One of the great things about doing a ride you've done dozens, even hundreds of times, before is noticing how it looks and feels different from other times when you've done it.
So it was on my Point Lookout ride today. We had classic Fall weather: a mix of sun and clouds and a high temperature of about 20 C.
But we pedaled into wind that varied from 10 to 15kph from Rockaway Beach to the Point. That meant, of course, that the ride home was more like flight.
Arielle, my Mercian Audax, made the ride even better, as she always does. She also seems to be taking on the light a little differently--or is it my imagination?
Perhaps it has to do with her consciousness of line.
No, it has to be the light itself--or at least the changing Fall colors.
The Federal Government shutdown is now affecting cyclists. Well, some, anyway, in this part of the world.
The closure of Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon and other sites administered by the National Parks Service has been well-publicized. But another NPS site here in New York is also off-limits to visitors: Floyd Bennett Field, which is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area.
When GNRA opened in 1972, it was the first national park in an urban area. It includes a number of areas that abut the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn, Queens and the northern Jersey shore.
Floyd Bennett Field, at the southernmost part of Brooklyn, sits across Jamaica Bay from Rockaway Beach. It's about as big as LaGuardia Airport and, in fact, was the second-largest airport (after Newark) in the New York Metropolitan area until LaGuardia opened in 1937. Howard Hughes, Amelia Earhart and other pioneering aviators embarked upon some of their groundbreaking flights from Floyd Bennett.
In 1941, on the eve of the USA's entry into World War II, Floyd Bennett became a Naval air station, a role if played for three decades until larger aircraft, and easier entry for ships at more modern ports, rendered Floyd Bennett obsolete as a military aviation facility.
There has been talk of making it function as an airport again, perhaps for small private planes. That seems unlikely, however, as the paths of its runways (which are longer than those at LaGuardia) criscross those of nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport.
I, for one, hope that Floyd Bennett never becomes an air terminal again. Its runways make all but ideal bike lanes. When I lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn, I often pedaled down to Floyd Bennett for a pre- or apres- work ride. I also participated in a couple of the sanctioned weekly races held every week in spring and summer--and a couple of impromptu wildcat races.
According to one website, a group of cyclists was planning such a race for this weekend. Of course, they have to cancel, as the runways and paths will be inaccessible to them.
I am guessing that the race is not the only ride so affected by the government shutdown: There were probably other rides (if not races) planned in other government-run sites.
Today is Thelonious Monk's birthday.
I have no evidence that he was (or, for that matter, wasn't) a cyclist. However, there is at least one frame builder--and there are at least a few bike shops--called "Monk Bicycles", "Monk Bikes" or some variation thereof.
Any one of them could base its logo on this:
And, of course, one of Schwinn's more successful bicycles--the Criss Cross--shares a name, if only coincidentally, with one of Monk's albums.
One Christmas, I (or one of my brothers--or my brothers and I) got a Spirograph set.
If you're of a certain age, you might remember it.
A set consisted of interlocking wheels, bars and gears and pens. Using them resulted in some interesting shapes, patterns and designs--if, at times, inintentionally.
One of us came up with a design that looked something like this:
For years, I thought the rose windows in the great cathedrals of Europe were drawn with a toy my brothers and I fought over.
We came up with other designs that looked like various wheeled vehicles:
I wonder whether any bicycle builders drew their inspiration from one of our favorite childhood toys.
P.S. Last year, Hasbro, the company that made the original Spirograph, made a new drawing kit with the same name. Sadly,that is about the only thing it and the original have in common.
When I was very young--which, believe it or not, I once was--bicycles with small-diameter (usually 20 inches) wheels and "banana" seats were popular.
The models oriented for girls were usually white or pink or lavender and had flowers, rainbows and such painted on them. But the ones for boys sported racing stripes and other things meant to evoke racing.
One example of a girls' bike was the Schwinn Lil' Chik. For boys, Schwinn made the "Krate" series (apple, orange and pea picker) while Raleigh offered the "Chopper".
Schwinn, Raleigh and other companies seem to have stopped making those bikes some time in the late 1970's. If I recall correctly, the Consumer Products Safety Commission published a warning about them, or banned them outright. I also heard that Schwinn, Raleigh and other companies that made such bikes were facing lawsuits from the families of kids who were injured when the bike toppled or, more commonly, when the struts of the banana seat broke.
It seems that nobody was even making those bikes or seats until a few years ago. I don't know whether the government changed its regulations or whether the struts are better-designed or made with stronger materials than the old ones. But, somehow, they are recapturing a part of the market and showing up in what would have been the most unlikely places:
I'm guessing that the banana seat on the back of this Trek hybrid is intended for a passenger. I've ridden bikes with 15 to 25 kilos--about the weight of a young child-- loaded on the rear. However, my loads--which usually consisted of clothing, camping and hiking equipment, notebooks and such--were packed into pannier bags attached to the sides of a rear rack. Weight carried in that position is more stable than the same amount of weight fastened to the top of a rack--or on a banana seat.
I wonder what the safety record is for today's "banana" seats, especially given that increasing numbers of them are being attached to bicycles like the one in the photo.
