Originally Posted by
heypaul
"hey i'm finding it hard to find any bikers in my area besides the few that ride on flatbush and zoom pass me so i'm looking for someone to just chat with in the nyc area and ride with from time to time."
Hey... How are you doing? I just joined here a couple of days ago and this is my first post. I live in Sheepshead Bay, home of the Lundy's Restaurant building. Anyway, I suspect you must be riding a Huffy (like I am) or some other non-bike store cheap bicycle, which puts you and me in an untouchable situation.
I just turned 65 this year, although as this post will demonstrate I have the overall maturity level of aboout 16. I also do not use LOL's or smiley faces, so people don't know when I'm just goofing around.
Recently, I noticed an ad in the subways stating that NYC had 620+ miles of bike lanes. Not having any purpose or direction in my life, an idea dawned on me. Why not see how many miles of that you can ride? It would be a project that would give some meaning to my life, as I rapidly head into oblivion. So armed with my Cats-Eye cyclometer and a pad and a 2009 bike map, I've been out there logging on miles. So far, I've got a little over 150 miles done.
I liked your description of other bikers zooming by you. Some people create a wake or air turbulence as they pass me, that really annoys me.
So, what's your excuse for riding a bike and getting in the way of the Grand Prix people?
New York's a great city to get to know via bicycle, so you've got the right idea. When I first started riding I would choose neighborhoods to ride to and over the years I rode through pretty much every neighborhood in the city. I used to live in Washington Heights (northern Manhattan) and would often ride out to Coney Island and Bay Ridge to visit friends. As for the people zooming by you, well I'd probably be one of them since the years on the saddle have improved my riding endurance but don't let that disencourage you because we all enjoy riding at our own pace.
