Well, okay, then! Here's my contribution, Part One.


Yesterday I did my summer-time commute out from my NYC office to my "beach house" on Long Island. Had to mow the grass, harvest some lettuce, prepare the house for summer occupation (which starts next week). Now, I had the option to take the 4:30 train from Hunterspoint Ave station which takes me within 4 miles of my house, for a total of 6.3 miles of bicycling. Instead I opted for a 2:25 train from Penn Station, which involves a transfer at Jamaica, and ends at Patchogue; then I have to ride an extra 10 miles or so, or maybe 12 miles if I opt for better scenery and, I figured, would still get me to the house a little earlier than usual, provided I pootled along in a leisurely way.

The problem is I forgot who started this thread. Anyone want to remind us what SNAFU stands for?

Well, the first thing that went wrong is that I missed the connection at Jamaica. I don't know how that happened, sure wasn't my fault (I blame LIRR). So I took the next train to Babylon. I figured, I'll ride from there, it will add a few miles to my ride, but I have a bottle of water, no problem.
It was a local train, a bit slow, so it was about 4:30 when I strapped all my gear onto my Mini and started pedalling.

Then I realized, I should be taking photos. And I realized my rear tire seemed a little squishy. So I stopped. As this photo shows:

the bike was heavily loaded, with my briefcase suspended from the seatpost rack, a rack trunk full of who knows what, my fleece jacket (needed for riding on refridgerated train cars) bungied to the top. As you can see, my water bottle fell when I got the pump out, and the unbreakable plastic shattered. I removed (and recycled) the plastic, but left the water where it lay. Call me a litterbug.

Finally on my way, I found myself on roads too busy to allow for one-handed photography. Still, I took a few of architectural interest:

A pretty church

and a nice old house. Great photography, eh?

Now and then the road crossed an estuary, such as this one.

The 18th century church of St John, Oakdale.

... another estuary ...

... and a canal, with homes on both sides, with boats tied up behind the houses.

The harbor at Patchogue; finally getting to familiar territory!

To be continued...