Riding Again At Sunset

I'm so happy to be back on my bike again.  Late the other day, I took a ride that wasn't a commute for the first time in weeks.  I was going to meet some people for dinner in the Village, which meant I would have to lock my bike on the street.  And I knew that there was still a lot of ice and sand on the streets. So I took my LeTour, as its tires are the closest things to snow and ice treads I have.

It wasn't a long ride, but enough to stimulate my senses.  I got this glimpse of dusk on the Hudson River near Christopher Street in Manhattan.

And this--with the relatively rare sight of ice on the Hudson--just north of 14th Street:

I did what I could with my primitive cell phone. But I think I captured something of what the light, if not the cold air, felt like!  If nothing else, they're whetting my appetite for more riding.

How Did I Ride Then?

Back when I was young, skinny and in shape--and, I must say, full of testosterone (and, according to some people, some things I can't mention on this blog)--I would sometimes push other cyclists up hills or into the wind--or simply help them get home.  I won't reveal their identities lest they or their friends happen to be reading this, in which case, you know who you are!

And I'll admit to grabbing the back of a truck or a bus and letting it pull me along.  In my defense, I'll say that I did it while riding a fixed gear, so I was still pedaling.  I will also mention that I did it only while I was working as a messenger.  Somehow the other messengers knew if you'd never done it, and that would put a gap in your street cred bigger than any pothole any of us ever dodged!

So, even though I have both pushed and been pulled while on my bike, I couldn't quite tell which was happening in this photo.  Both, perhaps?



Speaking of potholes:  OK, I'll admit there were a couple I didn't couldn't dodge.  So there were times I rode on wheels that weren't quite true or round.  But I'm not sure I ever rode on any like these:



Both of these photos come from the Guy Sports blog.

Wheels On Ice

Lately there's been a lot of ice on the streets and sidewalks around here.  Sometimes plowing the streets leaves little patches of ice that might not affect a car or truck but can cause our bikes to do dances we were never taught.  Or, the snow is piled on the sides and when it melts, the next day or night of freezing temperatures results in ice.  So, in navigating between the traffic and parked cars on the narrow one-way streets of this city, you're bound to hit some ice.

I think I was lulled by a few mild, relatively snow-free winters.  So I never bought tires with metal studs for any of my bikes, figuring that I could use them only a couple of days every year.  But this winter and last, we've had longer spells of snow and ice.

Maybe I should go for the studded tires. Or, perhaps, wheels made of ice:





Wheels made from ice?  Notice that about 3:10, in the first trial, the tire splits in two. At least he has a sense of humor about it!