Not In The Forecast

After yesterday's rain, it was nice to commute under clear skies.  However, a rainstorm that wasn't in the forecast drenched the campus this afternoon.  And I hadn't covered the Brooks saddle on Vera!

When I finally got outside, the rain had stopped. 

I hope this is a good omen for Vera's saddle--and a lot of other things!  Does catching only the tail-end of a rainbow count?

Lightweight With A Straight Face

In my post "Beauty Among The Ruins", you may have noticed a bike I haven't previously mentioned or shown on this blog.

It's a 1966 Schwinn Collegiate.  So what was it doing in that post?

You guessed it--I now own the bike.

This bike comes with a Bendix coaster brake.  Now, if you know anything about Schwinns from that period, you'd know that is unusual.

You see, Collegiates came as three-speeds (with a Sturmey Archer hub) or five-speeds (with a Schwinn-approved rear derailleur, which was a rebadged Huret Allvit).  In 1966, nearly all derailleur-equipped bicycles came with downtube shifters.  That is the reason for the boss on the downtube--which can be used only with Huret shifters.

At some point, someone turned it into a single-speed.  Interestingly, the wheel is what would have been stock on the Schwinn Breeze, which was, in essence, a Collegiate with a single-speed coaster brake.

It even has the chainguard!  And, in those days, Schwinn welded on fittings for accessories like chainguards--as well as cable guides (which are found on this bike), shifter bosses--and kickstands!

The bike is a tank.  I'd forgotten how heavy these Schwinn "lightweight"  models were.  Even at that time, I still don't understand how Schwinn could have called this--or almost any bike in their lineup save for the Paramount or Superior--"lightweight" with a straight face.  This Collegiate must weigh at least twice as much as my heaviest Mercian!

But I think I'm going to keep it for local errands or as a loaner. I'm probably going to put a basket on it.  And I'll definitely change the seat: It's something I'd never ride, and it's not the original, or anything like it.

I didn't pay much for it.  And, if you've been reading this blog, you know the answer to this question:  Would I turn down a bike with a color like that?

It's a bit small for me. But at least there was enough seat post to get something like a fit.  If I keep those bars (the originals), I might go for a stem with a longer extension.  And I'll need to change the tires:  The current ones are dry and cracking.  But I don't want to change much else: This bike is made to take a beating.  And, although I don't intend to do a perfect 1966-style restoration on it, I don't plan on turning it into a Frankenbike, either.

Color For Today

Some rainy days are cheerful, with raindrops pattering against leaves and windows, and  a soft hiss rising from the plume of a spinning wheel.

Today has not been such a day.  It's just been dreary:  The rain simply drones on, and even though houses are festooned with holiday decoration, somehow there seems to be scarcely a hint of light.

So, I though I might cheer you (and myself) up by offering some color.  This can be seen just a few blocks from my apartment:

  

The owners of the house have put on an impressive display every year I've been in this neighborhood.  Here's  one side of the display:

Some things in it have been constant, like this lovely young lady:

And then there are the concessions to the times:

Tosca simply can't get enough:

After that, we did the ride I described yesterday and, from the Jersey City waterfront, watched daylight giving way to twilight and the lights of the New York Skyline:

A New Randall's Island Bridge For Cyclists?

Today I took a ride to New Jersey, along the Palisades and through Jersey City, Bayonne and Staten Island. From the Island, I took the ferry to Manhattan and cycled up to the 59th Street Bridge, and home.

I've done this ride any number of times before.  However, along the way, I took a little detour on Randall's Island.  

Earlier this year, I'd read that the city planned to build a pedestrian/bicycle bridge from the Island to the Bronx.  Right now, it's possible to use the walkways on the Triborough (RFK) Bridge.  That's exactly what I did today. However, those walkways have their own perils for cyclists.

The Triborough is really three spans that lead into Randall's Island.  One such span, which is close to where I live, connects Queens with the Island.  This span is the most-photographed (for good reason) of the three, and many people think it is the Triborough.  Then there are spans from the Island to Manhattan (at 125th Street) and the Bronx.  

Actually, the Bronx spur is bookended by walkways on its east and west sides.  As those paths approach the Island, they zig and zag like Alpine slalom courses enclosed by concrete walls.  Then they converge at a single steep ramp that ends abruptly at a curve in the island's main road.

The bridge would eliminate those ramps (as well as the stairs one must ascend in order to access the walkway to and from Queens) and instead would be continuation of one spur of the island's mostly-complete bike path.

I am eager to see the bridge completed, not only for making a part of my ride more pleasant.   It is seen as a vital link between the paths and fields of Randall's Island and a greenway that's supposed to be built in the South Bronx. 

 Some residents of that neighborhood walk across the Triborough, but many more drive or take buses to play soccer, softball and other sports and games, have picnics and barbecues, or to fish, on the Island.  In addition to making a bike ride easier and more pleasant for folks like me, I would hope that the bridge would also entice some Bronx residents to walk or ride bikes to the Island.

The South Bronx part of Asthma Alley.  Actually, it's the buckle in New York's asthma belt: The neighborhood's 10451,10453, 10454, 10455 and 10474 ZIP codes have the highest juvenile asthma rates in the United States.  (They are also part of the nation's poorest Congressional District.) Obesity rates are also high in the area, as they are through much of the Bronx.  Ironically, even though much of the fresh produce sold in the NY Metro area goes to the Hunts Point Food Market (located in the heart of the South Bronx), most residents of the surrounding neighborhoods cannot buy fresh fruits or vegetables in their own communities.

Anyway, enough about subjects about which I don't know much (apart from having written an article about the asthma rates).  I am hoping that the new bridge's construction proceeds quickly but safely.  But I have to wonder whether that will happen after seeing the  sign on the left.

It says that Con Ed, the local utility, is removing duct work from underneath the scaffolding. I hope this doesn't delay construction!

Panzo Race, BMX Backflip And Other Bike Games

I'm not much of a game-player.  I think I've played computer games maybe twice in my life.  The only games about which I ever became passionate were chess and Scrabble.  I haven't played either in years.

Still, I was fascinated to learn of the existence of bicycle games.  Someone sent me this link to She Games, which has a bunch you can play for free.  One of the cuter ones is the Panzo Bike Race.




And then there's "BMX Backflip":



Play Free Games Online at Shegame.com




It reminded me of one of my youthful mishaps (though I was, arguably, not quite youthful when it happened): the one and only BMX backflip I ever performed.  What made it a mishap was that it was completely unintentional.  

I was riding the trails (and off the trails--ssh! Don't tell anybody!) of Forest Park when I came to a mound from which pubescent boys launched themselves into flips and spills.  I rode up--the wrong way, on the steeper side-- with the momentum I'd built up from a descent. 

The next thing I knew, my bike turned into the Cyclone without the tracks.  My bike looped through the air so quickly that I didn't have time to find out how it felt, or to be scared--even when I returned to earth.

I landed on my head, and my bike did a backflip on the ground.  I felt that blank numbness you feel when you're in shock and everything seems to stop.  But, oddly, I felt no pain--and wouldn't feel any--even though I fell so hard that my helmet broke in half!

Somehow I don't envision anything like that resulting from playing a bike game.