Which Mercian Should He Ride Today?

It wouldn't surprise you too much to know that one of the blogs on my reading list is Mercian Cycles'.

People are amazed when they find out that I have four Mercians.  My usual response usually goes something like, "I'm the luckiest girl in the world."

(All right, now you know where my priorities lie!)

I figured that there are other people who have more Mercians than I do, but I don't know any personally.  I'd like to meet them--or look at their collection, anyway!

One such person--or, more appropriately, his bikes--are the subject of today's post on the Mercian Cycles blog.

A fellow named Kyle--who goes by the nom de blog "Retrogrouch"--has just restored a 1980 Strada Speciale with period-correct parts, including a first-generation SunTour Cyclone derailleur, Simplex retrofriction levers, milled Sugino Mighty cranks with "drillium" chainrings and Campagnolo Nuovo Tipo hubs.  This Strada Speciale, he says, is his eighth Mercian.

His collection includes vintage as well as modern models--and a modern bike with vintage Campagnolo parts that looks like a vintage bike.  They're all lovely bikes, so it's hard to decide which I liked best.

If you've been following my blog, though, you can probably understand why I like his 2008 Strada Speciale track bike:



or his 2012 Vincitore, built as an urban/path bike:



or, for that matter, his second Mercian, a 1979 "Classic":



I'd love to know how Kyle decides which bike to ride.

Are They Finally Getting Somewhere With This Bridge?

In an earlier post, I alluded to a bike/pedestrian bridge under construction--for aeons, it seems--between Randall's Island and the Bronx.


Actually, saying it's been "under construction" isn't quite accurate.  Perhaps it was at one time--say, around 2009--but for the past few years it's been frame surrounded by a chicken wire fence that serves mainly as platform for signs claiming that it's undergoing an environmental review.


The problem is that the land on the Bronx side is part of the Harlem River Yards.  The State Transportation Department owns the Yards, but leases them to developer Harlem River Yards Ventures, which in turn leases parts of it to other companies. (Where else but in New York, right?)

Well, now it seems that some of those companies gave easements to the state and, when I rode by the site this morning, construction of some sort was going on.





I hope...I hope...I hope.


Even though the project is still behind schedule, it's still being done in a more timely fashion--and with much smaller cost overruns--than the Second Avenue Subway.  Nothing like a little perspective, right?

Cycling On The Water?

Whenever I ride to the Rockaways and Point Lookout, as I did the other day, I notice new signs of recovery and rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy.

At the foot of the bridge from Broad Channel (on the Queens "mainland"), there used to be bayside restaurant and club on the Rockaway Beach side.  It was totaled during the storm; the McDonald's next door was flushed out during the surge and looted of whatever was left afterward. The other day, I noticed that some sort of waterside cafe or restaurant had opened.  Attached to it is a dock where one can rent Jet Skis.  I wasn't surprised to see a couple skittering across the choppy bay waves; after all, the day was nearly perfect.  

I've never ridden a jet ski, and it's been a while since I've been in any kind of boat that runs on human power.  However, I couldn't help but to wonder whether such aquatic vehicles could be combined with bicycles.   When I was a kid, it seemed that every amusement park had some sort of artificial pond with little pedal boats shaped like ducks or some other creature.  Why not make something like that for grown-ups?, I wondered.

Might the result look like this?

Or this?