Lisa didn't start her seminars until Monday so Sunday, we walked over to Central Park, two blocks west, as we stayed at a hotel in the middle of Upper East Side. We got to Central Park and went to cross the main street loop just after breakfast and were dumb founded by the traffic. It was ALL bicycle traffic and some joggers and a few roller blade-ers, but about an STPs worth of bicycles!
There I was, for a week in the Big Apple, Lisa would be at her classes at CU from 8-4 and I would be touring around . . . on foot? Seeing all those bikes in Central Park on Sunday and then the bike lanes and the sheer number of commuters and recreational riders had me frothing. I MUST RIDE IN NYC! I immediately thought to rent a bike and tour the city that way. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was contemplating purchasing a single speed for the coming winter. It dawned on me, this town might have a few bike shops that I could haunt for some insight, rentals, test rides and whatnot. Come Monday, I was gonna do some ground work.
It became my mission. Soon, I was absolutely possessed. It was the perfect distraction. I went to the hotel's computer room and started Googling bike shops in NYC. The first bike shop I hit, I asked for costs to rent a road bike and a helmet. Fifty bucks a day. No matter which bike shop I visited, it was patently the same. Hmm, five days riding, that's $250 bucks I'd never see again. Two hundred and fifty bucks, that's nearly half the cost of a mid-ranged single speed. I'd been looking at getting a Specialized Langster and they've been around $650 - $850+. Nah, I couldn't spend $250 to rent when it could go toward a solid purchase.
The bike shops started pointing me to Lower East Side. I found a "Recycle Cycle" or something down there and I knew from all of the Law & Order shows Lisa makes me watch (ah, I like 'em too) that the Lower East Side is where all the shit hits the fan so to speak. Bodies end up in the East River mostly. The Hudson is on the west side and it's a bit more upscale there. Actors bodies are found dead from overdoses there. Bankers who've pilfered their customers nest eggs get arrested there. You know, white collar upscale crap happens there.
So I walk into this place and waited for the . . . any body to kinda pay attention to me. I remember looking around and wondering where any of the bikes for sale were. Most of them were tagged for repairs. Of course, I was looking for a used bike in my size and when I finally got someone's attention, he said they had a used road bike my size for $75 but it wouldn't be ready until Friday. DAMN, that close. That'd be one day on a piece o' crap for $75. NOPE! Not gonna do it. That did it, I'm officially, in the market!!
Some would think I'm nuts. And, to some degree, I am. Who goes to NYC and doesn't visit the museums and galleries and theaters and clubs and the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building and all that tourist crap that people who go places do. I called my cousin in Allentown but he was down with a pulled achilles or something so I'd've had to rent a car and drive down their and deal with the traffic and gas and . . . fuggetaboutit! I was shopping for a bike dammit and nobody, place or thing was going to stop me from achieving what we Americans cherish above all else!Yeah, we're sick that way. But the pros of this particular purchase far outweighed any conceivable cons. Single speeds have one cog, thus one gear. If you flip the rear wheel, the flywheel hub is converted into a fixed hub and your immediately thrust into an elite status, a "fixie rider" or just plain "fixie". Well, I'm no bike messenger so flywheel coaster it would be . . . if I got one. So, I picked up a great bicycle map of Manhattan (http://www.nycbikemaps.com/maps/nyc-bike-map/) and began to strategize my way around to (honestly) almost every damn bike shop on the Island.
Now, you know, I was already testing and eying and asking about Langsters and sizes and costs and styles. I was really wanting to get a NYC styled Langster. It was taxi cab yellow with a stripe of black and white checkers. Come on! THAT'd be WAY cool! But, I didn't see a one. Next on my list, was a Seattle version. I did see one, green with white walls and handlebar tape but it just didn't really do anything for me. Yeah, GENUINE IMITATION WOOD VENEER fenders with a . . . handlebar mounted coffee cage. Really? REALLY!?! Nope. That's just not me. Then there was the Tokyo model. Race track style white taped handlebars with a black/white/gold/maroon frame in Asian stylized images and fonts an' stuff. Way cool! Too cool! Too pretty! I wanted something to ride in the Pacific NW winter, not a show piece I'd feel guilty about every damn time I didn't religiously wipe down with a chamois cut from royal baby swaddling.
Nope. Too much to worry about, really. Yeah, she's a beaut, but I was looking for something more of a beast. Besides, I'd be riding this thing all around NYC and I didn't want to get mugged right off of my brand new bike! Hey, I'm from Jersey and I don't know shit about NYC. Anyway, if I could avoid undue paranoia, I would. So, I searched and searched and finally found Jack-Jack at Toga's Gotham City Bikes in Tribeca (http://togabikes.com/storelocator/gotham-bikes-downtown-2.htm).He felt just right but the size was rather small for me I thought, 56 cm. I had doubts and thought maybe I should try a larger size. But the more I thought and the more I inevitably rode 'im, the more right he felt. I tried a Giant single speed at a shop on Upper West Side and it was a 58 cm steel frame but when I tried to go up an incline along the Hudson River bike path, I had to jump off. That bike was too something and I couldn't put my finger on it, exactly. Jack-Jack on the other hand, allowed me to wrench his aluminum frame with some decent leverage rather easily and the inclines were much more possible. So, I had texted Lisa a picture of Jack-Jack. We'd already discussed the logic of buying a new bike in NY and shipping it home and all so she was cool with it. And, I knew she wished to join in the fun as well, but it wasn't to be. Not on this trip. (I definitely married the right woman). So I bought 'im!
What now? RIDE! That's what!! Where? Friggin' A, the whole city is has bike paths/lanes and people were riding all over the place! So let the adventure begin (or continue as it may). I set out the very next day touring NYC the best way I could imagine, on bike! I hit the Hudson River trail on my ride back to the hotel and detoured through Central Park. It was AWESOME. Lisa was excited for me and I took her out for a few drinks and then to dinner and whatever else she wanted to do. We hit the town and had a blast.
The Manhattan Bridge.
http://www.nycbikemaps.com/spokes/video-bike-ride-across-the-manhattan-bridge/
The Williamsburg Bridge.
(no video, yet)
The Queens-borough Bridge.
The Pulaski Bridge.
(no video)
Broadway Bike Lane.
http://www.nycbikemaps.com/spokes/video-bike-ride-down-broadway/
And perhaps my newfound, most favorite-est bridge of all time--and for now Lisa has the pic on her cell and I haven't downloaded it yet but will upload a Panoramio image as a placeholder--has to be the pedestrian drawbridge that crosses from Manhattan Island to Randalls/Wards Island. You read that right, it's a pedestrian drawbridge! Un-F-ing-believable! Only in NYC could the masses get a drawbridge specifically for . . . walking/bicycling. I have to tell you, we had to walk across it and I had to ride across it. It should symbolize the future of transport!
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