I like this art across from the Plaza Hotel (N.E. corner of Central Park). It makes me think wistfully of Baltimore and this pictures:I miss Baltimore’s wonderful and fading tradition of ‘Arabbers‘ (pronounced A-rabbers). I like a city where you can still buy produce from hard working men and horse-drawn carts.
Why weren’t you biking yesterday? I was biking to work and couldn’t help but notice that it was pretty much just me and the delivery men on two wheels (tip them big, please, so they can buy hats and scarves). I was looking at all the cars and pedestrians thinking, they probably think I’m a…
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Astoria Bike doesn’t pay the rent (or anything else, for that matter). But you buying my book does. Now you can read the first chapter for free. It’s just a ploy to get you to buy the damn thing. But in the meantime you are getting something for nothing. Here’s my plan: you read chapter…
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I was reading P. Lynn Miller’s blog and learned of the recent death of Sheldon Brown. He’s had a rough year or so. Sheldon did more for the biking world, especially the web biking world, than anybody. Like many, I learned a lot about bikes and fixing bikes from his website. In terms of specific…
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It’s kind of raining and nasty out and ringing my new bell for no particular reason as I ride home from voting and the hardware store and a lunch of Mexican hangover-helping deep-fried flautas. I love you, Hidalgo (though checking the spelling on google, I discover that you’re no longer called Hidalgo. But I still…
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Sydney, city of beachesand beach cricketand the view from our friend’s apartment. We were warned that when it comes to bikes, Sydney is no Melbourne. “Bollocks,” exlaimed P. Lynn Miller of CTA fame (Chainlink Transit Authority). Or he said something like that in an accent that perhaps could only come from an Australian immigrant originally…
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Actually, we never made it to Brisbane. We were visiting friends in the suburb of Sandgate. But Bike Sandgate has less of a ring to it than Bike Brisbane. Our friends are nice eco-friendly people with a chicken coop in the backyard. Amazingly, this was second place we stayed with a chicken coop. My wife…
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I just picked up one of my bikes from Astoria’s best bike store, Bicycle Repairman Corp. (Did I mention there’s a different new bike store in Queens Plaza right by the entrance to the bridge? It’s more sales than repairs, but you can’t beat the location. I’m sticking with Bike Repairman, but hopefully Astoria can…
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There’s a much better bike blog than mine. Anybody who reads Astoria Bike and doesn’t read Bike Snob is either ignorant or has serious time management problems. Most of his posts are great. His More BSNYC Infrequently Asked Questions is a gem. (But why is a threadless headset better than the old-fashioned kind? I thought…
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Things picked up a bit in Melbourne, bike wise. I couldn’t score free bikes (actually I probably could have, but hadn’t yet thought of my Australian bike connection), and renting bikes is crazy expensive. $50 per day. It costs more to rent bikes than rent a car. What’s up with that? But we wanted bikes.…
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