New York City Bike Culture

I just returned from a trip to NYC with my son. I try to make it to this beautiful city at least once a year and am always impressed with the bicyclists in America’s largest city. And over the past few years the city has become much more bicycle friendly…the city has made great efforts to do this, and they continue to do so. It only makes sense…besides the subway, walking and bicycling are the best way to get around this metropolis. At one point my son and I were in a taxi cab and it was moving so slow that we got out and walked and made it to our destination faster. Anyhow, to read more about bicycle-friendly New York, click here and here. To view detailed maps of the city’s bicycle routes, click here.

Here’s a few photo’s of the clearly marked routes…the first two are along Eight Avenue, and the third is adjacent to Washington Square Park in the Village.



One of the things you’ll notice straight away about many of the bicycles in NYC is that many are cargo bikes, makeshift or not…delivering small loads (food, especially) by bike seems to make the most sense. Bikes fitted with racks and baskets are everywhere…many of the baskets are altered to make them able to carry larger loads.



It seems also that there are more bike racks than ever before as well (I may be imagining this)…there were plenty of places to lock up a bike. The first is of a Flying Pigeon locked up just off Union Square, the second is one of David Byrne’s bike racks.


Lastly, walking back to our hotel one evening we came across this frame in the trash…it of course stopped me in my tracks. Sad, I thought. I’ve posted many times in the past how I am not immune to picking good things from other people’s trash, and as I stood there looking at it my son, who had a somewhat horrified look on his face says, “don’t take it dad…how will you get it home on the train?” Don’t worry, I told him…it’s only a Huffy. (But seriously, I’m surprised nobody has taken it…maybe they did…if it were in Buffalo I would have plucked it and donated it to Buffalo Blue Bike.)

>New York City Bike Culture

>I just returned from a trip to NYC with my son. I try to make it to this beautiful city at least once a year and am always impressed with the bicyclists in America’s largest city. And over the past few years the city has become much more bicycle friendly…the city has made great efforts to do this, and they continue to do so. It only makes sense…besides the subway, walking and bicycling are the best way to get around this metropolis. At one point my son and I were in a taxi cab and it was moving so slow that we got out and walked and made it to our destination faster. Anyhow, to read more about bicycle-friendly New York, click here and here. To view detailed maps of the city’s bicycle routes, click here.

Here’s a few photo’s of the clearly marked routes…the first two are along Eight Avenue, and the third is adjacent to Washington Square Park in the Village.



One of the things you’ll notice straight away about many of the bicycles in NYC is that many are cargo bikes, makeshift or not…delivering small loads (food, especially) by bike seems to make the most sense. Bikes fitted with racks and baskets are everywhere…many of the baskets are altered to make them able to carry larger loads.



It seems also that there are more bike racks than ever before as well (I may be imagining this)…there were plenty of places to lock up a bike. The first is of a Flying Pigeon locked up just off Union Square, the second is one of David Byrne’s bike racks.


Lastly, walking back to our hotel one evening we came across this frame in the trash…it of course stopped me in my tracks. Sad, I thought. I’ve posted many times in the past how I am not immune to picking good things from other people’s trash, and as I stood there looking at it my son, who had a somewhat horrified look on his face says, “don’t take it dad…how will you get it home on the train?” Don’t worry, I told him…it’s only a Huffy. (But seriously, I’m surprised nobody has taken it…maybe they did…if it were in Buffalo I would have plucked it and donated it to Buffalo Blue Bike.)

Pasta with Chicken and Other Good Stuff

This is what I had for dinner tonight. It is as simple as it looks, and the flavors are delicious. It’s a basic stewing concept…ingredients can easily be interchanged to create an entirely new recipe. Anyhow this is how I made it:

I heated olive oil and added a diced pepper, half an onion, and a couple diced chicken thighs.


After the vegetables and chicken began to brown, I added garlic, hot pepper, fennel seed, sun-dried tomato, and a handful of dried lentils.

After sauteing that for a few minutes I added some chicken broth.

While the chicken and lentils were cooking I blanched a bunch of chopped rapini (to remove some of its bitterness), saving the boiling water to cook the pasta in (plus, the water contained nutrients from the rapini).

Then I cooked the pasta very al dente. While the pasta was cooking I added a little of the pasta/rapini water to the chicken/lentil pot because it was evaporating to quickly. Then I added the pasta to the chicken/lentil pot to finish cooking and absorb broth and flavor. Then loaded it with cheese and more hot pepper…delicious.

>Pasta with Chicken and Other Good Stuff

>This is what I had for dinner tonight. It is as simple as it looks, and the flavors are delicious. It’s a basic stewing concept…ingredients can easily be interchanged to create an entirely new recipe. Anyhow this is how I made it:

I heated olive oil and added a diced pepper, half an onion, and a couple diced chicken thighs.


After the vegetables and chicken began to brown, I added garlic, hot pepper, fennel seed, sun-dried tomato, and a handful of dried lentils.

After sauteing that for a few minutes I added some chicken broth.

While the chicken and lentils were cooking I blanched a bunch of chopped rapini (to remove some of its bitterness), saving the boiling water to cook the pasta in (plus, the water contained nutrients from the rapini).

Then I cooked the pasta very al dente. While the pasta was cooking I added a little of the pasta/rapini water to the chicken/lentil pot because it was evaporating to quickly. Then I added the pasta to the chicken/lentil pot to finish cooking and absorb broth and flavor. Then loaded it with cheese and more hot pepper…delicious.

Success?

I love this cartoon…I’ve have had a framed copy of it hanging in my kitchen for years. I originally clipped it (I think) from Utne Reader (the actual magazine, not web site…pre-Internet days).

The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. The trite subjects of human efforts, possessions, outward success, luxury have always seemed to me contemptible.
–Albert Einstein

>Success?

>I love this cartoon…I’ve have had a framed copy of it hanging in my kitchen for years. I originally clipped it (I think) from Utne Reader (the actual magazine, not web site…pre-Internet days).

The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. The trite subjects of human efforts, possessions, outward success, luxury have always seemed to me contemptible.
–Albert Einstein

Green Wooden Chair

I came across this chair while walking home from work this evening. It was at the curb with some other trash on Allen Street…I really cannot pass up useful stuff I see in the garbage. It’s an attractive chair, and it’s solid (well, almost, but nothing a little glue won’t remedy)…it’ll be a nice chair to sit on while I watch my garden grow from my front porch. I like this chair.

>Green Wooden Chair

>I came across this chair while walking home from work this evening. It was at the curb with some other trash on Allen Street…I really cannot pass up useful stuff I see in the garbage. It’s an attractive chair, and it’s solid (well, almost, but nothing a little glue won’t remedy)…it’ll be a nice chair to sit on while I watch my garden grow from my front porch. I like this chair.

Self-Sustainability in the City (suburbs, actually)

This is a great video on suburban sustainability. I’ve read about this family before, and have their site linked to this blog on the left sidebar…but you can also click here to view their site. Watching the video made me wish I had a little more land around my house to plant stuff…my entire plot, which includes my house, measures 25′ by 100′, and when I walk along the sides of my house I can literally touch my neighbor’s house and mine at the same time. It’s an interesting clip and worth the 8 minutes to watch it.

>Self-Sustainability in the City (suburbs, actually)

>This is a great video on suburban sustainability. I’ve read about this family before, and have their site linked to this blog on the left sidebar…but you can also click here to view their site. Watching the video made me wish I had a little more land around my house to plant stuff…my entire plot, which includes my house, measures 25′ by 100′, and when I walk along the sides of my house I can literally touch my neighbor’s house and mine at the same time. It’s an interesting clip and worth the 8 minutes to watch it.

Things That Can Be Carried On A Bike (#39)

24 Mason jars.
An 80 foot garden hose.
A gym bag full of wet clothes.
3 rolls of paper towels.

I always enjoy the comments and looks I get riding this bike, especially when it’s loaded…but I received one of the best comments today while riding down trendy Elmwood Avenue during peak rush hour. It was from a young woman riding a fixie going in the opposite direction. She was on the opposite side of the street and as she passed she sat up, took both hands off her handlebars in order to cup her mouth and yell: “Hey buddy, nice rack.” It made me smile.

>Things That Can Be Carried On A Bike (#39)

>24 Mason jars.
An 80 foot garden hose.
A gym bag full of wet clothes.
3 rolls of paper towels.

I always enjoy the comments and looks I get riding this bike, especially when it’s loaded…but I received one of the best comments today while riding down trendy Elmwood Avenue during peak rush hour. It was from a young woman riding a fixie going in the opposite direction. She was on the opposite side of the street and as she passed she sat up, took both hands off her handlebars in order to cup her mouth and yell: “Hey buddy, nice rack.” It made me smile.

Mundo in a (mini) Cornfield

Ahhh…the dog days of summer.

This past winter I made a personal commitment to myself during a particularly frigid cold snap (that seemed to last for months) that I would not complain about the heat and humidity no matter how hot and humid it was in the kitchen…today was hot and tomorrow is supposed to be hotter and even more humid.

Whenever I begin to think that it is too hot I’m going to try to think of these comparative images: the first is of the Mundo that I took today…hooked up to my hitching post in the mini cornfield. The second photo is of the Mule hooked up to the same post during mid-winter. And the last is of the hitching post itself…unusable and almost buried in snow…at the time I was judging the weather by how deep the snow was on the post, today it depends on how tall the corn is…Ahhh…good ole’ summertime.

>Mundo in a (mini) Cornfield

>Ahhh…the dog days of summer.

This past winter I made a personal commitment to myself during a particularly frigid cold snap (that seemed to last for months) that I would not complain about the heat and humidity no matter how hot and humid it was in the kitchen…today was hot and tomorrow is supposed to be hotter and even more humid.

Whenever I begin to think that it is too hot I’m going to try to think of these comparative images: the first is of the Mundo that I took today…hooked up to my hitching post in the mini cornfield. The second photo is of the Mule hooked up to the same post during mid-winter. And the last is of the hitching post itself…unusable and almost buried in snow…at the time I was judging the weather by how deep the snow was on the post, today it depends on how tall the corn is…Ahhh…good ole’ summertime.

Virgin Pepper

It’s tiny and it’s beautiful…and I realize I was a little anticipatory by plucking it from its plant so early…I was just so surprised when I looked down and saw it hanging there. I grew it from seed…amazing. It’s the first actual vegetable (opposed to an herb) I plucked from the garden this year, except for a few meager leaves of spinach. Another month and I’ll have more than I can cook…something to look forward to. I sauteed it with an onion and added it to an omelet…and yes, it was delicious. But I think what intensified it even more was that just a mere month or so ago I pushed a teeny seed into the soil and now it’s food (and more food will come). It’s difficult for me not to be amazed (and a little humbled) by this.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2