NYC Debut

Took the bike up to NYC this weekend for her maiden voyage. Too chicken to find my way to A's at night by myself, and slightly unsure of my brakes, I taxied there instead. My Puerto Rican cab driver was voluble, old, and charming. "Guess how old I am! You never guess. People always wrong." I guessed 62. "I'm 70! I born in 1936. I live a long time! I the oldest taxi driver in New York City! No problem!" The secret was not smoking or drinking, he told me, smoking, it's very bad for you. "I play poker with my friends and they smoking these cigars, I get sick the next day! It's bad - don't smoke! You hear me?" I promised I wouldn't. "You can drink a little, you're young, but if you wanna live a long time, you gotta not smoke and not drink too much." I got out of the cab and got my bike and he came out to talk some more and tell me about growing up in the mountains, going swimming and hiking all day long. "I live a long time 'cause I active when I'm little, these kids here they don't get to go outside! It's terrible."

I finally escaped. We had some falafel and I read the new LeCarre while A studied. Had brunch with Maddie the next morning and then we biked over to Brooklyn to see what we could see. Prospect Park, Park Slope, a slew of good-looking restaurants on 5th Ave, including Bonnie's Grill. As we walked in the door passers-by remarked that it's famous for its burgers, which was EXACTLY what we were looking for! They were gi-normous. The soup was crap, filled with celery and low on keilbasa and chickpeas, but A's chili was pretty good. Duly sated, we headed off to find Diner, a Williamsburg hipster hangout near the bridge. We were hoping to find pie there. However, Brooklyn is a little tricky, so we asked some cops for directions (they were very nice and helpful!), nearly got ourselves killed crossing Flatbush, and made our way to Wmsbg. It was nearing sunset when we arrived at Kent and Wythe, and a man walked by in a big cylindrical fur hat and black robe. Then another one went by. And then a family, with three boys in curls and suits. We biked through the neighborhood which was empty and sort of desolate except for all the Hasidic Jews going to schul, and it was a really...cinematic sort of experience. Women in wigs and cloth coats, girls with their hair tied back with ribbons. We found Broadway and Diner, which had no pie at all but a very nice selection of wines, and a fancy menu written on a long scrap of receipt paper. Had a drink instead then braved the cold and got ready for a birthday party where I met more economists. A few of us went to Sin'e to see a really terrible band from Martha's Vineyard play and brush back their OC-style hair every five seconds.

Sunday dawned warm and sunny, but as we ventured out around noon to find food and B&H Photo Video it began cooling off and even raining a bit. French Roast's eggs benedict were really good but their coffee was really expensive. There were more Hasids at B&H, which was overwhelming and made both A and I nostalgic for our respective darkroom days. We biked back home, packed up my stuff and biked to Chinatown/Little Italy where I would catch the bus, though we had time to wander and grab some cheesecake beforehand. Traffic in Delaware made me late for dinner at Edith's, but they were kind enough to stay up and reheat it for me when I got back, and by then I was starving again and eager to share stories from the weekend. Edith went to Flugtag, a RedBull sponsored event where teams push giant flying contraptions off a ramp and into the Inner Harbor. Sorry, no pictures. :)

The Angel performed admirably and I may never ride geared again. Just gotta keep an eye on those cranks as they loosen over the potholes. I won a new Ideale saddle as well this weekend and that'll go on tout de suite. Sweet.