A Long Way Ahead

No, I didn't enlist.  That photo wasn't taken in any sort of official combat zone.  Rather, I snapped it while riding Rockaway Boulevard in Rockaway Beach.

It might be the roughest paved cycling surface I've encountered in an industrialized country.  That's not surprising, given that Rockaway Beach was one of the areas that incurred the most destruction from Superstorm Sandy.

I rode along the Atlantic shore of southern Queens and Nassau County to Long Beach.  There, as in most of the Rockaways, the storm destroyed most of the boardwalk so that the only things remaining are the pilings over which it stretched.  Yesterday, construction crews began to take down the remaining wood, most of which looked something like this:

Some people were taking boards from it--as souvenirs, I guess.  (I wonder whether they'll end up on eBay.)  Others seemed to have other motives in going to the beach.

Was this man enjoying the solitude, feeling resigned to his fate or trying to come to terms with his grief?

Whatever he was feeling, he and the couple may have to follow the same path for the foreseeable future.

The End Of A Winter Day

I didn't get to do a real ride today--just a spin to Astoria Park and a yogurt run.  However, I got home in time to witness a near-perfect ending to a winter day:

At least, it's about as close to perfect any day's end can be in these parts.  As the sun descended, a mist of wispy cirrus clouds rose from the horizon to a deep translucent blue sky:  a dream ahead, and a vision above, this day's ride.

A Devil Of A Commute In The City Of Saints

Those of us who commute by bicycle during the winter take (justifiable, I believe) pride in pedaling through cold, wind and, in some cases, snow.

I respect any year-round cyclist in any climate with variable seasons.  However, I'll admit to feeling a bit more hardcore than someone who rides year-round in, say, Portland or Los Angeles.  At the same time, I give "props" to year-round riders in Boston and points north, and in most European countries.

On the other hand, most of us have nothing on winter commuters in Montreal.  On one of my visits there, I read or heard that the 'burg Mark Twain dubbed "the city of a hundred bell towers" spends more on snow removal than any other city except Moscow.

Whether or not there's snow on the ground, it gets plenty cold in The City Of Saints.  One young man used a helmet cam to record his commute on a day when the mercury stood at -25C (-13F).  Here is the video he produced:

Palais d'Hiver

This photo from Let's Go Ride A Bike made me think of something I wrote some years ago:

  Palais d'Hiver 

Wind:

    dry whispers

      in a house 

    where I

      no longer

    live. 

Seasonal Wisdom, Repeated

From Copenhagenize

Yesterday's commute may have been the coldest I've had in two years.  Or maybe it wasn't:  Last year's winter-that-wasn't may well have spoiled me so that a normal winter day seems absolutely frigid.

Anyway, when I got to work, I exchanged wishes for a happy new year with the office manager and secretary.  "You didn't ride your bike today?," they wondered in unison.

I nodded and grinned.  Then, the office manager, who is about ten years older, expressed her incomprehension that I wasn't wearing a long, heavy coat.  I explained that, underneath my silk jacket, I was wearing two other layers.  

In more than three decades of riding to work and/or school, I have seen increasing numbers of people do the same, and even ride for recreation or sport.  However, it seems that just as many people now as then share my coworkers' incredulity over the way we dress.

Sometimes I think that to be a cyclist, you have to be something of an educator as well.  That may not change any time soon and, if nothing else, I have something like the requisite skill set.

But I digress.  I have found that, even when I'm not cycling or engaging in other vigorous activity, dressing in layers makes more sense than wearing a heavy top coat although I occasionally sport the latter for purposes of fashion.  (Plus, it is easier to slip a wool overcoat than a cycling or ski jacket over a suit or dress!)  Even if I'm just taking a leisurely stroll or doing nothing more strenuous than climbing the stairs to a gallery, I prefer the freedom of movement--and the ability to add or remove articles of clothing as the temperature changes--afforded by layers of clothing.

I suspect that I will continue to have exchanges like the one I had yesterday for as long as I'm cycling in cold weather.  There are certainly more difficult and unpleasant tasks!