Highbridge Park

Well, this morning I met Dave over at Highbridge Park for a very light ride. We took our DSLR's with us and didn't do a whole lot of riding at all. Didn't do much photographing either actually. Evidently, Sprain Ridge had kicked both of our asses quite thoroughly yesterday. It was nice to be out in the woods though. One thing I will say: Highbridge is seriously neglected. It's in dire need of trail maintenance. I might just buy a rake and head over there next weekend. Someones gotta do it. The last time I was riding there, I came around a bend in the trail and almost ran over a make-shift tent, smack dab in the middle of the trail. I don't mind the litter on these trails. I expect it. I mean, hell it's right in the middle of the city; that shits going to be there. I just don't dig the condition of the trails. Serious love is going to be given soon; by me.

I must say that I love being able to hit at least some sort of singletrack just 7 blocks from my door. I love NY.

Photo by: Dave

Sprain Ridge Park - Yonkers, NY

What an awesome day of riding at Sprain Ridge Park in Yonkers. Dave, Alex and I rode for a few hours on some excellent singletrack. I loved all the drops and steep roll-downs. Got a real good work out on the hills as well. The end of North Brother's Loop totally kicked my ass! I can't wait to hit this place again when I get my new Cannondale. (Gears & suspension baby!) I'm thoroughly exhausted from the ride. A good night's rest will do me good.

Thanks to Dave for the awesome photos!

Chris King

Chris King components amaze me. I installed a CK 1" threadless headset in my Bianchi Pista back in 2005. I think in 2006 I overhauled it, though it didn't need it. Today I decided it was time, although it felt smooth as butter. Upon removing the top cap from the upper stack I simply marveled in disbelief... it was immaculate... there was still red lithium grease from the overhaul I performed three years ago. Wow. There wasn't a spec of debris to be found. The inside of my steerer tube was filthy of course, but the headset was impeccably clean! I'll be installing a CK headset on my singlespeed first chance I get.

Holy Rusty BB Batman!

Wow. So today (day 2 of being sick at home) I made a guide for replacing bottom bracket cartridges. I like the way it came out. Have a look for yourself.

I've been meaning to replace the BB in my fixed gear for a really long time now. I knew it was going to be rusty; I've heard the sound of rusty debris jingling around inside of the frame each time I took the bike down from its hook.

This is how much rust was actually in there: (what's in my hand was only a fraction of it all)

Funny (but not) right? But, perhaps more worthy of snickering is my "inovative" solution to removing cranks by using the wrong tool. My splined drive cranks require the crank extractor tool with the larger sized head than the standard one used for square tapered cranks. Without this tool there's nothing for the extractor to push against. I decided to drop a couple of dimes down inside the crank arm and let the crank extractor push against them... it worked! (like a charm I might add) Only cost me $.20 per crank arm!

Lubricate or die

Following up the headset overhaul guide I made yesterday, today, I made a guide for lubing your bike. It covers about 70% of the bike; I still need to cover hubs & bottom bracket. Take a look.

I really enjoyed making the guides. I'm going to continue making them. I don't kno why I didn't make them sooner. Stay tuned...

Site Update

All of this recent mountain biking has prompted me to put more mtb content on my site. After all, I chose the name "phattire" out of love for my fat-tire addiction. So, yesterday morning, while overhauling my headset, I snapped some photos along the way. I've added an "mtb" menu button at the top of the site and if you go there, you'll eventually wind up here. There will be much more to follow I'm sure!

2010 Cannondale F1

I'm doing my best to be patient until I get my 2010 Cannondale F1. This will be my first Cannondale. I was never a fan of them in the past. In all my XC racing I steered clear of them; even turned my nose to the sky when I saw them. I felt they were trendy, weak because of the sanded welds, and their extended chain stays at the rear drop outs (on really old ones) just looked ghastly to me.

But now that I'm back in the mtb scene (and loving it) my addiction has resurfaced. I'm, once again, reading every moutainbike magazine, website and message board and getting filthy dirty on the weekends. My lovely blinglespeed which brought the passion back into my life has made me want more. By more I mean: Gears and suspension! My elbows will thank me.

New Pedals

Picked up a new pair of pedals for my mountainbike. I'm a HUGE fan of Crank Brothers pedals. I've used their Candy pedals on my mountain, cyclocross and fixed bikes. Hell, I even have them on my road bike right now. I've always wanted to try a pair of Egg Beaters, so I picked up a pair for my singlespeed. I'll let you know how they work after this weekend's ride at Blue Mountain!

A Retroactive Post

Boy, I've been one busy guy. My website and blog have seen absolutely no love. I'm sure my readers are extremely disappointed! (both of them) I have been doing a lot of riding these last few weekends despite the very slow recovery of my elbows. They ache pretty badly these days, but only when in use... is that a good thing?

I wanted to throw up a few snapshots from a couple of great mountainbike rides I recently took with a couple of friends. So here we go:

November 7, 2009 – Cunningham Park , Jamaica Queens.

Another great day of riding. It never ceases to amaze me, just how excellent the singletrack is, at Cunningham. What's lacking in quantity is made up for in quality. It's chuck full o' tight and twisty trails with lots of jumps, dips and dives. I love it.

Alex carving a turn at Cunningham park

November 1, 2009 – Blue Mountain Reservation, Peekskill, NY.

Great day of riding, although it was jam packed full of stops. We spent the entire ride trying to figure out just where the hell we were. There were so many leaves down that the trails blended in and disappeared. GPS tracking later told me that we spent about 85% of the ride in Depew Park. Nevertheless, we had a great time and the singlespeed was a blast to ride.

Click here for a giant panoramic view of a swamp we came across.

My singlespeed pleasure machine

Red Hook Grain Terminal (again)

New York City was a soggy place yesterday though I kept dry, inside of the Red Hook Grain Terminal in Brooklyn. I've visited this site twice before although, this time I focused on the duct work and what little ventilation-blower components remain. Using my 19mm lens I was able to frame the twists and turns in the ducts as they snake their way throughout the structure.

Prominence

I took this photo, this past Sunday evening while my buddy and I played pool in Red Hook, Brooklyn. It was taken just before a terrific thunderstorm broke, while the first heavy drops of rain made impact and the sun still beat the building's face with retreating rays through patchy dark clouds. The weather immediately following was quite intense. Howling winds blew debris down the street while claps of thunder boomed making your chest rumble.

The wide range of light, threatening background and prominent stance of the building in this scene, struck a chord with me as something worth capturing.

Content

Yesterday I took the Nikon and walked north to Vancourtland Park and back. Cutting through the Marble Hill Projects courtyard, I came across this man enjoying the cool & breezy weather. Content coexisting with the pigeons. Later, it stormed. I'm fond of the composition of this photo, you almost look right past the man. He's nearly an overlooked foreground feature, yet he demands your attention with his expression.

Bubbling

Date: 7/18/09, 3:57pm | Location: Chinatown | lens: Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 | Settings: 1/500 sec, f/4.5

My Achin' Bones

One cool thing about Radiology Departments today is the digital x-ray machines. I was able to request a CD of all images taken of my elbows and wrist. I'm glad they included the wrist x-rays because I hadn't seen the screw holding my large scaphoid bone together (doored by car in Balitmore, 2005). The elbows are feeling quite stiff today; I'm not enjoying the constant dull ache, but look forward to a full recovery. Gotta' stay positive.

Holy Broken Elbows!

I'll be typing for Mike for a while... He's got TWO broken elbows.

After a great day of mountain biking with Alex at Blue Mountain Reservation (where he cleaned most of the gnarly sections) he almost had a collision with another cyclist 20 feet from our front steps. Avoiding the other cyclist meant stopping short after coming down a hill at high speed and flying over the handle bars (only to break his fall by putting his hands out in front of him). He got right up and carried his bike up all five flights of stairs to our apartment (the other cyclist didn't even stop!). He called me at work and assured me that he just had a bad sprain but...

When I got home from work he had already packed a bag to go to the ER and off we went.

Serious kudos to the people at the Columbia Presbyterian ER on Broadway...We were in and out in two hours flat.

Here's the prognosis: He has almost identical breaks in the tips of his radius bones, just at the top where they meet the humerus bone at the elbow. He doesn't have either arm in a cast because with this type of break it is important to keep his joints moving. He's doing alright but it's gonna be a while before he can ride again.

We'll report more when we pick up the digital x-rays we requested from the hospital.

-Natasha

Home Made Marmalade

Lately, I've been cooking a lot. Not so much in the way of meals, but more in the way of sauces. I must say my BYFO [Burn Your Face Off] wing sauce is worthy of bragging rights. Last week I caught Ina Garten making marmalade on the boob tube and moved making marmalade to the top of my list. So, last night I chopped up four large oranges, two lemons and boiled them down with a ton of sugar. After letting them sit over night, I simmered them for another two hours this morning, and then brought them up to 220 degrees to finish them off. I loaded the jam into sterilized mason jars and was good to go. They seem to have gelled up nicely and I'll be enjoying my labor on a fresh baguette with coffee, tomorrow morning before I head out for more mountain biking in Peekskill.

Blue Mountain Reservation

Today I rode the singlespeed at Blue Mountain Reservation, which is about 40 miles north of New York City in the city of Peekskill, NY. [Trail Information here] After weeks of riding Cunningham Park in Queens, this was a breath of fresh air. The landscape and scenery are completely different.

I spent about 45 minutes on a Metro North Train to get up to Peekskill and then pedaled for about 2 miles to reach the park entrance. Once I got there I wasn't able to find any trail maps so I just set off into the woods. Wow, what an extensive system of singletrack!

Ten minutes into the ride the sky turned purple; shortly thereafter the clouds let loose with a storm of biblical proportions. Thunder cracked loudly above me and the rain came down in sheets. Leafy branches fluttered and sagged low. Rocks became slicker than snot. I huddled under a young sapling for a moment assessing the situation. While becoming soaked to the bone, crouched beneath a pitiful shelter from the storm, I decided I'd be just as wet swinging my way down through the trails, so I set the cranks in motion again.

The beautifully blazed 18” wide trail wound through dark, lush, pine forest cutting it's way though loamy soil, large fern beds and over large amounts of exposed rock. Logs, build-ups and rock roll-downs littered the trail nearly every 20 feet. There wasn't much in the way of elevation changes although it is much more hilly than Cunningham Park. At one point I stopped to let several PSI out of my tires to get better traction and I was happy for the suspension that it provided. While pedaling and exploring, a couple lines from a Robert Frost poem came to mind:

"The woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep."

I rode for about two hours before making my way back into town and over to the Train Station. A quick bike wash in the Hudson River cleaned the majority of mud off my ride and I caught an express train back to Manhattan.

Can't wait to head back there on Thursday after the trails have dried out!

More trail images here:

• Blue Mountain Reservation Pictures
  

Vacation Time

I've been enjoying my vacation. I had planned to do a lot of riding and it looks like that's what is shaping up to happen. I attempted to ride at Highbridge Park on Saturday but the trails were almost unrideable with all the blow-downs. This past month of storms really put a hurting on this park. Such was not the case today though, as a good friend and I rode the bejeezus out of Cunningham park. The trails were in remarkable shape despite the amount of rain we've received this past month. Can't wait for tomorrow. I'll be heading up to Peeksville, NY to ride at Blue Mountain Reservation.

Driftwood Scluptures

Every time I ride the Manhattan Greenway Path I enjoy the folky driftwood sculptures which someone has created. I don't know who is making these sculptures but I have to say that I like them. A bit of googling did not turn up too much information on them. Although they are mentioned here and there. These sculptures are just part of what makes NYC such a great place to live. There's an anonymity about this city that seems to encourage people to do as they feel without risk of judgment or criticism - at least that's how this city makes me feel. I love it.

Gettin' jiggy on the A

I meant to post this image last weekend but life has been busy lately. I'm really looking forward to finishing this Psych class I'm taking at Lehman College.

Image taken last weekend on the A Train.

Boy Scout

I saw this character and his dog crossing 32nd Street this afternoon. He reminded me of one of my parent's nativity scene figurines; the shepherd who carries a lamb draped over his shoulders. I knelt down and snapped a few quick photos of him and his little friend and on the last shutter release, he looked over and smiled at me. I got up smiling and said "take care" as Natasha and I made our way down the 7th Avenue.


I didn't realize until I got home, that he and his dog were not alone. I noticed the woman standing next to him and that, like a gentlemen, he had given her his arm. Perhaps he was carrying her blue bag as well? Is it his mother? His girlfriend? A random stranger?

He's just another particle in the construct of this great city, like his shirt says: NEW YORK FUCKIN' CITY!

Red Hook Part Deaux

One more from a visit to the Red Hook Grain Terminal in Brooklyn this past weekend. Haven't been there since December.

Nighty Night

I've been taking a Psychology class at Lehman College in the Bronx this month. (A 3 credit class crammed into one month; wish me luck) Each night I get out of class at 10:00pm I can't help but frame scenes around the campus in my mind. The other night I took my camera and tripod and had a short period of fun before Campus Security forced me to stop. I was only able to pull off one capture that I'm fairly pleased with.
Here is an additional shot of this building taken head on.
Manually exposed for 1 second at f/2.8 using a 50mm prime.

No love today

That's right. None. Yesterday was great and I happily rode to work, but today, I had to walk/take the train. It's not the worst thing in the world, but this morning's conditions were totally fabulous for riding. The Broadway Bridge was looking particularly stellar this morning. The Harlem Canal, though nastier than nasty, seemed to almost mimic that of a pure,babbling, country stream. It was the kind of morning that puts Stravinsky's Rite of Spring in your head. Nevertheless, I took the train to Yonkers for 9 hours of "fun".

I think I'll have to take the blinglespeed over to Highbridge Park for some dirt after work.

Cunningham Park - Jamaica, Queens

I was up and at em' this morning to met a buddy in Jamaica at 8:45. Only took me 1:15 from phattire headquarters in uptown Manhattan. Lots of transfers (A Train to the D; to the E; to the F) but the pay off was incredible. I devoured the tastiest singletrack I've ridden in over 5 years.

Cunningham consists two main loops divided by the Clearview Expressway. Each loop has technical off-shoots of varying difficulty throughout; all aptly named like “Thrilla”, “Ankle Biter” and “Viper”. My friend Alex and I hit every trail at least twice including a few sessions at the dirt jumps which are insanely fun. Download a map of Cunningham here.

The weather was perfect. A few sprinkles here and there, but the overcast sky kept the sun from frying us. Couldn't have asked for better conditions really. The moisture softened the earth and gave it a tacky feel, although roots and rocks became a touch slippery.

Just as we were finishing our last jaunt through the “Iguana” trail, Alex landed a jump a little wonky and crashed into the underbrush. Turns out; he snapped his carbon fiber seat post. (Bummer!) Despite the broken seat post, the entire day was a blast. We rode for 4 hours and I'm looking forward to riding those trails again as soon as possible.

Characters

Today was a great day for people watching. (ie: people photographing) I absolutely love my new 50mm f/1.4 lens. It continues to blow my mind. This warm weather seems to have brought characters out of the woodwork down in lower Manhattan.I gave this man a dollar. That's just classic.
This lady was fantastic. What a fine specimen of a NYC creature. I felt it necessary to include this detail view to satisfy your curiosity.

Inwood this evening.

When I got home from work, there was still a bit of light left, so I set out with my new 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor. I love this new lens. Here are a few shots from my neighborhood.

Hustle & Flow Dirt Jumping

Yesterday's Hustle & Flow Race at Highbridge Park was insane! So much fun! I wish I had raced. I did the next best thing though; photographed the action. Here is an image gallery for those of you looking for your pictures from the dirt jumping activities:

• Dirt Jumping Gallery

More riding.

I can't get enough of my new mountain bike. After putting it (and myself) through some serious abuse at Highbridge Park yesterday, I decided to ride it to work today.

I set out at 6:25 this morning which is the time I usually leave my house to catch the bus to the train to Yonkers. I arrived at work a couple of minutes before 7:00; my usual arrival time.

The ride was fantastic. The weather was beautiful; perfect for a commute from upper Manhattan through the Bronx and into Yonkers. I rode at a leisurely pace and enjoyed the sites, sounds and smells of NYC in the morning. Traveling north on Broadway, I crossed the Harlem Canal watching and listening to my knobby tires hum atop the metal grates. Below I watched the canal flowing by while bright morning sunlight pelted me on my entrance to Marble Hill. Continuing up Broadway I rode under the 1 Train. The loud rumble of train cars above me gave cause for some serious introspection about where I am in life and what I'm doing. I love my job, I love my wife, family & friends and I love being able to ride as much as I do. Life is good my friends.

Highbridge... again

What an awesome ride I had at Highbridge Park today. I met a guy who led me down some new trails which were super great. The riding reminded me a lot of the huckle I used to ride at the Watershed in Frederick, MD.

I floundered my way through the first few technical downhill sections but by the end of the ride I was feeling very much in the zone and was able to flow pretty well.

I'm super happy that my wrist is holding up so well. That's my biggest fear in re-entering the mountain biking scene. I don't have the mobility that I used to have and it's been getting quite a work out when I pull on the bars for leverage on those steep climbs. I think I'll tape it up for the next ride.

Life is good, life is good!