Jim Zisfein's beautiful photo on the Hudson River Greenway. See his whole gallery at: http://jzisfein.tripod.com/hrg/index2.html

A beautiful Sunday after a long,long Winter. The boardwalk is two and one half miles long, and, as the lettering states...

Facing West into the afternoon sun at the western end of the Long Beach, NY boardwalk with the Atlantic Ocean to the left over the dunes.

30+ years old and perfect for boardwalk cruising. Sunday, March 22, 2003, Long Beach Boardwalk, Long Island, NY.

Blowing off the dust of the Winter of 2002-3

This is part of the temporary detour on The Hudson River Greenway

Lighthouse in Manhattan. on the Hudson River, beneath the main span of the George Washington Bridge

#1) the original "Old Put" railroad trestle on the southside of Route 6, just east of Lake Gleneida and Route 52 in the Hamlet of Carmel, NY

#2)The right of way where the northside trestle used to be before the property on this side of Route 6 was sold to a private person, who demolished the trestle on his side and sold the entire, twenty foot high track bed, as top soil. This missing track bed necessitates the building of a long ramp back down to grade or, a series of short, steep switchbacks to get up to the level of the bridge.

#3) The last of the earth left on site from the old trackbed berm.

#4) "Guideposts" ( http://www.guideposts.org/) driveway. If one proceedes to the right (West) then, to the next big intersection at Lake Gleneida, turns left (South) on Route 6 then, looking left, in about two blocks, for a stand-alone Chinese restaurant, one will see, behind their parking lot, a corniche bicycle path ten feet above the roadway. This bicycle roadway ends, abruptly, right there.

Line up the bike trail along the south wall of the Chinese restaurant and you will find the now-invisible place where the "Old Put" railroad tunnel that passes under Seminary Road is buried. The word is, that it was filled, not demolished, and it should be intact.

The problem is, that Putnam County, in its wisdom, allowed the building of an eldercare facility right where the old tunnel would emerge. Now they can't use the whole of the tunnel, which might have been relatively inexpensive to excavate, but instead, will have to part off, halfway through, leave the old right of way, and cross onto the Guideposts' private property. This circumstance will increase the budget exponentially, if Guideposts will allow it to happen at all. The process will take at minimum, three years. Look for a semi-permanent by-pass-onto-the-street here real soon. Paving of the balance of this stretch of the Trail is scheduled to begin this summer.

Putnam Railtrail from space, demonstrating the problems with carrying The Trail over Route 6. It appears that any sort of permanent solution is going to have to involve some sort of easement over The Guidepost's property.The original plan and budget for this bridge and tunnel is "out the window" on this one. Planning, solution, approval, budget, bidding and construction will take more than two years.

Cyclists relax on the balustrad in front of the beautifully restored Audubon House as M.V.Independence makes way through "The Lullwater" in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, carrying her passengers on a tour of the waters & shorelines of Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York.
5 Boro Bicycle Club's "Brooklyn-Queens Mosaic Ride" to Prospect Park on Sunday, April 13, 2003.

This magnificent conifer stands upon the shore of The Lullwater in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, just North of the Audubon House. Cyclists, seated on the bench at the lower right, revel in their participation in this idyllic Spring setting after having pedaled in from Sixtieth Street and First Avenue in Manhattan as part of the 5 Boro Bike Club's "Brooklyn-Queens Mosaic Ride"

"The Weekday Cyclists" Cherry Blossom Ride to Branch Brook Park in Essex County, New Jersey. Deryk, Linda, Jane, Trudy, Ann, Carolyn and Don

John Chiarella's CUSTOM TWENTY-FOUR "PURSUIT" SWIFT FOLDER chained to a shrub to prevent it from taking off on its own....

My Hercules, three-speed English lightweight and my brother,Bob,standing in the driveway at home in Bellaire (now Queens Village)

Scull's Angels (Super Operating Corp.) Business Card.
Scull, Robert C. (1917–86) businessman, art collector; born in New York City. His family name was originally "Sokolnikoff," but his father's Russian name was shortened by emigration authorities. Robert attended public schools and attended night school at the Art Students League and the Pratt Institute. He became a free-lance illustrator and then an industrial designer. After his marriage to Ethel Redner, his father-in-law left him a share of a taxi business that he used to establish the Super Operating Corporation, a taxi company whose drivers were called "Scull's Angels." His ability to gain publicity was evident even then, as seen in his well-publicized hiring of Amy Vanderbilt to teach his drivers courtesy. He and his wife purchased many works by artists in the pop art tradition. They sold part of their collection in 1965 and established the Robert and Ethel Scull Foundation in order to subsidize and encourage young unknown artists. They held a second auction in 1973, and by that time they were an extravagant personification of the pop art scene. Robert divorced Ethel Scull (1975), remarried, and moved to a farm in Connecticut. In 1978 he established a new foundation in his name and continued to buy contemporary art.

New York City Taxi Driver's Licence

Host of the 2003, Folding Bike Round-Up

Near the turn of the century...At left, a coachman holds his team on the apron waiting his turn to merge into traffic on the Harlem Speedway. It obviously came out of that cut in the rocks on the left that carries the access road down from street level high above. I believe that spot is where the Cross Bronx Expressway lies today.

Note the chestnut trotter making time going south, pulling the buckboard....

...at about 178th Street with the Washington Bridge in the background and every man is in a suit, tie & hat (bollers seem to have been in style). Sizzling south on the dirt track, behind the dash board, wearing dusters buttoned up to the neck neck and covered with a lap blanket. Her hat is probably held on with a couple of six inch-long hat pins. Coal heat, gas lighting, and, when it wasn't below freezing...mud. Horse sweat, horse shoes and tack, manure (everywhere). People before indoor plumbing, deoderant and dry cleaning...creosote on the pilings, kerosene & lemon oil brass polish, neatsfoot oil, linseed oil, mineral oil, laquer thinner, mineral spirits, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, shellac, varnish, liniment, oil cloth and rags wipe everything on or off...EVERYTHING. Privies out back or downstairs on the first floor that, when you finished doing your business, you threw in a scoop of lye. Saturday night baths, Turkish baths and public bath houses with six man urinals that looked like too-high bath tubs. Straight razors and strops, moustache wax, macasser oil & brilliantine. Matching comb, mirror & hair brush sets with silver plated backs and handles were heirlooms...Coal tar soap, castor oil, saddle soap and leather creaking against the buckles and running gear, water buckets, sand buckets, canvas water and feed buckets, water troughs, urine troughs, muck pits, straw, hay & must... and if you had a lucky dog: horse meat supplemented the usual table scraps ... Hand saws,and braces. Breweries, tanneries, dye works, gas works, slaughter houses, fat renderers and live markets. The smell of things burning... leaves, trash, wood, construction debris..No trucks...wagons and draft animals that went AROUND hills or put on extra teams to get up them. Cinders in the air... and in your eyes from soot and coal dust from chimneys and trains and ash heaps...Rope, blocks & tackle, levers and bridging...timbers & mallets. Offal wagons, teamsters, longshoremen, water trucks to keep the dust down and break down the manure that was everywhere. Leather belting, whips, gloves, men, wearing ties and coveralls carrying tool boxes and lunch boxes, shoe polish and three brushes in your shoe-shine kit. Milliners, lanterns, steam engines, axes, cleavers, hand saws, wooden tool caddies, sickles, rakes, scissors, brown wrapping paper held together with straight pins. Enameled coffee pots that chipped, wash boards, brown soap, mangles, flat irons in half a dozen weights and shapes, clothes pins and clothes lines. Buttonhooks, whale bone corsets, petticoats (garters for men AND women). Everything made out of wood, tin, lead, wool, cotton, brass, bone, leather, fur, horse hair, animal fat, silver, copper & iron. Candles, snuffers & holders, string, burlap, ten kinds of shovels in four sizes each...Twenty types of brooms & brushes for cleaning, grooming, and sweeping out your storefront or front porch three times a day to get rid of the dust and grit that constantly came in. Men with big, heavy trash cans-on-wheels sweeping up outside all the time. Barrels & kegs, bung holes, spigots, stays, staves and corks. Hammers, tongs and ice picks. Bowling ball-like, black smudge pots burning around construction sites, trestles and railroad crossings manned by bib overalled men who stayed in a little shack next to the manual gates and carried red lanterns in order to be seen after dark. Carbide pellets & water to make acetylene for hand-held blow torches and carriage lamps. Wheel deflectors, stables under some New York City buildings with elevators to bring the rigs and animals out of site below the street, beer halls, beer gardens, saloons, barber shops with men getting shaves & haircuts behind barber poles. Meat hooks, and flies everywhere the second the wind drops. Ice & coal. Hard coal, soft coal, pea coal, coal davits, coal chutes, coal wagons, bins, scuttles, coal dust, pitch pots and tar. Everything is burning everywhere: wood, coal, gas and oils of all types, making heat and steam and running forges and foundries, laundries, illumination, manufactory processes and often, just to get rid of unwanted substances like garbage, waste material, etc. "Sawdust is the poor man's fuel". Pickled, preserved, smoked, dried and salted everything. Deaf people, blind people, crippled, deformed and sick people on the streets on crutches, on dollies and just sitting on boxes next to buildings... and the beat cops with twirling nightsticks and rows of shiny brass buttons who made sure that they stayed quiet lest they find out why they should. Stray dogs and cats by the score... everywhere. Screen doors that springs slam shut, secured by a hook & eye... and hand fans, gunny sacks, dumb waiters for getting the coal up to the cast iron stoves on the third, fourth, fifth floors...and big, heavy, iron ash cans that weigh 20 pounds empty so that the wind wouldn't blow them over. Nails, hardware stores with scales and creaky wooden floors, notion stores selling thread, fabric, buttons and patterns. Awning men putting up the awnings on every window all over the city every Spring and taking them all back down again come Fall. Butchers and food stores with two inches of sawdust on the floors and a hundred more bags of it in the basement. Meat hanging on barbed, iron hooks behind the butcher's counter, right out in the air with sticky fly paper hanging in front of it, and the butcher, in a blood stained apron wearing a linen hat, greeting customers, taking orders, cutting & wrapping meat in brown "blood-paper" and making change for each individual customer with those same hands at the end of each transaction. When it got bad, or at the end of the day, the sawdust was swept up and replaced, the butcher blocks would be doused with hot water, given a sprinkle with coarse salt and scrubbed with a steel brush then rinsed off with another bucket of brine, ready for another day!. Sewing machines, paraffin, alkane, moth balls, mentholatum, milk of magnesia in cobalt-blue glass bottles...Darned socks, antimacassers, lamp oil and wicks, button-up flies, braces, spats and cravats....shirts with separate collars and cuffs and one-size-fits-all sleeves that made necessary the use of sleeve garters in order to keep them up. Blacksmiths, farriers, livery stables, saddlers' shops, stalls, lofts, hay racks, cobblestones on the hills, wheelwrights, carriage makers and brass foundries, plank roads, mud puddles and servants. Ah...the good old days!

Two driveways cut from left to right across the pedestrian promenade out onto the Harlem Speedway at about what is today's 180th Street

Looking South onto the Harlem Speedway from the Washington Bridge at 181st Street. note Highbridge water tower standing on the hill at the right...Early 1900's. Now we can see that driveway across the promenade sweeping south and up the hill to that house on the western slope.

Bicycles are permitted on the boardwalk after September 30th

When presented with an hour or two off at the end of the day, a folding bicycle in the trunk affords opportunities for spontaneous cycling.

...luxuriating in the experience of having the Jones Beach State Park gardens, pathways and boardwalk all to myself on a beautiful day.

...on the runway

The group posing high above the Hudson at Inspiration Point. Alfredo Garcia and James Zisfein co-leaders

"Hot Rod Twenty"

(To the tune of Hot Rod Lincoln) (right click then select OPEN IN A NEW WINDOW) http://users.cis.net/sammy/hotrod_l.htm

(with apologies to Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen)

The wife said
"John, you're buggin' me plenty,
Out in the shed with that Raleigh Twenty"

Have you heard the story of the big bike race
When the high-end folders were settin' the pace?
The story is true, I'm here to say
I was ridin that folder I bought on eBay!

'Got an SA hub and it's all souped up
'Lil clear coat made her look like a pup
She's got three big gears, uses 'em all
Heron chainring makes her haul!

She sports two-inch, red-striped, balloon tires
Where they meet the ground they spit out fire!
Low and wide, this bike's got plenty.
Nothing can catch my Raleigh Twenty!

Headed up the Greenway late one night
The Empire State was on my right
Tearing up the Hudson, what a thrill
Passing bikes like they were standing still....

All of a sudden, in the blink of an eye,
Some damned Bike Friday passed us by
I said, "Girl, now that's a mark for me!"
By then the tail light was all you could see....

Other riders were ribbin' me for bein' behind
So I thought I'd let my Twenty unwind
He was makin twenty-two I reckon'd
'flicked the trigger, let in "second"...

Well, the cadence counter read "a hundred and ten"
On a Twenty that means you're near top end.
'Feet were moving like the wings on a bird
It was time, 'clicked into third.

Passed him with the fenders shakin'
"Come on girl now earn your bacon!"
Smoked his cadence, beat his pace
Twenty's don't need Dura-Ace!

Caught him! Passed him! "See you later"
Disengaged my generator.
That bike of yours had best have plenty
if you wanna pass my Raleigh Twenty!

© 2003 John T. Chiarella. all rights reserved
Too many TWENTY's!

Don't miss Sheldon Brown's Raleigh TWENTY pages! They are located at: http://sheldonbrown.com/raleigh-twenty.html

It's too cold to ride, so it must be tune-up time!

I was here. What were YOU doing, handing out candy to the kids who came to the door? Did you miss this ride too? Don't miss the next NYC Critical Mass. GET IN THE PICTURE! There is no charge, because there's no one to pay. It is simply a NYC phenomenon....When enough bikes accumulate, they begin to mill around, and after awhile, one or two take off and all the rest sort of ...follow! They form up at 7:00 PM at the North end of Union Square Park (17th St. & Park Avenue)on the last Friday of every month. All that you need is a bicycle or a pair of skates.

Patchogue, NY 11772; on the east side (northbound lanes) of the bridge that carries CR 19 (Waverly Avenue) over Sunrise Highway

...beside the Greenway, on the pier south of the Intrepid.

"From Palermo came the most massive presentation of the parade -- the grand Carro Trionfale, or Carriage of Triumph, which celebrates Santa Rosalia, the patron saint of Palermo. Made entirely of wood, iron, and silver, the carriage is nearly 36 feet long, 26 feet tall, over 16 feet wide, and weighs in at nearly 11,000 pounds. The carriage is more sculptural art than float in showing the city of Palermo, the mountains it abuts, and a hand-carved sculpture of Santa Rosalia, who saved the city from the black plague in 1624. The carro, which has been used in Palermo's Festino di Santa Rosalia for the past four years, is a gift from the City of Palermo to the Columbus Citizens Foundation. It was pulled up Fifth Avenue by oxen."

Heavier than the core of the sun, and equipped with the most inexpensive components that money can buy! Your daddy had better own a bike shop because these are put together TWELVE AN HOUR by the cheapest labor that toy store money can buy.
You say you want exercise? This bike will give you plenty.....dragging that heavy hunk of steel up every hill....and on the long walk home!

Save time! Flush a hundred and seventy five bucks down the toilet while jumping up and down!

NYC's Critical Mass begins at 7:00 PM in Union Square Park at the corner of 17th Street and Park Avenue, on the last Friday of every month, year round.

Organic Vegetables and other wonderful things in Huntington, N.Y.

Five speed with derailer and handlebar mounted shifter

1-877-4-COMMUTE

http://litm.org/bicycle.htm

BICYCLE LOCKERS FOR COMMUTERS AT THE PATCHOGUE LIRR STATION...
For lease. First come, first served. $60.00 per year. At other LIRR stations as well.

1-877-4-COMMUTE
See web site for details: http://litm.org/bicycle.htm

standing (l to r) Daniel, Lorraine, Lucy, Clayton, Ken, Alice, unidentified, unidentified, Ira & Andrea

seated / kneeling (l to r) Roy, Bob, Beth & Carolyn

in Central Park at the finish line of the 2004 Transportation Alternatives Century Bicycle Tour

South of Lake George on the Old Military Road on the way to Glens Falls, New York

451mm X 1 1/8", high-pressure, road tires...double front chainrings (44-54) with nine speed, 11-30, rear freewheel controlled by Shimano STI 105's...

Distributed by NYPD Community Affairs Section at Union Square Park at 7:00 PM on October 29, 2004. Inquire for availability of high resolution reproductions. Coming soon: 4" X 4.5" copies available on a perforated roll.
For easier readability, double-click on LARGE (below)

Main Entry: riot act
Function: noun
Etymology: the Riot Act, English law of 1715 providing for the dispersal of riots upon command of legal authority
Date: 1819
: a vigorous reprimand or warning — used in the phrase "read them the riot act"

"So John, over 1000 riders left here with written orders (ja vol!) to return to this same place. and now there are 50 cops here and only 40 riders came back. Don't you find that odd?"

"I don't know, Steve. I followed the written directions and found myself alone."

1010 WINS correspondent (and cyclist) Steve Kastenbaum interviews rider John Chiarella in Union Square Park after the October 29, 2004 Critical Mass

2004 NYC Critical Mass Halloween Ride

© 2004 Steven Faust. all rights reserved

Photographer / cyclist Danny Lieberman recording scenes from the party!

© 2004 Steven Faust. all rights reserved

© 2004 Steven Faust. all rights reserved

John Chiarella (holding a copy of "the riot act") in his plastic handcuff costume at NYC's annual Halloween Party on two wheels

© 2004 Steven Faust. all rights reserved

Note the Police Barricade Tape on the Right Side (attached to the near right street light and extending, across Broadway, toward the center of the photo) Blocking Access From 5th
Ave. to Southbound Broadway. There is a Motorscooter Officer standing in the
roadway on the far right side of the picture.

© 2004 Steven Faust. all rights reserved

Yes, it's just over 100 feet straight down onto the Long Island Sound beach (note the Dr. Suess-like, undermined path in the background, straight over the bike's top tube).

This is Jeff Polono. He fell on the downside of the VZ Bridge last year after a collision caused by a careless rider, breaking his arm and scraping the skin off of every corner of his body. I happened to be coming down the bridge 30 seconds later and got to take care of him...His big concern at the time? He missed crossing the finish line by 300 yards!

This year, the good folks at BNY got him two free passes...

Jeff stopped by my Marshal post at Pulaski to say hello.

He wants to know how old you have to be to be a BNY Marshal... :-)

Stand as the photographer stood. Directly behind you is a wrought iron gate between two brick pillars. Walk around the left pillar and follow the old carriage road until it crosses Indian Brook, then turn left following the footpath and follow it upstream to the falls. Get down to the level of the stream as soon as possible, avoiding the upper path.

"It's not like it's carved in stone.....uh-oh"

Yes, we ride all year 'round!
(l-r) Edgar Reyes and John Chiarella

Weekend trip to Normandy? No. It's Nassau County, NY! Participants see the most fascinating sights on 5BBC day rides. All 5BBC day rides are free and you don't need to be a member to come along. Check the schedule at: http://www.5bbc.org/rides.shtml

She spent an hour before the mirror choosing her oufit for the day....

A case of Rottweiler puppies for sale on Arthur Avenue, in the Bronx.

My very favorite tail light. Drivers HATE it. "Car repellent"

Best pump to have on a bike ride, hands down. Ingenius design unfolds in seconds to become a field floor pump. Certainly good up to 120 PSI. Quality construction. Renewal kit available. Be certain to order the one with the integral pressure gauge. Two or three mounting brackets are available from the factory. One type allows for mounting in place of a water bottle cage. A second, permits the mounting alongside a water bottle cage. The third allows the bracket to be mounted on virtually any tube on any bike. "Don't leave home without it!". Don't look at another pump or at the price. This is the one you've been looking for.

This always comes in handy for one thing or another.

"THE WRIGHT SADDLE"

Essentially an off-branded Brooks. B-17

Bike Friday's roving ambassador, Lynette Chiang with Bike Friday Club of NY member, John Chiarella at the Statue of Civic Virtue in Kew Gardens, Queens, NYC

The Bike Friday Club of New York City visits the grave of Louis Armstrong. Visiting Bike Friday factory cheerleader Lynette Chiang (front center left).

at The Cathedral of Saint John The Divine, in NYC

The 5BBC visits the grave of magician Harry Houdini

The 5BBC visits the grave of John Martin (Giovanni Martini); the only survivor of George Armstrong Custer's command at The Battle of the Little Big Horn

John Chiarella at the grave of Harry Houdini on the 5BBC'S "Custer's Last Bike Ride"

Helmets off as "TAPS" sounds while members of 5BBC's "Custer's Last Bike Ride" look on.

In "The Riverboat" in the Empire State Building. After the 1971 Delehanty High School Senior Prom

The Eleventh Annual New York City "Blessing of the Bicycles" (L-R Andrea Mercado, Daniel F. Lieberman, John T. Chiarella and Andrea Casertano)