especially because the weekend's so close. Not sure whether to follow the advice. I'm leaning toward a compromise: not biking to the office because of the staircase, but continuing with my glorious Saturday rides.

He did suggest a fun stretch that doubles as an ab exercise. Lying down, with legs out straight, you lift them to a 20 degree angle. Then bring your knees to a 90 degree angle, and use your arms to pull your knees toward you, which stretches the spine. Then you release and bring your legs back to a 90 degree angle, and straighten your legs as you lower them until the 20 degree point. Repeat 15 times, without letting your legs touch the ground, and you'll feel it in your abs!

The chiropractor thinks I am "competitive". He has a device that applies electrical stimulation to your back, with power that ranges from 1 to 30. Apparently I kept asking him to raise it, trying to beat the previous recordholder. Last time I got up to level 19, this time level 22 ... the record is 24.

20.5 morning miles past Van Cortland Park

2006-08-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

Woke up right before the airplane I was in was about to crash, in my dream. It was a night flight, and the plane had been going suspiciously slowly and low, not even reaching the tops of the buildings it was dodging. It lacked the oomph to gain altitude. Anxiety surged through me as I realized it was the end. Then I woke up and realized I was at home.

Just around a week ago I had a similar dream, where I got some scrape on my pinky toe while visiting Donald Trump. Conveniently a doctor was nearby. He diagnosed it as four or five types of cancer combined, at least one of them being a rapidly fatal one. Another bout of anxiety and attempt to come to grips with upcoming death, before I woke up.

What is it with these dreams!

When I woke up this morning, it was early - just over 5 hours of sleep - but it's no fun to go back to sleep after an anxiety dream so I got up, did a bit of work, and headed out for the bike ride. Pretty fast ride, without much traffic. Picked up speed on the way back as a fellow on a Serotta would occasionally try to pass me and I'd pick up speed to stay ahead. Then after a while I'd get complacent and slow down and this would repeat. Two miles from home, he actually did pass me, for about 10 seconds. Kicking myself for my laziness, I pumped the pedals and surged ahead of him, keeping that pace til I got home.

19 sets with Allen

2006-08-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

May have been more, I wasn't paying attention. We had a nice little workout.

Earlier, P took Bearette, me and his sister to the Yale club for lunch. He didn't go to Yale. A fun time was had, even with their oppressively formal dress code. Thanks P!

Bearette is trying to read this over my shoulder, but she knows the rules - no reading til it's posted!

11.9 midnight miles to Fairway

2006-08-14T23:02:00.000-07:00

Actually, post-midnight. Worked through the day and the evening (with a break for an awesome foosball tournament with MF, who has improved tremendously in just the last week), and after sending off a document, headed outside on the bike to unwind.

(It didn't hurt that I drank some 7UP Plus Mixed Berry beforehand, which claims it's caffeine free and calorie free, but is invariably a pick-me-up.)

Sped to 125th street in the dark with impressive speed. Turned around and realized the wind had lent a helping hand. Nevertheless, managed a decent return.

Fun songs from tonight's iPod mix: Janis Joplin's Piece of My Heart, and KT Tunstall's Suddenly I See. I'm sure KT is pleased to be in such vaunted company.

18.2 nighttime miles to the GW Bridge

2006-08-13T23:02:00.000-07:00

All weekend long I had been aching to bike to Long Beach, but a work emergency kept me busy until Sunday after dinner.

I worked throughout Friday until 7am Saturday; then Saturday til 1am, and Sunday til after dinner.

(Although Bearette and I did briefly detour into the Central Park zoo after lunch on Saturday, to commune with the penguins, polar bear, sheep, alpaca and pigs.)

Anyway, on Sunday around 9pm it was too late to head to the beach, but I did head out for a fun ride to the George Washington Bridge. For some reason the southern walkway is still closed, so I turned around rather than trek up and down several cases of stairs on the northern side.

Headed back along Riverside Drive for a nice brisk return!

Not quite as long as I would have hoped, but better than nothing. I had fantasies about skipping work on Monday to take that ride to Long Beach, but of course that's not in the cards :-)

Saw TBJ and A's wedding photos online - they are beautiful! A nice photo of Bearette and me, too - might get a copy.

14.4 miles to Williamsburg and NYU

2006-08-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

by way of Angelica Kitchen, where we had potato-quinoa croquettes and a succulent peach crumble cake. Angelica Kitchen has daily specials, some of which are well worth the trip. You can phone them after 11:15 each morning to to hear them and make an informed decision.

The Williamsburg Bridge, accessible via Delancey, is wide and fun - fun throughout, wide on the Manhattan half. Going back is a treat because it's a long, wide downhill; by the end, I had passed 30mph.

Williamsburg is hipster central, where the men are more into their appearance than the women. The women have a rugged, vaguely masculine look, but somehow it works. I headed to the Brooklyn General Barber Emporium on Bedford Avenue, which has a red plane where kids can sit for their haircuts. I didn't sit in the red plane but was pleased with the haircut nonetheless.

While waiting for my turn, I reverse stole an old book from a used bookstore five blocks away: an interesting book caught my eye but I only wanted a section. I bought it for $5 but was sad to do so, not wanting to deprive others of this intriguing translated book from the 70's.

After the haircut, I xeroxed the section I wanted, and sneaked the book back onto its shelf into the bookstore. They're a cash-and-carry store, with no inventory system, so I don't think they'll realize it if they sell the same book twice!

64 miles to Long Beach

2006-08-05T23:53:00.000-07:00

on this warm sunny day. When I got there, got the usual bagel to eat at the beach, but this time with Monterey Jack cheese. Tasty but a bit too rich; Muenster ultimately wins.

Bobbed around in the ocean for a while (I rode in my bathing suit) and then when I came out, I sat on the sand close to the water so the tide would rush over me. Later, rested a bit further back.

Headed home after three relaxing hours at the beach. On the narrow pedestrian path for the Gil Hobbs Memorial Bridge, which connects Far Rockaway to Brooklyn, an impatient cyclist abrasively called out "Yo - on your left." It's not the safest place to speed, but I moved to the side to let what turned out to be a bicycling couple pass me. I stepped up the pace to stay on their tails. Shortly afterward they encountered another bicyclist blocking their way, and the woman made an annoyed gesture toward him from behind his back.

Anger was brewing inside me at these rude cyclists, so at the end of the bridge, I sped ahead of them. They were close behind and tried to catch up, but I pumped the pedals hard and kept my lead. Turned onto Shore Road, and made it to the end several miles away, still ahead of the duo. The woman was close behind but the man hadn't kept up. At the end of Shore Road, in a congested section where we were forced to slow down, she caught up and bantered with me a bit. "I would have worked your wind," she said cheerfully, "but you kept sprinting ahead!"

An hour later I reached home, and Bearette and I had a tasty dinner at Salute - a midtown Italian restaurant. Then we saw Talledega Nights with Will Ferrell (and Sacha Baron-Cohen as Will's nemesis); it was very funny. Much better than the previews had suggested, but fun, stupid Will Ferrell humor as always. I keep a mental list of people who are "national treasures", and Will Ferrell's on it.

11.8 miles to Fairway

2006-07-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

Returned from the Poconos with time for a ride before dinner. Biked along the Hudson river, past folks who don't pay attention when they cross the road, and returned before dusk.

Wish I had time to stay in the Poconos a bit longer as it was gorgeous there - a perfect day.

Tonight Bearette is making rotini with ricotta for dinner.

10 miles to Orchard Drive in the Pocono mountains

2006-07-29T17:34:00.000-07:00

Took the Shortline bus up to the Poconos to visit the folks. Got a bit carsick - buses are not my thing. Helped them prepare for a get together, then escaped for a hilly ride: uphill, downhill, lots of hills, surrounded by trees. The hills are great and they build leg muscles fast. Greeted a family of deer that wandered by.

I rode my father's hybrid because Shortline wouldn't let me bring my bicycle unless I took it apart or boxed it. Bad Shortline. Actually had had fantasies about riding up to the Poconos, but didn't have time for a 120 mile trip. Time, time, time. I need Adam Sandler's remote from Click.

Came back from the ride and ran some errands in my folks' car. Headed down one road and a squirrel ran in front of the car. Swerved to try to avoid it but I couldn't tell if did. Turned around and slowly headed back, looking for a crushed squirrel in the middle of the road. Thankfully there was none - I'm pretty sure s/he escaped!

I hate reading about all the sad news from the Middle East. But somehow I can't break my addiction to the NY Times. Their website is checked throughout the day. Some time back, after 9/11, I wrote a little Web software program for myself called "Good News", that filtered out all the depressing articles! It was keyword-based, so every so often an article would slip through and I'd have to adjust the filters.

26 sets with Allen

2006-07-26T22:33:00.000-07:00

I was just out of energy today! Didn't really interfere with the workout, though no super efforts happened.

Afterward, K and I saw Clerks II. The eight other people in the audience were having a great time. Clerks II is a rude, throwaway movie, but it's pretty funny! (Very stupid humor.)

65 miles to Long Beach

2006-07-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

Met J there, and had a burrito on the beach, took in the sun, and jumped the powerful waves.

My trip there was super fast -- 2 hours 3 minutes (a good portion of that over boardwalk planks). I don't know how much was due to:

My new wheels
Greater effort or performance
Wind? (Didn't feel any)
Less traffic going down 7th Avenue (I think this saved three minutes)

Coming back, however, I didn't have much energy. Guesses:

Sunstroke from 4 hours in the sun
Much more time between lunch and the return trip - less food energy
Dehydration
Some weird music on the iPod (shuffle). I seriously wondered whether someone had been messing with my iPod, because I've never heard those songs before.

Yesterday, a mind-altering revelation! When I was at the bike shop, he replaced my bell, as the spring on the old one had broke. This new bell has a nifty globe attached, with a ball inside that seems to be floating in water - it's a compass. Headed west and the compass registered northwest; headed south and it registered southwest.

Gradually it all came together: Manhattan's on a diagonal! "West" isn't really west! "South" isn't really south!

25.1 miles around Manhattan

2006-07-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

Got new wheels today - Xero Lite XR4's, they seem to say. They look sleek and powerful :-). Spokes kept breaking on the old wheels, and the folks at Chelsea Bicycle told me my rim was cracked. They warned of dire consequences if I kept riding on it, even just a bit.

Bought the new wheels at Imbert's Master Bike. He felt the little cracks in the rim weren't a big deal as the wheel felt fine, and that it wouldn't be a problem to keep riding on them, though he suggested that the spokes would keep falling out and that the new wheels would be nicer. Does his comfort with the cracked rim sound reasonable?

Tonight, Bearette had a birthday party! We had pizza with friends and then headed over to QT for drinks and swimming, though their beautiful pool was closed - the boiler was broken. She received many nice books as gifts.

27 sets with Allen

2006-07-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

We had a good workout at the gym. Forgot to do curls but hey, 9 machines is good enough. Thanks, Allen, for the good workout and good company.

I used to belong to NYSC, but barely went last year because it was too depressing to work out indoors (aerobically). So I cancelled my membership. I'd much rather be biking, even in 10 degree weather (bundled up of course), than indoors on that exercise bike.

But there's a shiny NYC Parks Department facility nearby, and we've been using their weight room. They even have ping pong and foosball, so one day that might be in the cards.

Leg presses happened today ... I need more muscular legs like I need a hole in the head, but it's an easy way to pack on muscle and up that metabolism.

17.5 miles to South Ferry and Central Park

2006-07-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

Took a brief ride downtown before K and I met for lunch. Then headed uptown to the Central Park Zoo for some reading on a park bench. I had planned to visit the penguins for 10 minutes, but the $8 admission deterred me. Washington DC's zoo is better - you can wander in and out whenever you want!

Then did a lap around the park and came home. K cooked a tasty penne a la vodka.

70.5 miles to Long Beach

2006-07-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

with an extra lap around Prospect Park, and some bonus Manhattan miles, to pass the 70 mile mark!

It was a warm, warm day. I reached the beach in record time, and bought a pass for ten visits - more than I'll use this summer. So if anyone wants to join me at the beach, let me know!

On the beach, I munched on a delicious sandwich - muenster cheese on a garlic bagel, with mustard, lettuce, tomato and onion, of course - a sour pickle, a diet caffeine free soda, and an enormous bottle of water.

Then it was into the ocean for a refreshing swim! No swimming took place, but some battles with the waves did. The beach and the water were packed, and fun was had by all.

At home, I consumed giant quantities of Diet Sunkist and water. I think Diet Sunkist is so appealing after a bike ride because the dehydration leaves your mouth tasting salty, triggering the memory of that delicious drink. Diet Sunkist is simultaneously salty and sweet - if that's not special, I'm not sure what is. Before the drink-fest I weighed myself on the new bodyfat scale and found that I had lost about nine pounds of fat since the morning! Of course, an error due to the dehydration.

Then P joined us for a very tasty dinner at Le Zie. I had Macaroni and Cheese but was otherwise good, with salad and later, fruit for dessert. Then K and I played ping pong at Fat Cat, on Christopher, which is a game room cum bar cum jazz club. They have pool, scrabble, foosball, chess and more.

All in all, lots of fun!

11.2 miles of errands

2006-07-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

I guess it's the new gearset - I've really been zipping through traffic. Sometimes faster than the cars even when they have the avenue mostly to themselves.

Bolting down Broadway and 7th Avenue in the dark, at around 20mph through traffic, is exhilarating though maybe a tad less safe - I'm on super alert because it's harder to see the road's surface.

That's when the lights are with me. At other times it's weaving between cars or occasionally stopping for a light or two; those reduce the average speed a bunch, though it's still the fastest way to get around. And by far the most fun.

Bearette and I saw You, Me and Dupree tonight on the UWS. The critics butchered it (20% on rottentomatoes.com) but they were wrong - the movie was very funny! Owen Wilson always plays the same entertaining person, but it works. Matt Dillon's character was a pill - he was ostensibly the protagonist but he and Kate Hudson were so ill-matched that I was rooting for them to break up.

Two more spokes have broke. I think it's the heavy duty NYC Kryptonite lock that's killing them. Maybe there's a better way to thread the lock through the back wheel.

Imbert suggests that a new set of wheels would improve the speed and smoothness a bunch - any thoughts about whether that sounds plausible? My current wheels are Mavic SP12's, around 8 years old (with a label that says 622x14 - 6106). The set he suggested would cost $250.

11.2 miles to Brooklyn and the Ferry, from 2-3am

2006-07-13T00:17:00.000-07:00

Why so late (early)?

Insomnia. Up til 5 or 6am each of the past few nights. Melatonin helps Bearette but not me!
It's been two days since my last real ride.
A new scale after 1.5 years without a working one. Not bad, but -
Overkill at dinner.

I had expected to have the streets to myself, but there were lots of taxis and trucks, and some people leaving bars. I guess some folks were getting a very early start to the weekend. (On a Wednesday night!)

All sorts of repairs, delivery and construction were also going on throughout the city. They were even working on the Brooklyn Bridge - some workmen standing on the girders, somehow not falling onto the bridge traffic. I hope they had harnesses.

Strong gusts of wind would occasionally push me to the side, so I was a bit nervous flying across the bridge at 23 mph at night, with the surface still a bit wet from the afternoon's rain. All for an evening's fun!

17.7 nighttime miles to the GWB

2006-07-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

The walkway on the south side was closed, so I didn't cross the bridge. (The north side walkway would have been a pain as it involves several staircases.)

Went home along Riverside Drive, a wide, wavy tree-lined avenue with great downhills and some uphills.

K had some nice news today :-) Then we had rigatoni.

There's a list of the 20 favorite books of men vs women. The men's faves are plot-heavy existential adventures, written by male authors, while the women's faves include relationship oriented novels that take place in another time, mixed with some male choices.

64.5 miles to Long Beach

2006-07-08T16:50:00.000-07:00

I now have a brand new gearset (and a much lighter wallet). You can really feel the difference.

I sped over to Long Beach, as much as one can speed over a wooden boardwalk, and had a tasty muenster cheese bagel with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and mustard. Then I had an unplanned adventure:

While locking my bike on the boardwalk, my keys dropped and fell through the boardwalk slats around 8 feet into the sand below. There was a brick wall to one side, and because the boardwalk's super thick, there was no way to get there from the ocean side either.

The police were no help - they said the sanitation folks might be. The sanitation folks were no help, and said the police might be. There was a fair on the boardwalk, so I walked from booth to booth trying to spy some sort of wire or string, and a hook. One fellow had bungee cords, so I borrowed two, tied them together, and went "fishing" for my keys. Got them - carefully lifted them up - mission accomplished!

The satisfaction was tempered by the loss of time - almost two hours - and I had to go home without swimming or relaxing on the beach. No biggie, still a fun trip and a good workout!

PS - I now have snazzy Shimano sunglasses that automatically let in more or less light depending on the sun. I didn't want to dim the sunlight, but figured they'll keep pieces of leaves from getting into my eye. And they're fun to wear - now I know how Bono feels ;-)

6 miles to pick up the bike

2006-07-07T21:28:00.000-07:00

from the shop. Had the speedometer fixed too. For dinner we went to delicious Grimaldi's, and walked home across the bridge. Mmm. Remember: garlic and extra cheese.

6 miles to drop off the bike

2006-07-06T21:32:00.000-07:00

It needs a new gearset, and two spokes are broken. This is going to be pricey :-(. But I've had the bike a long time. Borrowed a rental so I could ride back - I'd stress out without any bike to ride :-).

The rental seems like a mountain bike. Fun and bouncy! Less control on the city streets, but exhilarating.

The weather has been perfect!

16 miles of Central Park loops

2006-07-04T23:13:00.000-07:00

and transit there and back ... with Mike.

Upon reaching the park it started to rain. Everyone else cleared out. No matter, I was prepared - bathing suit and t-shirt. We began our laps and pretty soon the rain stopped! We had the park to ourselves.

I now have two broken spokes, plus the gearset needs to be replaced. Aak. Hoping that Caloi-rider's SRAM suggestion will pan out.

If you haven't seen The Devil Wears Prada, head right over. Meryl Streep stole the show. A.O.'s review is a great read, as always, and accurate too.

Happy Fourth!

64 miles to Long Beach

2006-07-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

In the past I'd wondered where all the beachgoers were. Well, they were out today en masse! The weather was beautiful - a hot summer Saturday with a bit of wind.

Picked up a bagel with muenster cheese, a fruit salad, and an enormous bottle of water at a Long Beach deli, then headed onto the beach for an hour. Even went halfway into the water - as long as you go in gradually the water's fine - but had to leave to make it home for dinner.

I always pick up the pace when returning from Long Beach for just this reason, and today I actually made it home 11 minutes early, at 7:49pm. Had a giant glass of Diet Sunkist and a large glass of water, then we headed out to Blossom for dinner with AT.

For dinner I had their amazing Black Eyed Pea Cake as an appetizer. Nothing really appealed to me for the entree, so I had a Chocolate Ganache Torte dessert instead :-).

Tomorrow we're heading back to Long Beach with DG - this time by train. I don't think I'll be up for two 64-milers in a row but there's a small chance.

I need a new book to read. Something fiction. There are a few work-related books that I'm looking forward to reading, but I need a break from the work focus. I may give The Last Battle a try (it's the last Narnia book); the first couple were good, but Voyage of the Dawn Treader was just plain dull. (The prequel was too.) Shows my desperation for something decent to read, that I'm giving the series another chance.

9.8 nighttime miles to Awash

2006-06-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

and to the office.

Awash is the Ethiopian restaurant that once charged my credit card $8,600 after a $46 dinner. (Eventually refunded.)

This was an after dinner ride - I went up 8th Avenue and Amsterdam, then down Broadway and 9th Avenue; Awash was just a nice turning point because it's past 100th Street.

32 wet miles to Englewood NJ for fajitas

2006-06-25T23:18:00.000-07:00

I was prepared - I wore a bathing suit and MF's running shirt which wicks away water. Haven't figured out the shoes yet.

After crossing the GW bridge, took a different root to Englewood - west into Fort Lee, north up Broad Street; then west onto East Palisade Ave.

Sunday brunch was at Blue Moon Mexican Cafe, which is apparently a franchise. Fajitas, scrambled eggs, a margarita and apple spice tea, all for $9.95, with 80's music and a giddy atmosphere!

On the way back, at a bad intersection near the Intrepid, a twentysomething woman ran her bike into mine. She kept heading straight toward me, and I was boxed in to the left and right, so I slowed to a stop. But she didn't. She was very apologetic. It was the most benign fall ever and nobody was hurt, though she felt she got two flat tires from the collision. They were a bit low on air but how can you get two flats from a bump?

For dinner, K made Lazy Lasagna. Mmm. Then we watched Woody Allen's Celebrity, one of his few disappointing movies.

7 miles tooling around Lower Manhattan

2006-06-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

Today was a great Design Day at work. The quality of a Design Day is completely determined by the outcome. Things were looking iffy till MS found the perfect image to flesh out a design that he, MF, TA and I had worked on.

To celebrate (actually, to get a breather after a long day) I biked up and down the avenues of Lower Manhattan a bit before heading home.

A fellow we may do some work with, who is an avid bicyclist, was recently in Wyoming. He and his friends biked four hours up a mountain, then 40 minutes down it, at a top speed of 67 mph. He held on for dear life. I don't think I've ever reached 40 mph, let alone 67. I figure, if you have to shave your legs so you'll be pre-prepped for surgery in the event of a high-speed crash, you're going too fast!

Tonight K made rotini with gobs of ricotta - Mmm.

8.9 miles to South Ferry

2006-06-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

this evening. It's been hot hot recently -- too hot -- but evening rides are more reasonable.

10 miles tooling around Manhattan

2006-06-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

Made my way to the courtyard of my school days. Mythic characters gain strength by returning to their roots, but I just got sleepier - still have some catch-up from Chicago. Biked along Central Park and Park Avenue when returning.

For dinner, K and I got together with SH for tasty Ethiopian food at Awash (near Columbia) and for dessert at the nearby Hungarian bakery. Jealousy ensued as K and SH admired my chocolate mousse cake. The moral: can't go wrong with chocolate.

21 miles around Chicago's Lake Shore Drive

2006-06-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

I've been in Chicago since Tuesday at a conference-type get together; around 4 1/2 hours of sleep each of the past three nights. Usually I'm fine without much sleep but this sleep deficit has been a bit much.

Didn't have any time to go bicycling til today (Friday) before the return flight. Headed north from Millennium Park toward Evanston, then turned around shortly before reaching Evanston to make the return flight back. If you're ever in Chicago it's a great path -- around 25 miles partway around Lake Michigan, I believe -- and supposedly lighted at night.

Highlights from the trip:
- Giordano's pizza - mmm! A different creature from NYC-style pizza, with tasty toppings embedded inside a deep pie-like crust;
- A great talk by recruiting guru John Sullivan who shared lots of crazy and thought provoking stories and ideas. He is lots of fun and IMO the only person worth listening to on the topic;
- And of course the Lake Shore Drive bicycle ride.

27 miles to Williamsburg Brooklyn, then shopping

2006-06-11T17:26:00.000-07:00

Went to Williamsburg for a haircut on this beautiful day. Watched all the hipsters go by while waiting, then returned over the Manhattan Bridge (very fast downhill at the end!) and headed to midtown to pick up clothes.

69 miles to Long Beach via Coney Island

2006-06-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

... with a slight detour due to some Brooklyn exploration. The beach was empty - far more lifeguards than beachgoers - probably because of the slightly-too-cold air. Fine while bicycling since that warms you up, but once you're relaxing on the beach you can feel it.

Bearette was patient with me even though I was home almost an hour late, and we had tasty Pinch pizza for dinner.

12 nighttime miles to Fairway

2006-06-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Oooh whee! Summer riding is especially nice at night because of the cool breeze -- and the breath of air after a long though productive day.

I can feel something wrong with my gears though. Imbert had said that I'd probably need to replace the Ultegra groupset within a few months as my gears will start shifting on their own -- they're around 9 years old. I may have misheard the terminology he used.

13 miles to Fairway

2006-06-05T22:10:00.000-07:00

and then Cosi to pick up lunch on the way to work. A regular bicycle delivery Capybara.

I wonder whether the folks in my office building get miffed when I bring my bicycle into the office, or come to work in shorts and a t-shirt. They seem friendly and fine with it, and the porter gets psyched when he sees it.

On the home front, the neighbors seem really into it. Two 50+ women on my floor have talked to me about their biking; today one of them went into detail about the Aluminum Alloy composite used in my Specialized bike. (Don't worry, it has a carbon fiber stem.)

64 miles to Long Beach

2006-06-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

I had the beach, bike paths, boardwalks mostly to myself because of the intermittent light rain and the gray skies. Even the restaurant and the snack bar at the beach were closed.

Waded into the ocean up to my knees - the waves splashed me higher - for some time. The water was cool but not too cold and I wished I had brought a bathing suit. I could have stayed all day, but the skies promised imminent rain and the timing was tight.

As I got off the Long Beach boardwalk and onto Beech Street, it started to pour. I could have ducked into the thin crust pizza restaurant for lunch and a respite from the rain - but there was a high school reunion to get to and I'd already stayed longer than I should have. Decided to ride back in the downpour and skip lunch.

It was a experiment in shifting perspective - if standing in the ocean felt so nice, why shouldn't biking in the rain through a beachfront area? Especially with the iPod adding to the experience. And indeed, it was a wonderful ride back.

I could have gotten something quick to eat along the way but decided to experiment with that too -- to observe any lunch cravings as if they were apart from myself, in order to keep them from controlling me. So the goal was not to not eat, but rather to see how long this perspective and "detachment" could stave off ravenous hunger.

It worked pretty well. As the time passed I found it occupying my thoughts more - so it did grab focus - but I didn't feel the need to eat. I think we're conditioned to let certain feelings trigger anxiety, whereas the change in perspective keeps one from getting anxious, which really helps.

In fact, I returned home and was doing so well that I figured I'd continue the experiment through the reunion and possibly through dinner. But the experiment came to an end around 6 on the way to the reunion as a pang of dizziness hit me -- I wasn't even particularly hungry then, but figured that dizziness and nausea didn't need to be part of this experiment :-).

Not sure whether "detachment" is the appropriate term of art, but it's such an interesting concept and something I'd love to master. I remember when MF and I would work out with the Human Wall(TM), and I'd be on a machine with crushing weights, I'd try to employ this technique -- to observe the pain with interest, as if it were a distinct entity. It helped, but never worked entirely. Similarly, last week K and I were returning from a neighborhood restaurant and I got an awful stomach ache. There too, I tried observing the pain, and again it helped, but didn't work 100%.

I've heard that some Buddhist monks are pretty good with this sort of thing; it would be neat to know where one could learn this.

Friday evening was also hugely fun. Great company and the most incredible bar ever: we celebrated DG's birthday at Hotel QT, which has a little pool, a steam room and a sauna, and tasty chocolate martinis. Mmm. We met AT's new girlfriend?, E, who is personable and fun. They seem like a great match and we're hoping things go well between them. Go, AT and E!

12.1 nighttime miles up the Hudson River

2006-05-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

Couldn't go quite as fast as yesterday because of the nighttime visibility (eyes searching the barely visible path for branches and detours), but still a great speed.

I'll modify yesterday's hypothesis: the competitive effort and cadence get credit, but Imbert's tuneup at Master Bike gets some too, I think.

11.9 miles to Fairway

2006-05-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

Zipped up and down for a nice sunset ride. The first half was fast, so I figured the wind had been with me, but the second half was a bit faster
Here's my guess why: a trio of fast cyclists were creeping up behind me, and passed me. I stepped it up and kept up with them until some pedestrian and bicycle traffic forced me to slow down for safety. (Narrower paths over there.) Finally was able to speed up, and at the end of the cherry path they were standing there, taking a breather before heading back. I was pleased to see that one of them had a clone of my bike - a Specialized Allez M2 in blue. Hey, if someone's going to go faster than me, at least they can validate my choice of bicycles.

I headed back without a breather and worked on keeping the cadence up so they wouldn't pass me again -- and they didn't :-).

Bike bike.

11.9 miles to 125th Street

2006-05-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful summer day. K and I had lunch outdoors at Regional Thai, then browsed books at the Strand. I met up with MF and The Human Wall (tm) where we discussed jujitsu, tidal waves and more. Then they went to see X-Men III and I went home, read from the new Alexander McCall Smith book (Blue Shoes and Happiness), and fell asleep for an hour's nap - the long-running sleep deficit finally catching up with me.

K made a bowtie pasta dish for dinner (with feta, olive oil, garlic, tomato, basil, red onion, parsley and balsamic vinegar) and then we went biking along the Hudson River. It's still Fleet Week and people were out en masse, at least near the ships. Little kids running across the bike path without looking, pedestrian tourists streaming through the bike lane - it was good to get through that section. On the way back, once I hit 59th Street I detoured onto 11th Avenue to avoid that mess. It's downhill and wide and the lights were with me, so I was over 20 mph most of that final leg :-).

69 miles to Long Beach for lunch

2006-05-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

Mike and I bike biked to the beach on this glorious Memorial Day Saturday. Had a chocolate chip Odwalla bar for breakfast en route while basking in the warmth, which ranged from 62-80 degrees. We went along Brooklyn's Ocean Parkway and Shore Road, the Far Rockaway boardwalk, the Atlantic Beach boardwalk, and to the end of the Long Beach boardwalk.

We brought takeout from the nearby 'Tiki bar' to the boardwalk, parked ourselves on a bench and had lunch overlooking the beach and the ocean. There were some other beachgoers but not as many as one would have guessed. Then we reluctantly returned home.

The last part of the Brooklyn leg was along the bustling Flatbush Avenue, and traffic was out in force. Mike thought I was nuts for weaving between the cars when they would pack together awaiting the lights; I call it technique ;-). It was Friday that I realized I enjoy madcap biking in traffic - with 25 minutes to kill I sped down the avenues amid the late afternoon rush rather than detouring to the more sedate Hudson River bike path. It wasn't the smartest choice, but the focus, speed and technique bring about an incredible adrenaline rush.

Back to today's ride - upon returning across the Brooklyn bridge, Mike noticed that my bike bag was open ... and my wallet was missing. (It had last been seen in Brooklyn.) I raced home, and not knowing whether it was lost or stolen, froze my credit cards. Bearette and I had an awesome dinner at Zen Palate outdoors in the perfect evening weather, stopped by the Strand and sat in Union Square park. At home, a voicemail message awaited us - the police had found the wallet and tried to bring it to our door, from Brooklyn! As we were outside, they left it with our building's security folks.

It was such a relief - and so kind of them to go so far out of their way. Thank you NYPD!

The best vegetarian restaurants in NYC

2006-05-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

A friend just asked for vegetarian restaurant recommendations in NYC. For those of you who may be visiting NYC, I thought I'd mention them here as well so you'll know where to go, as NYC is a great vegetarian town. Here are some of the best:

Angelica Kitchen does nice things with all sorts of vegetables and grains. In addition to their regular menu, they sometimes have great specials too. They are not a "mock meat" type place -- they are more of an organic "wholesome goodness, close to the earth" type place. Their decor is somewhat "communal" - not fancy, but a nice group of people. East Village

Hangawi is always remarkable, though very pricey - all sorts of interesting vegan Korean dishes. Our favorites: "Tofu Stone Bowl Rice" for an entree, Mung Bean pancakes for an appetizer, chocolate cheesecake for dessert. But they have lots of other interesting dishes too, and in a group you'd probably want to share a bunch of appetizers to try the various tastes. 32nd Street near 5th Avenue

Red Bamboo makes some great fake meat dishes. Their "chicken parmesan hero" is great, as is their (fake) roast beef. For an appetizer, their Asian Dragonfly Dumplings is a real winner. They don't have fancy decor - it's akin to Candle Cafe's 75th Street location - and they're popular with the younger set. (Probably because it's so close to NYU.) Near NYU - 4th Street off of 6th Avenue

Teany is a special dessert spot in the East Village (several blocks south of Houston, on Rivington). It was started by the vegan pop star Moby along with his ex-girlfriend, though I've heard rumors that he's no longer part of it. Their focus involves 98 types of exotic teas, but I'm more interested in their amazing strawberry short cake and other desserts, and their "teany bagel" - vegetarian canadian bacon, grilled cheese, and grilled tomato on a whole wheat bagel. It is a hip and fun place. Lower East Side

Blossom is a recent addition. They have some delicious dishes and attractive decor, though they are more expensive than they should be. Their "black-eyed Pea Cake" is a fantastic appetizer; their Phyllo Roullade and their Risotto and I'm sure others are good entree choices (their seitan and their mushroom entrees aren't, in my opinion); and they have some great desserts. Chelsea

Tien Garden is a Buddhist restaurant in the East Village. Wholesome and excellent food, inexpensive, but no decor. Their nori rolls are an excellent appetizer, and their deluxe cookie is a succulent dessert. You always feel virtuous and happy when you leave. Lower East Side

Candle Cafe is quite tasty too, though also a bit more expensive than they should be. The decor at their 79th street location is much nicer than the decor at their 75th street location - I personally prefer the 79th street location - but they're both enjoyable to visit. Upper East Side

Chennai Garden's South Indian dishes are delicious yet fairly healthy, and very inexpensive. Recommended: saag paneer. Not much decor so it's best for more casual outings. Murray Hill

Quintessence is a 'raw food' restaurant - surprisingly yummy. Their combo plate offers fun variety. East Village

Honorable mentions - not quite vegetarian

Thailand Restaurant in Chinatown isn't vegetarian, but they have some great vegetarian dishes. Clearly the best Thai restaurant in NYC, I love their yellow curry with tofu. (They're also two blocks away from Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, which is another winner.) In Zagat they list two other sister restaurants ("Pongsri Thai") in other areas of town, but those are vastly inferior, drag down the real one's Zagat rating, and sully their name. Chinatown - near the courts

Grimaldi's in Brooklyn makes the best pizza around. (Thin crust, brick oven pizza.) They're right over the Brooklyn Bridge so it's always nice to walk home over the bridge. They also have tasty cannollis. For two NYC pizza recommendations, try Pinch (Pizza by the Inch) - a close competitor with lots of topping options (extra cheese is a good start) - or Vinnie's, whose slices are extremely cheesy and delicious and unhealthy.

Overrated?

Souen is bland - when I was watching my weight I suggested going there as an appetite suppressant. It's popular though, so maybe others see something in it that I'm missing.

Gobo - the food is good, but the portions are very small and the service a bit impersonal.

11.7 miles up the Hudson River bike path

2006-05-22T23:39:00.000-07:00

Got an early morning ride in -- one of the few benefits of sleep problems -- but I need more sleep. Zzzzzzz ....

62 miles to the Runcible Spoon in Nyack

2006-05-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

For some reason it's the only place cyclists go when they reach Nyack. Nice place, great collection of snazzy road bikes parked outside.

Nyack is apparently somewhat of a a resort town in the warmer months, and they have some cute stores. One of them, called The RC, makes custom shirts with your content. So I hereby unveil the official Bike Bike Revolution t-shirt!

In another nice turn of events, at my Friday eye doctor followup they checked my vision: 20/25, compared with my 3/2004 vision which was 20/60. I think the cycling gets the credit -- that when you're cycling fast you have to focus on objects that are further in front of you, exercising the nearsighted eye. Just my hypothesis -- let's see in a year if I'm at 20/20.

16 miles to Fairway and the bike shop

2006-05-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

and finally we have speed again! (we're measuring it, at least.)

A warning to anyone considering financial planning: stay away from Ameriprise - the con artist spinoff of American Express. They charged my parents for pre-retirement financial planning, then after wasting everyone's time through four long and unproductive sessions, concluded that some unbelievably expensive insurance policy would be perfect for them - initially claiming that this type of policy was only offered by their sister company, River Source. He even tried to get them to sign the forms in the office without reading them - I don't think so.

Disturbed, I asked whether the guy would get a commission. He admitted he would but lied and said it would be 5% of the first year's premium. He later emailed a correction -- it would actually be 55% -- many, many thousands of dollars.

He had also tried to get them to "consolidate their investments" with him -- to move away from Vanguard low-fee index funds and instead invest in other American Express-affiliated funds with high fees. This was such a violation of the guy's fiduciary obligations, it's not funny.

I think the guy knew their scam was over when he corrected his lie. I did a Web search for "Ameriprise complaints" and found a complaint site called www.amexsux.com that describes this exact thing. We told him by email that we weren't going to do anything that would give him an extra commission, and he offered to refund his fee.

So avoid these scam artists at all costs - American Express and Ameriprise are sleazy and evil.

14 miles up Riverside Drive

2006-05-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

Partly on a borrowed hybrid while waiting for my bike, then back home on the Specialized. My bicycle is now nicely tuned up - new brake pads, cables, handlebar tape, a working magnet to measure the cadence, and maybe other mystical fixin's.

Except - the speed stopped registering. Cadence vs Speed, the cadence barely wins out, but I do want both.

I gave in and watched the season finale of Gray's Anatomy. Two hours is too long. There's a patient on the show who declared that he's a horse of a man; Bearette has decided that I'm a Capybara of a man -- because they are vegetarian and they like to take baths. And they'd probably like to ride bikes if they could.

5.5 miles to Pier 40

2006-05-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

on Bearette's jaunty hybrid. (My bike's getting a tuneup and new brake pads.) A fun and different experience - maybe it was too small for me, or perhaps the "girl bar" changes the balance -- it felt like I was on stilts, or on a Big Wheel, speeding along the Hudson River path.

At first I worried that people would wonder why I was riding a girl's bike, and that they might think it was stolen. When I looked at the other cyclists I had to work to notice the slope of their bars, so the edginess mostly went away. Also it's gray -- not an attention-getter.

We had Mother's day dinner with my folks at a Thai restaurant, and one of the presents was a big hit -- the first book in the Nancy Drew series, which my mother liked as a kid.

We made it home in time for Sunday's stellar TV. Desperate Housewives was excellent, as always, though I was cringing with embarrassment for one of the characters. Gray's Anatomy was riveting, but I dislike the drawn out life-or-death theatrics -- I prefer happy escapism, and resent them for prolonging tonight's story with a two-hour finale tomorrow. Maybe I'll ride my bike while it's on and ask Bearette to fill me in.

23 miles to Riverdale

2006-05-13T19:16:00.000-07:00

and mostway back, to meet MF for lunch. We had Chinese food at Hunan Balcony's tasty Riverdale location: vegetable dumplings, vegetable chow fun with tofu, and Diet Coke for me. Afterward he lent me a running shirt that wicks away sweat.

On the way back I got something in my eye. As I write this over four hours later it's still not out -- neither water nor "artificial tears" nor gloom of night has dislodged it! I am on the emergency room waiting list at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary as their lowest priority of the evening. Thankfully they let me go home while waiting; I'm periodically calling to see how they're doing. Bearette says I should get sunglasses for biking - a wise suggestion.

MF might give biking a try. I think he'll be all over it like white on rice. ;-) That strange phrase was used at yesterday's dinner. Bearette had to explain it to me -- rice is white. Maybe MF will be all over it like brown on brown rice.

Over the past couple months, countless friends (that is, three or four) have asked where they can rent a bike in NYC. In this city, most quality road bike rentals are exorbitant -- around $100/day. But today I found a much better deal: Master Bike, on 75th between Broadway and Amsterdam, rents all-carbon fiber bikes for $50/day! The "master mechanic" who runs the little shop is tuning up my bike. He's highly recommended at the New York Cycle Club message boards and he seems like a good guy. I'll keep you posted.

***

Postscript: Shortly after midnight - 4:15 hours after I first came in - they finally treated me. A piece of a leaf had embedded itself underneath my upper eyelid. I was a squeamish patient and had trouble not flinching, and the doctor didn't have the best bedside manner - he wasn't happy to be there and we were both tired. He freaked me out with his banter about how if he ultimately needed to remove something with a needle I'd better not flinch. I pictured a needle approaching my eye and, unable to imagine how I could avoid flinching, resolved to leave and go see someone else in the morning if that happened. (Thankfully it didn't.)

This was my second emergency room experience; the other was 2.5 years ago. While that one was one million times worse -- I'll never again go to St. Vincent's even if I were in critical condition and every second counted -- both times I had to wait for many hours. That ticks me off. If they'd just bring more doctors in for the early evening, they'd save their patients a lot of agony. And some of the doctors could go home earlier, because 90% of the patients who were there at midnight were also there at 8pm.

8.5 miles to Duckville

2006-05-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

Duckville meaning lower Manhattan, of course. Today was B&C's anniversary; we celebrated with supersized episodes of My Name is Earl and The Office, and B's home-cooked spaghetti with tofu and peanut sauce.

Fun facts from the menagerie:

We now have three fluffy red chairs from Ikea. I love that store! CU feasted on Mac & Cheese and chocolate milk in their cafeteria.
B's mom and sister are visiting China. Maybe they'll detour to the Wolong Giant Panda Research Center.

CU needs a book. Angela's Ashes just isn't cutting it - Frank is some writer but so depressing! His later book, Teacher Man, is more upbeat. Speaking of books, Willie Sutton's partially ghost-written memoir, Where the Money Was: The Memoirs of a Bank Robber, is a fun read: recommended!

A secret: we are working on a website for Bearette!

173 miles from Wilmington DE to Baltimore to Washington DC

2006-04-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

What a weekend of biking -- 85 miles on Saturday, 88 miles on Sunday.

We prepared for the ride by heading up to Wilmington, Delaware on Friday evening in a rental car and staying in a Doubletree Hotel. Wilmington is a business town that, aside from a couple pubs, is deserted on the weekend - though we passed the HQ's for all sorts of banks. I plotted out routes til 2am and got up at 8am to start biking. We didn't actually get on the road til 10, for various reasons.

On Saturday, we biked 85 miles from Wilmington, Delaware to a northern suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. We took Route 2 (which has a wide shoulder) to Newark, Delaware, which is the home of a campus of the University of Delaware. Despite the name it is a pretty town with cafes and two bike shops, that's more interesting than Wilmington.

We turned onto the scenic but hilly Route 273, continued on Route 1 which crossed the Conowingo Dam, and followed the first five twists from this cue sheet (in reverse) to reach Rocks Chrome Hill Road. From there, we continued along the beautiful Atlantic Coast route of the Adventure Cycling Association.

En route, Mike took a tumble when the scenery got the better of him and he didn't notice a ridge in the road. Falling in Superman position, with arms outstretched, he scraped up his elbow but good, and hurt his knee and pinky a bit too.
A woman across the road had some sani-wipes in her car which we used to try to disinfect his wounds and clean him up a bit. We continued onward for a short time and stopped for lunch at a market that cooked us a 16" pizza. We picnicked on the sidewalk outside, and Mike wrapped his wound with gauze that they sold. Here's a picture of Mike's cleaned up bruise, and of my unbruised elbow.

The route had an unending supply of crunchy uphills and fast downhills -- it took a toll -- and we arrived just north of Baltimore while it was still light out, after passing through a gorgeous park and lake.

Our pause outside of a pizza shop to book a hotel somehow wasted a couple of hours, as a yacht show had driven up the hotel rates near the inner harbor. These hours weren't wasted, as the shop had an excellent batch of diet Sunkist and we consumed five cans. My phone battery was depleted in the process, so the photos below were liberated from the Web.

The locals were quite friendly and kept coming out to chat with us, regardless of whether we were on the phone or not. A cheerful fellow who was especially oblivious to whether we were on the phone or not ate an entire pizza on his scooter, offering slices to us and giving us an earful. We learned that he had flown just twice in his life and was afraid of his upcoming trip, and that he wasn't worried about his scooter being stolen because it was overinsured. The pizza staff steered us toward the hotels in the area which weren't booked up or exorbitantly priced, and we finally booked rooms at the Red Roof Inn outside of Baltimore.

We gave into temptation and had dinner at Friendly's. They asked for our drinks order but looked at me funny when I asked for a Black Russian. They're a family establishment. They're not especially vegetarian-friendly but I had them combine side orders of mac & cheese into an entree. Mmm. Dessert was a three-scoop sundae.

The Red Roof Inn wasn't bad at all, except after all that biking I needed to soak - and their bathtubs are cramped. Insomnia and the Sopranos kept me awake til 3am and the alarm clock woke me at 6:10 (courtesy of the previous occupant), but I caught a few more Zzz's until the official 8am wakeup. Usually I'm fine without much sleep but it took some time before I was 100%. We stopped for breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts (egg and cheese bagel) and headed into Baltimore and then right back out.

Baltimore has some wide, tree-lined roads -- very pretty. I would have liked to spend a couple more hours there, but we had a lot of mileage ahead. Baltimore also has some sketchy areas, and we went through them too. Stopped frequently in search of a bathroom but none were available -- the mini-marts had bulletproof glass and the 7-11's and gas stations didn't trust the locals with their bathrooms. We finally reached nicer areas, including a really cute downtown whose name I forget.

It was clear that we weren't going to arrive in DC in time for the rally, so with 36 miles to go, we stopped for lunch at a wine store/deli/mini-mart in a little Maryland town. Quite a friendly place - everyone in the store chatted with us, employees and customers alike. We ate at a picnic table outside, though Mike eventually moved into the shade because the sun was so warm ;-).

Our new goal was to reach DC before the Hertz office closed; we were cutting it close. Twenty plus miles later we reached the Rock Creek Trail, which is a gorgeous biking and hiking trail that lasts twelve miles, leading all the way into D.C. The path curves all over -- side to side and up and down -- and speeding over it felt like a Pole Position course. This was Mike's favorite part of the trip and probably mine, too. The photo to the right shows the greenery but the path was actually paved, and fine for road bikes. It is mostly downhill from Maryland to DC, and mostly uphill from DC to Maryland, so we were coming from the right direction!

We reached DC just 15 minutes before the Hertz office would close, but getting out of the park was so confusing that we missed the deadline and then some. DC has an incredible series of bike roads in that park that lead to the Zoo, Connecticut Avenue, even the White House, but no signs! A couple of friendly bicyclists directed us, and we eventually made it to the back of the zoo half an hour before closing time.

DC's zoo is the best zoo around, for two reasons: (a) it's a public park that you can just walk into -- no admission or barriers, and (b) the pandas, of course. The pandas weren't available to visit, and (alas) we couldn't find the capybaras, but we said hi to the cheetahs and a giraffe. Did you know that cheetahs can run 70 miles an hour? This photo was taken by someone a year ago, when they were only 10 weeks old. Now they are larger but not yet fully grown.

We left the zoo and headed off to dinner. Turning left at the exit, just a few minute bike ride away, was the incredible Jandara Cafe. We each had strawberry diaquiris and I had their spring rolls and their incredible Jandara Noodles with Tofu. It was so good that I ordered a second one to bring home. Meanwhile, Alamo came through and had a Jeep waiting for us at Union Station -- they'd be open until 10pm.

We had a mad ride through the beautiful DC streets and made it to Union Station with a good 12 minutes to spare, then drove back to NYC.

Mike had left his keys at home and his building's security staff wasted an hour of our time; after refilling the tank ($60 for 80% of a tank!) and parking the car, I didn't get home til 6am. Still have sore legs (good sore) and a reddish face and arms from the sun, but it's all good.

9 miles to the bike shop

2006-04-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

In preparation for the trip, headed out to the bike shop for a new light. (The original was so faint that Mike called it a placebo ... until it was stolen. Now someone else has the placebo.) As a test, I wore shorts and a t-shirt. Noooo ... too cold, at least at first. Biking raises your body temperature but to be cautious, added a Nylon windbreaker and switched to sweatpants.

13.1 miles to Fairway and Red Bamboo

2006-04-27T23:53:00.000-07:00

The key to fast biking is a deadline. In this case, lunch with Bearette at Red Bamboo, a vegan restaurant with The. Most. Incredible. (fake) chicken parmesan heroes. Much better than real chicken. If you ever visit, two other specialties are (fake) roast beef, and for an appetizer, Dragonfly Dumplings.

Not that I had an appetizer. I've been very good these past few days - no snacks. The key for me is to take small steps -- a slightly healthier substitution here, a bit of willpower there. Will it stick? No idea, but I'm guessing yes.

I'm a bit antsy about the upcoming trip -- the first big trip of the season. The weather forecast's sunny, temperatures 40's-60's. The route is longer than we expected so we'll start in Wilmington (Delaware) instead of Philadelphia. The plan is to drive there on Friday night, bike ~100 miles to Baltimore on Saturday, and bike ~50 miles to DC on Sunday, hopefully in time for the Darfur rally. I just want to start biking, but that won't happen til Saturday!

Check out www.savedarfur.org -- I encourage you to get involved, however small the way -- it's important that we don't turn our backs to genocide.

Here's hoping the trip will work out!

11.9 miles to 125th Street

2006-04-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

We love warm weather! What are these sheep doing, you're asking? Hotels.com hired them to nibble on grass around busy traffic-filled intersections in towns around the Netherlands.

I finally ponied up for a replacement iPod - mine had been broken for a long time - and it's lots of fun. These things now play videos. I had scoffed at it, but with a larger (color) screenand higher resolution, I watched episode one of this season's Apprentice straight through. Sure there was a bit of eye strain, but the video was sharp and the show was fun. The Donald's contestants are now more polished and more international than they were in the past.

My iTunes involvement got a bit out of hand as I got episodes of several TV shows and subscribed to podcasts galore. There is an excellent weekly Stanford University podcast where they record some of their speakers who give talks. Today's episode was called Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers. Apparently the point of stress is to give us (or a zebra) a heads up and the energy needed to run away from that lion. The body's long-term efforts are just shut off to help you live for the next hour -- your immune system, digestion, growth (!) and more. This can wreak havoc on us in today's society when we're stressed by taxes for weeks or months rather than just 30 minutes or two hours that was intended.

There are some coping mechanisms that reduce stress and prevent ulcers -- having friends around, getting advanced warning about when the stressor will come (so you don't need to constantly worry that you'll get a shock in the next second), and having an outlet or a hobby for times when you're stressed.

33 berry wet miles to Manhattan Beach

2006-04-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

with Lani (a friend from HS and college). We headed toward Coney Island but detoured at Neptune Avenue to stop at her parents' house in Manhattan Beach. They plied us with fresh blueberries, blackberries and nuts. Mmm. Here were the tidbits they shared - I can't vouch for the details though they're both very sharp medical doctors:

The next Chernobyl is likely to be Chernobyl: only 3% of the radiation has dissipated, and the sarcophagus keeping it in is in disrepair and close to collapse. Yes, depressing.
Global dimming: less light is getting through to earth because of all the pollution - especially due to airplanes. Scientists were doubtful at first, because you'd think the earth would then get cooler - but in fact it's getting warmer. They finally figured out that global warming is much worse than they thought, and has been warming the earth enough to more than offset the cooling from global dimming.
In 50 years Manhattan and the east coast may need to have a dike around it, as global warming melts the icebergs. Not exactly sure about the timeframe.

Speaking of berries and nuts, they thought we were nuts for heading back by bike in the rain.
On a lighter note, these photos are from the same series that Bearette posted on a certain blog dedicated to Capybaras' friends just hours ago. On the left, staff members from the China Wolong Giant Panda Research Center, hosting a reunion for the 16 pandas who were born there in 2005. Now that would be a dream job!

12.9 sunny miles to Fairway

2006-04-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

Had a fast, fast return - thank you wind! Got that cadence up too. Nowhere near Mike's Corner territory of course.

Mike L and I may have some exciting plans for the weekend of April 29-30: biking from Philadelphia to Washington, DC. Don't hold us to it, it might fall through, but it would be awesome for several reasons:

Last year we biked from NYC to Phila, so this would fill in more of the east coast
There is an important rally in DC that Sunday (www.savedarfur.org). I'm not a rallying kind of guy, but anyone who really means "never again" needs to speak up now. I encourage you to get involved.
Jandara Cafe - an incredible Thai restaurant in DC with the famous Jandara Noodles
Pandas!

11 miles to Cranberry Street

2006-04-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

Jury Duty: Day II also saw Orange, Pineapple and Mulberry streets as I headed further into Brooklyn at lunchtime. 70 degrees and sunny, mmm.

If you're ever looking to meet people, here's the surefire key: mind-numbing boredom. Sitting in the jury pool all day, we were looking for any excuse to chat. Coincidentally, last night (tax time) the post office kept me waiting in line for three hours; by the end I knew the life stories of the customers in front and back of me. 2:30am and we were a bit disappointed to reach the front of the line.

Scientific American wrote about "lucky people". Some research study found that they:

Smile twice as often and engage in more eye contact than unlucky people do; this leads to more social encounters, which generates more opportunities.
Are more relaxed; they notice chance opportunities even when they're not expecting them;
Are open to new experiences; they don't tend to be bound by convention, and they like the notion of unpredictability;
Turn bad breaks into good opportunities.

7.5 miles to Brookhattan and Jury Duty

2006-04-17T23:28:00.000-07:00

The holy grail of jury duty is to be empaneled on the first day, for a short case. Civic duty without the endless waiting. But it wasn't meant to be.

I was selected for voir dire for a criminal trial - a scraggly older man who had allegedly stole someone's wallet - they nailed him minutes later but were prosecuting him for the eight credit cards that were inside. (Lost, Bearette, does that make it a felony?)

The jurors were asked: Have you or your family members ever been the victim of a crime? Have you ever served on a jury? Somehow, they empaneled a jury that was living under a rock - people who had lived for 30-50 years yet never been mugged, didn't know anyone who had been, hadn't had any experience on a jury. Needless to say, they didn't select me.

The defense lawyer asked whether we thought he might be guilty; nobody did. Come on: between the guy's unhinged appearance and the outline of the case, of course he was probably guilty. But that's beside the point - the question is whether the state proves its case.

Brookhattan: with 15 minutes left after an incredible lunch at Thailand Restaurant, I biked halfway across the Brooklyn Bridge before returning. Yellow curries of the world, untie!

50.4 miles to the 9W mini-golf zone of destruction

2006-04-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

And a quest for sugar water

76 degrees - Lani and I basked and biked past Alpine NJ into Rockland County. Our goal: the elusive 9W mini-golf, for 18 holes and an ice cold soda. (The Englewood boat dock's machine was unplugged and I was parched.)

But instead of 9W mini-golf, we found a landfill. No soda machines, no windmill, no $3 bucket of balls - just a Komatsu bulldozer and a demolished driving range. We tanned on a bench near the rubble and turned around.

There's a police station on the way back, at the entrance to the Palisades trail. Cyclists stop there for water and their bathrooms. But New Jersey's Finest keep the good stuff to themselves - a vending machine peeked out behind a locked glass door, outside in their backyard. I set out on my soda quest, around the building - past the "No Trespassing" signs, over their waist-high fence, and got myself a refreshing diet soda. Mmm. Made it back to safety and we returned. They don't call me Capybaras "Danger" United for nothing.

12 miles to Fairway and back

2006-04-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

Woke up relatively early and headed out for a bike ride. I got to sleep at a normal time, thanks to Jon Kabat-Zinn's book on meditation, Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. There's a short chapter on meditation while you're lying down.

14.2 weekend miles, a parade, and karaoke

2006-04-02T21:55:00.000-07:00

Every time I reach the Brooklyn Bridge it starts to snow. On Saturday, it rained.

I thought about crossing anyway, but an endless throng of protesters streamed across, upset about the immigration bill. Most protests alienate me - they're angry and polarizing. But here, the messages were touching: "We love America"; "We are workers, not criminals"; "No human being is illegal". It's a more nuanced issue than they let on, but they were more persuasive than a confrontational crowd would have been.

Predictably, some socialist partisan hoisted a Workers Unite banner. They piss me off, always co-opting efforts they contribute nothing to, but it was an isolated individual and didn't typify the gathering.

The rain wasn't letting up, so I headed uptown for my first real Karaoke experience. My debut performances were truly embarrassing. Lessons learned: (a) rock star dreams ain't gonna happen, unless I learn the drums; (b) for realism, turn up the volume and the echo; (c) Hard Rock may be hard on the eardrums, but it's fun to sing.

Fun:

Jack and Diane
Janie's got a gun
Mr. Tambourine Man
Sweet Home Alabama
Take on Me

Fun despite deeply embarrassing singing:

Baby Got Back (couldn't remember the tune - listen to the original next time)
Living on a Prayer (range problems)
No Sleep til Brooklyn
Sweet Child of Mine (yet another shouting theme)

Best performances: (not saying much ...)

Here comes the rain again
Imagine
I Would Walk 500 miles
Theme song to Different Strokes

Mortifying:

Summer nights
Sweet Caroline

On Sunday night I took a short, 8 mile ride down the Hudson River bike trail to Battery Park City and back, returning 10 minutes after Desperate Housewives began. It's incredible that so much talent and money is devoted to entertaining us for an hour.

57 miles to the Garden State Plaza mall with Mike

2006-03-26T20:18:00.000-08:00

and back. The mall (and much of Paramus) was closed as the good townspeople of Paramus want to encourage Sunday church attendance and respite. They don't close the restaurants, perhaps worrying about parched parishioners, so Mike and I - trying to relive the glory days of last season's Philadelphia trip - ate at Chili's at the mall!

Let's rewind. It started to rain when we started the trip, so 10 miles in we detoured for brunch at the New Leaf Cafe in Fort Tryon park. Pleasant and rustic once you're seated, but it took an hour for that to happen despite their 15-20 minute estimate.

David: Omelette with ricotta and something
Mike ("Atkins Boy"): Steak and eggs

Tasty omelette - I actually prefer cheddar but these fancy places feel the need to mix things up, and only offered a choice of ricotta or goat cheese.

Now that it was sunny again, we crossed the bridge into Fort Lee and headed northwest. At first we tried Route 4, but the shoulder ended and the cars were whizzing by, so we hiked through the woods to get off the highway. Here's a photo of Mike in the woods - we carried and dragged our bikes around the brambles. We proceeded to get lost from there but were redirected by the friendly natives of northern New Jersey.

Hot on the trail, we passed the Bergen Mall and reached our destination, the Garden State Plaza mall, the largest mall in New Jersey.

In front of Chili's, the only place to lock the bikes was this lamppost, so we raised them precariously to fit the chain around and hoped for the best. This is me near our locked bikes. You can see my silly-looking Windbreaker bike pants, which did keep me plenty warm! What you can't see are the suspenders under the jacket which are part of the Windbreaker pants concept.

The odometer wasn't on for the whole trip, so the 57 mile figure is approximate. My fancy Polar device kept beeping so I turned it off to preserve Mike's sanity. The trip should have taken around 47 miles, maybe fewer, but we got lost on the way there and overshot the mark on the way back. Not a biggie, as more miles are better than fewer miles!

The return route was more straightforward - Passaic Street to Cedar Lane to Teaneck Road to (what should have been) East Tryon Ave to Palisade Avenue to Hudson Terrace to the bridge. I'm told that Fort Lee Road might be even more direct.

With this start to the bike season, Mike and I were thinking of possible concepts to link our spring and summer trips. Something tawdry, perhaps visits to all the malls or Chili's restaurants of the tri-state area. Feel free to share ideas!

11.9 miles to 125th Street

2006-03-25T23:45:00.000-08:00

Quick morning ride along the Hudson River bike path, before a daytrip by car to the suburbs of Philadelphia.

Good timing too, because it rained intermittently on that trip. We went to M&B's house, then headed out for dinner at an Italian place with just two vegetarian dishes. A bit mediocre but it's hard to make a pasta/marinara/cheese dish that isn't good to eat!

On the way back, popped into the Target across the street to look at their t-shirts, and picked up a few basic ones.

2.5 hours in the car each way is too long!

28.7 miles to Englewood, NJ for lunch

2006-03-18T13:09:00.000-08:00

And back, of course.

After perusing many menus, I settled on a tasty Lebanese restaurant called Bennies. It is is just a few blocks before the panini place I've gone to in the past. The food was surprisingly tasty! It is family run.

One of their lunch options was a pick-three-appetizers combo. I had the falafel, grape leaves, and yogurt with cucumber. It was all good, especially the grape leaves which were warm. The yogurt with cucumber wasn't quite as good as I had hoped but it was still tasty. Then I had a piece of spinach pie, which was a bit disappointing. But overall, a great lunch spot in Englewood!

Me: Is there a bookstore nearby?
Waitress: No, we don't have a bookstore here. They're building a Borders but it isn't ready yet.

Some other weekend it would be fun to ride to the Garden State Plaza mall, which is just another six miles each way. It is the largest mall in New Jersey - two million square feet! While most feet are not square, that's still a lot of feet.

11.6 miles to Fairway

2006-03-13T16:50:00.000-08:00

Fairway fairway fairway fairway.

30.3 miles to Edgewater, NJ

2006-03-11T15:03:00.000-08:00

Another pleasant day, though not quite a yesterday - and it got a bit chilly toward the evening.

Headed out to the Palisades bike trail, and relaxed by the water.

A fellow at a picnic table behind me was telling his friend about his three children, two of whom heeded his advice and didn't get into trouble. He told the third that if he was sent to jail, the father wouldn't bail him out. Apparently his son did get sent to jail for some drug-related offense, and after much pleading from the mother, the father gave in and bailed him out, then made the son repay the $3,000 bail, bit by bit.

The son hadn't learned his lesson though and was sent back to jail. I didn't follow exactly what happened, but the son spent two years in jail and it broke him. That was around 1992 and his son hasn't gotten into trouble since. Go, prison!

On the way back I bumped into Joy, who was also biking. Small world! Went a bit further than roundtrip to pass the 30 mile point.

21.5 miles to Fort Lee, NJ

2006-03-10T16:09:00.000-08:00

Magnificent, wonderful 68 degree weather! I hopped on the Hudson River bike path this Friday afternoon in a t-shirt and sweatpants and went to Mike's neck of the woods. Crossed the GW Bridge and came back, grabbing a diet Snapple on the return trip.

K has one of Human League's two well-known songs on.

26.1 miles from South Beach to Golden Beach

2006-02-25T02:30:00.000-08:00

Another early morning ride up Collins, this time a bunch further to 191st Stret. Very fast riding! I'm not sure whether this qualifies as the southern tip of Golden Beach or the northern tip of Sunny Isles Beach; I turned around right before the road became an elevated causeway that did not look safe at all.

Later, looking at the maps, it seems one could detour around the causeway by bearing right - that the causeway's purpose is to get off of Miami Beach, which nobody in their right mind would want to do.

17.2 miles from South Beach to Sunny Isles

2006-02-24T08:01:00.000-08:00

After waking up early, took Collins Avenue up through part of Miami Beach somewhat past Sunny Isles -- to 101st Street. Collins Avenue is Miami Beach's main road - and sometimes its only road. Fast and clear riding north - I was over 20 mph much of the time.

Hit traffic going south - I was able to pass most of it by going on the shoulder or between lanes of stuck cars, but it slowed me down somewhat. Nice little ride. Averaged 16.4 mph.

52.6 miles, South Beach to Fairchild Tropical Garden

2006-02-23T22:16:00.000-08:00

I've rented a Trek 5200 for the week, which is an all-carbon fiber bike that has a fast and smooth ride.

Headed out to Key Biscayne, via the Venetian Causeway. At the end of Key Biscayne there's a park with a lighthouse and scenic ocean views. Soaked in the sun, returned through Key Biscayne and crossed back into Miami. Turned further south and passed through Coconut Grove with its fun coconut trees and huge houses.

Continued south past Coral Gables but not inside it, through a friendly Main Street-type road, and continued down Old Cutler Road into Msomething Park and the Fairchild Tropical Garden. That's home to beautiful flowers, but they don't allow bikes (you can lock them up theough) and they charge $30 admission at night, so visit when you have a bit of time.

Returned as it was getting dark. Back in South Beach, passed Lincoln Road where some woman was handing out samples of beer to passing pedestrians (!) and went to dinner with K at Osteria del Teatro, a nice Italian restaurant here.

46 miles to Far Rockaway

2006-02-18T19:53:00.000-08:00

and back. Cold but fun - it's 19 degrees now, and supposedly the windchill brings it down to -4!

I started by crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, and in what is becoming a trend, it started to snow! Near Prospect Park I detoured toward a bike shop to buy some goggles for visibility. The first bike shop didn't have them, but I overinflated my tires there and my back tire ripped shortly thereafter. So at the next bike shop I replaced it with an Armadillo tire which feels super strong, even stronger than the heavy duty Bontrager tire! It stopped snowing so I didn't get goggles or shades.

I continued to Coney Island and went to the end of the boardwalk and back. Then continued to Far Rockaway, stopping for a takeaway bagel with egg salad. Had lunch on the Far Rockaway boardwalk in the freezing cold, tossing an inch of the bagel to a pretty white bird with a limp, who nabbed it instantly. Its friends were jealous but they weren't limping and I was hungry.

The boardwalk and ocean are nice, but don't compare to their warm weather counterparts. The gray water, devoid of the people and spirit of summer, reminded me of Steven Spielberg's movie A.I., when the boy is in an abandoned city.

I got off the boardwalk on B-94 street, which is close to halfway into Far Rockaway, and returned returned home along the Cross Bay something, which spans two bridges and turns into a highway. There's a bike lane for most of the distance. After the two bridges I stopped at a Starbucks to warm my freezing toes - hot chocolate with whipped cream in a comfy chair by a little fireplace. Not bad!

I headed to Liberty Avenue, then to Broadway, and after a detour crossed the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan. K and I were meeting DG for dinner and a play in the East Village, but there was no time to change, so I biked right over to Little Frankie's, locked my bike outside, and joined them in my ridiculous looking bike getup! (Slick black overalls that block the wind.) Get togethers with DG are always fun. After dinner we saw the play R.F.K, on Bleecker Street, which is a 90-minute one-person show. It was excellent. (It's closing in 10 days so get your tickets now.) Then I biked home in the below-freezing cold ... I think a warmer hat and warmer socks would do wonders.

33.5 snowy miles to Coney Island

2006-02-11T14:35:00.000-08:00

It didn't start snowing until after I had gone over the Brooklyn Bridge. I headed down Ocean Parkway, which has a separate bike lane (though it's intersected by avenues every few blocks), and it wins Capybara's path-across-Brooklyn award!

At Coney Island I went along the beautiful boardwalk and then returned. What a treat to ride along the beach and the ocean in a season that's so frosty! I tried to memorialize it on digital film for you but alas, Bearette's disappointing Sony camera had sapped up its new battery after a good 24 hours of being off. Bad Sony!

I had wanted to extend the trip by detouring along Shore Parkway and then returning along Bergen Street, but the snow had gotten too heavy -- not enough visibility as I had to blink a lot to keep snow from getting in my eyes. So home I went, again along Ocean Boulevard.

Back on the Brooklyn Bridge, some tourists were walking seven abreast with their backs to me, taking up both the pedestrian lane and the bike lane. I exclaimed "Careful!" and braked and turned, but apparently my tires have no traction in rain or snow while turning, and down I went in a little spill. The oblivious tourists were apologetic. Luckily I fell well and aside from scraping my shin a bit I was okay and returned on my merry way.

Biking in snowy traffic is not the safest recreational activity. There are some careless drivers on the road and if they turn in front of you and cut you off, one's ability to swerve is limited by these tires with no traction! Let's hope the weather improves.

28 miles to City Island Road via the Bronx Zoo, and partway back

2006-02-05T19:37:00.000-08:00

The Bronx Zoo does not let bikes in! Bad Bronx Zoo. They have a bike rack though.

City Island Road is a different world - a beautiful woodsy trail! When I have more time, I definitely want to continue all the way to City Island. It is either in or near the Bronx. The road that leads there is Pelham Parkway. It's a pretty nice road - somewhat bike friendly if you stay to the right.

On the way back I took a wrong turn. Eventually I hopped on a subway to get home in time. The Bronx is really gritty and run down. I don't know how people can stand to live there. I'm sure there are areas I haven't seen, but I did pass through a bunch of the borough. No M, I'm not counting Riverdale as the Bronx :-).

Tonight K, her mom, H and I had an early dinner at an Italian restaurant. Then they took us to see the spelling bee play which was fun!

29.4 rainy miles to Corona Park, Queens

2006-02-04T23:29:00.000-08:00

I have some nice photos but we're waiting for replacement batteries!

Had trouble getting out of the park - apparently you turn right onto 126th Street and go 10 or so blocks to Roosevelt Avenue, turn right (?) there til you reach Northern Boulevard and turn left onto it, following it almost to its end.

The rain wasn't bad at first, but eventually my socks became wet and I got cold. Bearable though. Afterward, K, A and I had a tasty dinner at Surya and saw a disappointing movie, Something New. From the trailer we had thought it would be a dumb comedy, but instead it was a dull drama. Neither funny nor interesting, though it took itself very seriously!

Speaking of intellectual feats, I'm so hard up for a book that I'm re-reading Dan Brown's worst novel, Digital Fortress. I strapped it to the underside of my bike bag and it got soaked! The front cover fell off.

8.5 miles to the southern tip of Manhattan

2006-01-30T14:13:00.000-08:00

A couple hours after an unseasonably warm lunch, I set out in shorts. Very silly -- it had become windy and chilly! But bearable, and several other bicyclists and runners had shorts on too. (Most didn't though.)

67 miles in Austin, Texas

2006-01-29T23:25:00.000-08:00

K and I visited Austin this weekend where we had dinner and lunch with her very cool blog friends and where I got in some nice warm-weather biking.

I rented a Trek Madone 5.2 road bike from Bicycle Sport Shop South, and brought my own saddle. An impressive shop with great bikes and great people. I hate the name "Trek" - it sounds slow and burdensome - but this bike was not slow. In fact, I got nervous at times when I'd be going too fast down the side of an Interstate - I think the handlebars were further apart than I'm used to.

Austin bicycling has its pluses and minuses. The pluses:

Wonderful warm weather in January! I'm told the nice weather lasts from mid-October to March;
Very friendly and social - around 70% of Austinites, at least. Though a noticeable minority stare at you like you're from outer space;
A couple of captivating views near a dam or aqueduct;
Lots of bicyclists and joggers;
Easy to find long rides.

The minuses:

Few beautiful areas to ride in. The Town Lake trail is gorgeous, but longer routes are basically rides on various freeways. There was no foliage either, though maybe that's seasonal;
Shoulders vary; some areas had none and weren't the safest. They weren't bad though, and usually didn't last too long.

The verdict: nice bicycling for visits - I'm sure we'll return.

The route: The "Dam Loop" (48 miles), riding to and from there, and exploration/getting lost time. Austinites call everything a loop, regardless of whether they are actually loops.

The Dam Loop route is (let's see how well my memory's working) Bee Caves -> Interstate 71 -> FN2277 -> FN2222 -> Loop 360 (not really a loop) -> back to the Bee Caves junction.

But to get off, instead of exiting onto Bee Caves again, one continues a few more miles on Loop 360, takes a freaky left at a huge intersection onto Loop 1 (the "MoPac", a bustling highway that is also not really a loop), then continues on its side until it becomes Barton Springs Road, and somehow gets to Congress Avenue to get back to the downtown.

12.2 mile night ride to 125th Street

2006-01-26T20:41:00.000-08:00

Another nice ride, in tonight's 28 degree weather. Tomorrow we're travelling to Austin for the weekend - hoping for some nice biking weather!

This will be my first trip to Texas, though I gather Austin's not representative. We'll go to a nice vegetarian restaurant that has a spinach lasagna that sounds tasty. We'll meet K's blog friends.

This is the Austin bike path. Paul Klee painted it on his first trip there, in 1923. Notice the purple hues which are a result of global warming: because Austin is farther south, non-purple colors bounce off the ozone layer and only the purple (and some yellows) get through.

:-)

12.2 mile night ride to Fairway

2006-01-24T22:04:00.000-08:00

K inspired me to take a nighttime ride, and it was a fun one! Mondays and Fridays are my off days, so my legs were somewhat rested and took to the high cadence riding nicely. I will share four secrets with you tonight:

1. High cadence riding is more fun.

Why? At high RPMs, it feels like you're going fast even at ordinary speeds.

2. Night time riding is also fun.

The same speed feels faster at night. It is beautiful and you often have the path to yourself.

3. iPods give you energy.

And music with a fast beat helps you pedal faster. Tonight was Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor.

4. The secret to winter riding is layering.

It isn't cold if you're properly dressed. Here's what I wore tonight:

Two layers of pants: sweatpants underneath, and the WindStopper overalls on top of that
Three layers up top: a t-shirt, then a sweatshirt, then a Land's End ThermoLite jacket
Three layers of socks: the bottom layer was a warmer bike sock. (Couldn't find my other warmer bike socks.)
A Drytex hat beneath my helmet: it covers your ears

And I forgot the gloves. The verdict? No problems, except for my feet which got a little cold, and my gloveless hands at the beginning before my body temperature started to rise. On the way back I had to remove the jacket because I had worked up a sweat!

Lastly: How can the same ride be 12.2 miles according to the Polar gizmo, and 12.8 miles according to Cateye? I'm going with Cateye because the Polar is wireless.

28.4 miles to lunch in Englewood Cliffs, NJ

2006-01-22T16:09:00.000-08:00

and back. I went to Panera and had a portobello and mozzarella panini, with a red apple, and caffeine- free diet soda. Mmm.

Then it was off to the Englewood Starbucks that's two blocks away for some Chamomile tea, where at the neighboring table a 40-something white woman was interviewing a black teen, for what I'm not sure. She had come from Brooklyn, and he played a lot of sports and said he was taking a math elective because he was good at it, even though he didn't enjoy math. He is interested in marketing, and participates in a student leadership organization that shows them how to be men, focusing first on their families.

There's some steep downhill riding into downtown Englewood, but that means there's some steep uphill riding on the way back. Not too much, but my legs were pretty depleted! Nonetheless, it was a nice trip! Here's a photo of the Hudson River bike path, just south of the GWB.

For some reason, bicycling triggers my craving for Diet Sunkist, so afterward I headed to the supermarket and got these three bottles:

Diet Sunkist (has lots of caffeine)
7-Up Mixed Berry (10 calories, no caffeine)
7-Up Tropical Something (10 calories, no caffeine)

The Sunkist tastes a bit off - I suppose we'll find out tomorrow whether it's that or just my after-bicycling taste buds - but the 7-UP Tropical Something hit the spot.

47 mile ride to 9W mini-golf

2006-01-21T18:23:00.000-08:00

and back ... A nice Saturday ride - first picked up the new Giro Atmos helmet and some more winter biking socks. The helmet is comfortable!

Despite warnings of rain I set off, crossed the GWB and went up the Palisades bike path. It was chained off with a sign that said "rock slide" but two bicyclists who were returning from the path said they hadn't seen anything dangerous, so I shimmied around the chain and continued onward.

I didn't see anything dangerous either, until fairly close to Alpine when 1/4 of the road basically wasn't - it apparently fell the hundred or so feet over the cliff! A Caterpillar vehicle was parked nearby. Losing my nerve, I walked across the rock-strewn area away from the edge, then hopped back on and rode the rest of the way.

It wasn't long before I reached 9W mini-golf, but they were closed! And their soda machines were unplugged. So no mini-golf or Diet Coke for me :-).

I headed back; it had gotten dark and very windy. Sometimes I needed to raise the gear to control the bike. After a while, I stopped trying the high cadence riding - I was more interested in getting home.

It felt great to take a long ride after all this time, and two hours later the endorphins are still endorphing.

12.8 mile night ride to Fairway

2006-01-18T23:20:00.000-08:00

Bundled up and went riding again tonight - warm enough, though windy! I tried a 90rpm cadence again and was surprised to be whizzing by on a higher gear (around mid-way) ... til I turned back and had to fight the wind which had apparently helped me! Fun bicycling though.

15 miles of dark, drizzly winter ecstasy

2006-01-17T20:30:00.000-08:00

Thanks, K, for encouraging me to go bicycling tonight! With my new winter gear, the weather wasn't a problem at all.

I took the advice of the Slender Volume and upped my cadence to 90 rpm for virtually the entire ride. Sure I was in the smallest few gears, but it's a process -- and it felt fast. Heart rate ranged from 160-172 most of the time -- yay!

It's thrilling to be bicycling again. Go, endorphins, go!

6 miles to lunch and Toga Bikes

2006-01-16T21:08:00.000-08:00

... where I went a little overboard with the winter riding purchases. It's a battle between endorphins versus miserable winter weather, and winter just suffered a body blow:

Bike Computer/HRM: Polar CS200cad "computer" that tracks heart rate and cadence, plus the usual speed-distance-time. Very cool, though I need to figure out how to turn off the incessant beeping.

Trainer: CycleOps Fluid 2 Trainer with stand, for indoor biking - supposedly much smoother than my older Blackburn magTrakstand

Pants: WindStopper Gore Classic Action BibTrouser - silly looking overalls that supposedly keep you warm on cold winter days ... they say it'll be fine for 45 minutes, or a couple hours if you layer with sweatpants or the like. Wear those bike shorts underneath!

Socks: Craft felted mid-weight racing socks - warm the feet in cold weather

Hat: Louis Garneau Drytex hat to keep one's head and ears warm

Book: Bicycling Magazine's Training Techniques for Cyclists, a slender guide that came well recommended

Let's see whether this inspires some winter riding!

17 wet miles - Central Park

2006-01-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

Pools of water in my shoes but warm enough for a super bike ride with A. (The Thermolite jacket worked! Thanks, Land's End.) Those biking endorphins are great!

K and I are planning a little trip to Austin TX shortly ... hoping for some warm-weather biking. Route suggestions are welcome!

My Cateye "computer" is on the fritz - it measured most of the trip at 0 mph. This time around, I'd like something that also tracks cadence and heart rate. Thinking of the Polar CS200cad ... I'll keep you posted!

12 miles to Fairway and back

2006-01-10T12:57:00.000-08:00

I'm no fan of winter, so now that we're having some unseasonably warm weather, it was time for a bike ride!

It's always a treat to ride again, though 49 degrees isn't quite toasty! Next time I'll wear gloves. It was the first outdoor ride since the transit strike, when Mike and I took a cold evening ride.

K and I will visit South Beach toward the end of February, so I've been looking into ways to bring the bike. Airlines make you 'box' it, which involves partially disassembling it, and they charge through the nose, but there's something infinitely better about having your own bike which has been tailored over the years to give you a great ride ... the size, the seat, the bulletproof tires ...

That said, it might be easier to bring the seat, bring the tires, but rent the bike! We'll see ...

50.7 miles to 9W mini-golf in New Jersey

2005-10-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

Finally, nice weather! I biked up the Hudson River, through the Palisades bike path, and up route 9-W to 9W Golf in Palisades, NY. (It's in Rockland County above Alpine NJ.)

There, I played two games of mini-golf. Here were my scores (the number of strokes to get the ball in each hole):

Game 1: 4, 2, 6, 4, 2, 2, 6, 6, 2, 6, 2, 4, 4, 3, 2, 2, 4, 2. Total: 63.
Game 2: 2, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 4, 5, 3, 3, 6, 2, 2, 2, 4. Total: 54. (Par was 47.)

Some improvement, eh?

Three gaggles of very little kids were having fun on the course too. Each was accompanied by their father - two Irish, one Asian. One little girl started running around near the "green" that I was on, and her father told her to "let the man play". I hate being called a man, it makes me feel old. But I suppose there's no getting around it! :-)

It would be super fun to design a mini-golf course. Maybe even in Manhattan. You could take a crazy space, maybe in a brownstone or loft, and design around the funky obstacles, maybe hitting the ball up a flight of stairs or into a laundry basket. If you built this in midtown it could be a fun lunch break for yuppies; Times Square would be another option, maybe on a higher floor. The rent could be the killer ... If anyone decides to liberate this idea, let me know!

105.8 miles to Atlantic City

2005-10-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

Pretty much there, at least :-)

After biking to Pier 11 (near the South Street Seaport), Mike and I hopped on the 11am high-speed ferry to the Highlands across the Hudson in New Jersey. We crossed a bridge to reach the NJ shore and biked south about 40 miles to Seaside Heights, passing places like Point Pleasant in the process.

We then detoured inland to avoid the dreaded Route 9 and Garden State Parkway, and continued south through pretty unpopulated areas. Hungry and searching for a particular road, we encountered a food truck parked alongside Route 539, its motor running!

Alas, nobody was inside the truck. After several back-and-forths along this road, it turned out the locals had mislabeled the road.

We continued on, and as it got dark we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere - aka Washington, NJ. Pretty good roads, very long, there was absolutely nothing for miles and miles except for animals and the occasional car ... this lasted for 24 miles - 10 as dusk approached, 14 in the dark.

Finally we reached ... Egg Harbor City! A suburb of Atlantic City, 20 miles away, Egg Harbor City had no hotels. But their city buses go to Atlantic City. So we hopped on one, stowing our bikes underneath the bus. For $2.90 apiece it brought us to the big AC.

Apparently it isn't wise to go there on a Saturday night without a hotel reservation - they were almost all booked up - so we paid exorbitantly for rooms at the Holiday Inn, one of the only places with vacancies. We biked from the bus station to the Holiday Inn and were pleasantly surprised to find that it was the fanciest Holiday Inn ever! Total milage? 105.8 miles on the bike for Saturday!

By this time it was 10pm and we hadn't had a meal since 11:30am (we had tiny snacks on the way though), so we popped into the nearby Tropicana casino's cafe and had pizza, onion rings and fries. Decent, though later we found that there are other restaurants that are much better and more fun in the Tropicana, in a place called "The Quarter". That'll have to wait til the next trip.

We went around the Tropicana casino and played the penny slots. Mike and I each spent $1. I really don't get gambling - all these people were dropping $25 chips on blackjack tables for 30 second games .. that would just stress me out, blowing $25 each 30 seconds or so. It might be more fun if skill was involved .. maybe competitive pacman?

This was my hotel room. Very comfortable bed and pillows, not too stylish .. the lobby was much nicer though.

In the morning, we walked along the Atlantic City boardwalk. There was some sort of walkathon going on in the opposite direction. All sorts of preprinted t-shirts. A large group of high school students were participating. I can imagine the bright principal who decided, "let's send a bunch of 16 year olds to the AC for a nice wholesome class trip!"
Here is the beach!
And here's a photo of me at the beach.
Here's Mike on the boardwalk.

And here's the Taj Mahal, with the over-50 set having fun at the slots. They're zombies there, just pressing that button over and over!

12.8 mile night ride to Fairway

2005-09-29T08:23:00.000-07:00

Super NY Times magazine article from 2003 on the study of happiness. These scientists say that we're bad at predicting how happy or unhappy various objects or events will make us, and that we have a biologically-determined happiness set-point. We may think that a BMW would bring us lasting happiness, or that a tragedy or loss of a limb would lead to lasting sadness, but we're brought back to our set-point in somewhat short order.

Only a few things give lasting pleasure by increasing that set-point - they mention social interaction and friendships, and money to get beyond a sustenance or poverty level. (I'd guess that exercise's endorphins would boost it too - go, biking!)

Most material windfalls don't increase our long-term happiness because we get used to them - for instance, being rich, buying a Porsche, buying a big house.

And contrary to what we'd expect, smaller chronic problems are worse than one-time big setbacks: a trick knee or a tense marriage affect us much more in the long term than the loss of a limb or a broken wrist, which we get over pretty quickly.

According to the article, having children tends to make people a bit less happy by decreasing marital happiness, but we'll try to forget that one.

113.5 miles to Philadelphia - Liberty to Liberty! - over two days

2005-09-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

My cousin got married in Phila- delphia this weekend, so Mike and I biked there! Yes, we're doing our part to reduce this country's dependence on oil ;-).

There is a triathlon each year called Liberty to Liberty: a race from the Statue of Liberty to the Liberty Bell. We printed the bicycle course maps and off we went - in less of a hurry than those triathletes!

On Saturday, after riding to Pier 11, near the South Street Seaport, the first step was actually a high-speed ferry ride to the Atlantic Highlands in New Jersey. This let us avoid the turnpikes. The boat was very fun and comfy. We ate personal pizzas that we had brought along, and I drank a rum and coke from the on-boat bar -- foolish? maybe. Fun? Definitely.
We arrived shortly before 2pm. This particular ferry skipped the Atlantic Highlands stop and landed in nearby Highlands, so we rode a few hilly miles to reach the start of the bike route. A chained-off road might have thwarted some people, but not us! We slid underneath the chain and biked to the Atlantic Highlands.

The route took place over 14 maps, and went through rural New Jersey. At first it was a false kind of rural, with show ponies and occasional mansions. But these eventually gave way to real rural, with silos, fields, and tiny towns.

After the first 50 miles of biking, we were ready for a little break. And there - at the side of the road - was a very comfortable sofa! We relaxed for a bit before moving on. Here's Mike on the couch.

Then I relaxed on the couch.

We continued through a couple very small towns, and it started getting dark ... then very dark. We had to stop for the night. We reached a Howard Johnson's in Westhampton, NJ, right off the New Jersey Turnpike. They only had two nonsmoking rooms left, each with jacuzzis. We took them.

Here is the jacuzzi. I looked at the odometer - bicycling distance so far? 75 miles.

And here is the room. I parked my bike inside, and we left for a late dinner.

This town was chock full of dining options. A mile down the road there was a Wendy's, a Dunkin' Donuts and a Charlie Brown's Steakhouse. Or, right near the hotel, there was an Applebys, a Cracker Barrel, and a place called Karmas which offered spicy Indian fare.

There's nothing worse than bad Indian food, and since this restaurant was in the middle of nowhere and only patronized by folks stopping off the turnpike, I wasn't ready to chance it.

So we chose Applebys, and apparently it was the social hotspot in West- hampton NJ! It was a decadent meal: we started with oreo cookie milkshakes, then shared a combo appetizer of mozzarella sticks, quesadilla slices, spinach-cheese dip, and chicken nuggets. I skipped the chicken, of course.

Then I had a broccoli fettucini alfredo with a few other veggies mixed in. The apple pie a la mode looked tasty for dessert, but we were both ready to burst.

Afterward, in search of something to read, we stopped by the Cracker Barrel. For those of you who are not familiar with the Cracker Barrel (a group that included me until yesterday), it is half-store, half-restaurant. The restaurant serves all sorts of greasy fried meats. The store is the tackiest place you've ever seen. It makes the Yankee Candle Company seem refined by comparison. They sell all manner of tacky chintz - a woman followed us around trying to foist on us large dancing snowmen and witches for Halloween, and a miniature house decorated with Christmas lights with intricately detailed furniture.

We went back to the hotel and arranged to meet at the continental breakfast the next morning. I woke up shortly after 6am - after just five hours sleep - but couldn't fall back asleep. So I went in the jacuzzi and read Reader's Digest, which I had chosen over Martha Stewart's journal when perusing Cracker Barrel's very limited reading selection. Later, we met up for breakfast, checked out, and continued on our way. We were already on Map 11 out of 14, and it didn't take too long to get through to the Ben Franklin Bridge.

This is Mike on the Ben Franklin Bridge that connects Camden NJ with Phila- delphia. The bridge is only open to pedestrians and bicyclists from 11am to 7pm, though there's probably a train that goes across at other times. The bridge starts at the Rutgers campus in New Jersey and ends in Philadelphia pretty close to Independence Hall.

This is me on the Ben Franklin bridge. There was a looney pedestrian in front of us, but bikes go faster than pedestrians so we just whizzed by him. We made it! We were in Philadelphia!

We parked our bikes outside of Indepen- dence Hall with a single Krypto-nite lock, and went to see the Liberty Bell. It's impressive to look at - but much smaller than you'd imagine. Then we headed out in search of lunch.

The place we'd planned on was closed on Sundays, so we asked two people for recommendations. The first, a skater kid who worked at the Marriott, suggested a nearby "brew-pub" called Champions. We passed it, but it was very loud and didn't look particularly good. The second fellow, a security guard who was standing outside the Hard Rock Cafe, said, "I know what you're looking for - good value, and good food." He recommended a 24-hour diner called Midtown II which had both. We took his recommendation.

It was a good choice. Midtown II had a large menu of food that was freshly prepared each day. Everyone there was black except for us and one employee. It was a low key and inviting atmosphere, and two older women at nearby tables started chatting with us about the food, hotels that have stoves or stovetops in the rooms, their kids, the weather, and bicycling. I love Philadelphia because it's such a friendly and social place. Here, you can see the chocolate milkshake that Mike had. I was "good" and skipped that indulgence, though I had eggplant parmesan with spaghetti as my side vegetable. (That also tells you something about Philly!)

We left and rode up to 30th Street Station, where Mike hopped aboard a train heading back to NYC. I continued on the bike up Lancaster Avenue and turned onto City Avenue to reach the wedding. Everyone in Philadelphia warns you about the rough areas, which include some parts of Lancaster Avenue, but from my limited experience, if you're bicycling there's not much to worry about.

I reached the Hilton on City Avenue and encountered my extended family in formal attire. I was perspiring, in a blue t-shirt that was damp with sweat, with a bathing suit instead of shorts. It was embarrassing! After a little chit-chat I went up to my parents' room (they had brought my suit), showered, and we all headed out to the wedding at the nearby botanical garden.

They had a van bring people to the wedding, but there wasn't enough room so we waited outside the hotel. Here's my father and sister. He brought a camera bag to take photos.

We gave up on the van and took their car to the botanical garden, chatting a bit before the ceremony started.

Here's a photo of J, my aunt, M (the groom), and my uncle.

It was a super wedding and a really fun party - a beautiful setting, nicely thought out, great conversations, great music. This photo was of the ceremony; I didn't get a photo of the larger garden where we ate, but that enclosed room was dimly lit with colorful lights that gave the garden a magical appearance.

I stayed til shortly after 11pm, went back to the hotel, removed the wheels from my bicycle and put it in my parents' car trunk, then headed out to 30th Street Station to catch an Amtrak train home. I didn't arrive home til 2am.

Happy Brick Oven Pizza

2005-09-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

My bday dinner at Grimaldis was lots of fun! At the right, K and ML.

Tasty pizza and cannoli - how can you argue with that? From left to right, C, A, S and AT.

Here's K and me.

Then we sauntered across the Brooklyn Bridge: here's AT, DG, J and K.

I came up with a theory about friendship and groups of friends that would explain why just because you're friends with someone doesn't mean that you'll get along with their friends -- and why just because all your friends share something in common doesn't mean you share it too!

1. The idea is that friends can appreciate different things in the other (whether similar or complementary). Fred might enjoy Sally's devilish wit, while Sally might appreciate Fred's thoughtful insight.

If most of Sally's friends (Fred included) lack that devilish wit that they appreciate in Sally, then there's no reason that Sally's friends would befriend each other.

2. Let's say your friends are all smart and funny, but don't enjoy each other's company. This suggests that you might not actually be smart and funny - that while you value this quality a lot, and seek out people who have it, your friends who have it appreciate entirely separate qualities. (You might still be smart and funny, but it would be a coincidence.)

3. It's when Fred and Sally both share and appreciate the same quality in each other, and look for it in others (for instance, if they enjoy carefree bar-hopping and like to hang out with others who do too, or if they like to banter about technology), then they'll probably be compatible with each others' friends.

17.5 miles to the 168th Street tennis courts

2005-09-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

I took a nice birthday ride along the Hudson River, pretty close to the bridge. There are benches overlooking the water, and tennis courts nearby.

K made tasty falafel for lunch, with a delicious lemon- tahini sauce. She gave me two t-shirts: a cookie monster shirt, and a Mr. Bubble shirt :-).

12.8 mile night ride to 125th Street

2005-09-20T23:50:00.000-07:00

Took an evening ride to 125th Street and back.

32.2 miles up and around Manhattan and to Ward's Island

2005-09-17T23:02:00.000-07:00

I didn't continue to the southern tip of Manhattan because of the time. Ward's Island is a neat little isthmus on the East side. A drawbridge leads to it in the 90's, and it connects to Manhattan in the 100's, but bridges are more fun.

Before that, I passed the Cloisters and eventually bumped into the river underneath the Broadway Bridge. The Broadway Bridge separates Riverdale, in the Bronx, from upper Manhattan.

In the evening we dined at Pinch - Pizza by the Inch - for A's birthday. It was tasty and fun.

12.8 mile night ride to Fairway

2005-09-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight, on my bike ride, I had a strange interest in listening to Tom Clancy's Clear and Present Danger on the iPod. My arms were still sore from yesterday's trip to the gym, which was the first in a couple months. I did 11 sets of weights: 3 for pecs, 3 for back, 5 for arms. Not trying to do anything remarkable .. just get some neglected muscles back into shape :-). We'll see if I keep it up ...

90 miles to Kaser, NJ, returning through Nyack

2005-09-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

I didn't mean to bike 90 miles today. I had intended to explore the start of the route to the Poconos, then turn back after 35 miles.

The ride started fine - I crossed the George Washington Bridge and generally went North and West. I went north into Englewood, then west through Englewood along Palisade Avenue. It's a really nice area with fun shops and happy people! I stopped for a Portobello and Mozzarella panini for lunch.

I continued north into Hillsdale, and found a few-block stretch of Broadway that's bustling and cute. Was this turning into a tour of fun downtowns? The directions were bad starting in Rivervale, so I'd already gone back and forth a few times.

These photos are of Woodcliff Lake, which is also a reservoir. It is northwest of Hillsdale.

I continued East into Allendale, and the directions got progressively worse. It was time to turn back, but they didn't believe in putting up signs on a bunch of the streets. That coupled with bad directions got me quite lost. I stopped in a hardware store and the fellow said, "Just follow any street that says East and you'll eventually get to the Hudson River. Just take East Saddle River Road, turn right at Lake Street, then turn left onto Chestnut Ridge Road, and continue in that direction."

That was terrible advice! I only found out later that this primarily took me much further north - to Saddle River, then Upper Saddle River, then Kaser, which is right below Ramapo NJ! It is six miles west of Nyack Beach State Park.

Kaser is a crunchy town and I stopped in an organic food co-op for directions. A nice fellow said to turn east onto Route 59. Route 59 is a bustling highway that has a shoulder most of the way. I reached Nyack and stopped for a slice of pizza. Nyack also had a fun downtown, that was larger than those in the other townships.

I returned via 9-W, which generally goes along the Hudson River.

It was getting dark when I reached Alpine, and the Palisades bike path was blocked off. A sign said that it closed at dusk. I went around the sign and went there anyway. It got pretty dark, and when I reached the Alpine picnic area I didn't see the chain that blocked the road until it was very close. I slowed as fast as I could but not in time to avoid the chain. I thought I was going to go flying, but the chain was attached to a post that moved inward, and I reached a stop a foot past the chain's original location.

The Palisades bike path is set along a hilly cliff overlooking the Hudson river. At times it's over 100 feet up. It's beautiful - especially at night - but with the tree covering and some bad road conditions, it's not a relaxing road to ride at night. This photo doesn't do the road justice at all - I wanted to capture the beautiful river below, but the camera didn't pick it up in the dim light. The flash did illuminate the road and the rocks, though - the road was much darker and my lousy bicycle light wasn't much help.

I crossed back into New York and arrived home sometime later, going a bit further to reach an even 90 miles.

Looking at the map online, it's clear that I would have avoided a lot of problems had I printed the map beforehand so it would display towns and large streets! Life lessons ...

13 miles to 125th Street

2005-09-08T17:23:00.000-07:00

with Mike on the way there, and on my own on the way back.

You may have noticed the absence of photos for a while. My camera phone is on the fritz! But today, K's new Sony camera arrived. It takes much sharper pictures! I'll be borrowing it for bike rides ...

12.8 miles to Fairway

2005-09-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

... at a good speed.

This evening, I tried out that NYC foosball doubles tournament. It's a really talented group of foosers :-). My partner was Donna; she and her boyfriend, who was on another team, will return to Edinburgh, Scotland tomorrow, after doing an apartment swap for a month. We lost both times, but got in some good shots. I played defense and scored twice from there. I blocked some shots but let in others.

There was only one table for around 16+ players. So that meant a lot of waiting and watching - one three-game set, and another one-game set, in 2 1/2 hours. I'll probably return, but not that often.

Will gave me some good advice: with these champion foosers, you need to keep your men in motion to make it harder for your opponent to set up a direct shot.

30 miles to Central Park and four loops around it

2005-09-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

I rode with Kevin, who is originally from North Carolina. He thought he did the loops at an 18-19 mph average speed, but he really rides much faster. That's what cross-training 3 hours each day with no odometer will do, I guess!

12.8 mile night ride to 125th

2005-09-04T23:25:00.000-07:00

It was a fast ride!

Why no long ride this past weekend? K and I just returned from a brief weekend in the Pocono mountains where bike time was replaced with tennis, foosball and billiards. In my teens, I was quite the foosball player. Now may be the time for a comeback in a NYC foosball tournament :-).

BTW, congratulations Mike on your ride to Bear Mountain today! We want photos!

13 miles to Fairway

2005-09-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

Met up with Mike on the way back, and we rode together.