What did I see this morning, as I began my fourth week (!) in my new apartment? Marlee has been cuddling with me even more than she had been in the old apartment--and that's saying something.  I wonder whether she's scared about being in a new and possibly strange place.  Or does she like my body more because I've gained weight? At least, I feel as if I have. As you might imagine, I haven't done a lot of cycling, at least compared to what I normally do.   If I have gained weight, however, it may have as much to do with how I've been eating.  Last night, I realiz ..read more

Today is a holiday most people don’t know about—unless, of course, they read this blog.? It’s interesting, and perhaps unique, in that it doesn’t commemorate the thing for which it’s named. Believe it or not, today is Bicycle Day.  I’m sure that some club or another has a ride marking this day.  And I’m sure at least one of the riders has dressed or made themself up to look like the man who, however unwittingly, made this day Bicycle Day. On this date in 1943, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann rode his bike home after taking a mild dose (or so he thought) drug he synthesized severa ..read more

 Someone drives illegally. They* strike and kill a cyclist. That driver has been sentenced to… ** …five months in jail. Oh, and the badass judge tacked 40 hours of “community service” and “no more than five years” of probation. Call me cynical, but I think the judge handed a sentence, light as it is yet still harsher than most for similar infractions because: the cyclist was a priest and as Paul Walsh, a reporter for the Minneapolis  Star-Tribune noted, Trejean D. Curry had “a penchant for driving without a license.” A “penchant for driving without a license.” According to a court ..read more

 Today I rode to, and along, a river. It wasn’t the Hudson or East River—the latter of which isn’t a river. And I didn’t leave the city.  In fact, I didn’t have to go far from my new neighborhood. The Bronx River cuts through the New York Botanical Garden, my building’s next door neighbor. Cycling isn’t allowed in the Garden. There are, however, trails along other parts of the only freshwater river in New York City and near its source in Westchester County. I remember seeing the river decades ago, probably during a trip to the Bronx Zoo. Then, the water was barely visible b ..read more

 Some day—perhaps soon—I’ll believe that I’ve moved to the most wonderful neighborhood in the universe. As much as I love my new apartment (even if it is smaller than my old one), its views and its light, and as friendly as my neighbors have been, there are still things I miss about Astoria. Those things include, of course, my friends—with whom I’ll try to stay in touch.  Also, it had, if not the best, then some of the best, of New York:  It’s about as close as you can get to Manhattan without being there, but it doesn’t have the self-conscious hipsterism of Williamsburg, Greenp ..read more

 When I was in high school, I took my first organized charity bike ride. It was in the Spring of 1976: the tide of the 1970s Bike Boom was ebbing and few (at least compared to today) adults rode bikes.  In fact, most had not pedaled since they were kids, if they ever had ridden. That is what made some of my sponsors hesitant before signing up:  They simply could not imagine anyone riding the distance of that ride: 25 miles.  Little did they know that I had already done rides twice and three times as long and a “century” was not far in my future. Of course I finished that ri ..read more

  I didn’t create this Instagram reel.  But I was in the vicinity—near the World Trade Center—on Tosca, my Mercian fixed gear bike. Someone confirmed what I suspected: Many of the people were students or teachers at a nearby high school and college. What could be more educational than seeing a solar eclipse, even if we were about four hundred kilometers away from the path of totality ..read more

 It isn’t easy being green ..read more

 What might you have in common with Miguel Indurain? Well, not five Tour de France victories—unless you’re Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Mercx or Bernard Hinault. Otherwise, it’s most likely that if you share any experience with the Basque legend, it’s that of having your bike stolen. Last month, he was prepping for the six-day Titan Desert mountain bike race when his machine was taken from a van parked outside a hotel in Vilaseca, a Catalonian town where Indurain was staying. Now, if you’re lucky, you might have another commonality with him: one that might seem almost as rare as five Tour de Fr ..read more

Yesterday I rode—on Tosca, my Mercian fixed gear— for the first time since my move.  It was a short trip, past the Garden and Zoo, but it felt good to do something not move- or work-related. Although I’d previously done some cycling in this area, as Anniebikes says in her comment, there’s more to explore.  Even after 21 years of living in Astoria, I found new rides and variations on familiar ones. My new apartment has nice views and is much lighter and airier than my old place.  I wonder:  Will the sun steaming in my window energize me to ride more?Will the fog creeping ..read more