Catch Up

In the time since I last posted there have been ...

mittens, (double knit, with elephants)

winter concerts (Squidette is the one directly to the left of the conductor)

Holiday Windows,

and visits with family.
Up to date?

Doing Our Part

Never say that the Squid did not do their part on Black Friday. Despite a total dislike of crowds and such.

See?

We tried to buy more but not one of the three music stores that we hit had oboe reeds. (We went to our favorite Woodwind and Brass store which sent us to Sam Ash which sent us to a different woodwind store. Seems there was a recent run on oboe reeds. No joke.) Squidette did, however, get her clarinet reeds and even got a new type to try. Also in the pile are a few pieces of music for Little Squid to play around with and figure out which one he wants to use to audition for camp. And some battery cases for electronics projects. Never say we don't know how to spend money!

Exhausted from our shopping we then had to take a break at the Charmin Restroom. Where Little Squid suffered the trauma of being locked in his stall. No kidding. He was pretty upset. But then he swung a little and recovered his equilibrium.

Soldering on, we actually ventured to Old Navy, where we stood in front and took a picture of Horton on Macy's. Desperately needing clothing -- Little Squid out grew his pants the other night -- we walked into, and then immediately out of, Old Navy. Have no fear, the jeans have now been purchased from the comfort of my chair. Let's hear it for internet stores!

Tomorrow? Greenmarket, Barnes and Noble and the Tea Salon. And a haircut for Little Squid. Oh -- and an Opera!

Marathon Closures

Consider this a PSA for Central Park users:

The New York City Road Runners organization has closed a section of the Central Park Drive to pretty much all serious users except, of course, runners. They can use the foot path. Those of us who ride or skate, however, are out of luck. As of this evening one could not ride in the roadway between 72nd Street and 59th Street. It will be interesting to see if I can even get into the park at 59th Street tomorrow morning.

Please note that I noticed this today. It may have started yesterday but I would not know because it rained and I drove to work.

This closure is so they can put up all of the gimmickry that they use in the marathon. They started building the grandstands late last week -- those block part of the pedestrian path, so everyone is being put out, not just those of us on wheels.

If, in the next few days, I am hit by a car on a section of street that is bypassing the closed section of the park, I will hold the Road Runners responsible. I'm that angry.

Forget that NYC, and particularly Manhattan, will be impossible to navigate on Sunday. They are already making life difficult for the rest of the park-using public.

How dare they!

Biking events in NYC shut down streets for a limited (as in maybe a few hours) period of time. But to shut down a significant part of Manhattan for days???

This is why Mike will not run in the marathon. Consider it a personal boycott.

Oh, and it really messes with our plans to circumnavigate the borough on Sunday. Or, frankly, do any sizable ride that does not involve New Jersey.

Rant over. Back to your regularly scheduled, happy go lucky blog.

You Know They are Growing ...

... when you actually have to think about if the jeans you just took from the dryer are hers ... or yours.

Makes sorting the laundry a tad more difficult. But not too much.

We have had a nice, quiet, 3 day weekend here in NYC. The first two days were sunny and warm and we did ... nothing. Barely even got out except to run some errands.

Except for Squidette. She had a mock test in preparation for the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT if you care). The test is in less then two weeks. Gulp! Lot of pressure when both of your parents and 5 of your 6 aunts and uncles and one grandparent went to specialized high schools (two schools between the 7 of us).

She also had an annoying project that required hourly recording over an entire day. We helped. I have no problem helping if I feel the project is unreasonable in its expectations and this one expected a 13 year old to be out doors for 8 hours recording the position of the sun using a homemade sundial. In New York City. Where you can't just leave the sundial and return every hour.

We fudged it -- used a windowsill on the east side of the apartment and the balcony on the west side. The teacher did say they could use a window if they absolutely had to.

This leads us to today where I declared "we are going for a ride!"

And we did.

It was so quiet on the paths and, even on the streets, that you almost forgot you were in New York.
Almost.

We rode up to the Intrepid and then down and around the tip of the island, cutting across (from East to West) via the Greenmarket where we scored some leeks for tonight's dinner.

Pastries were also made but I misplaced my camera after documenting them. Oh well, blog fodder for tomorrow.

She's Back!!!

As I rode downtown today I passed the usual sights -- Tavern on the Green, Metropolitan Hospital and the new sanitation facility. Then, as I cleared the cruise ship terminal, I saw it. And I cheered. Loudly. And pumped my arm in the air. And cheered again, and again!

The Intrepid is back after over a year's absence and we are happy. Mike saw it coming from the harbor -- his classroom has a good view of the lower river. Apparently he actually stopped his lesson so they could watch the Intrepid come home.

So, if you saw any of the news reports and saw a strange biker in the background in a bright yellow jacket fighting the wind and shouting. Yeah, that was me. I'm very happy that the Intrepid is back. The hole in my cityscape has been refilled.

The Three Bears ...

When the kids were young, we spent hours and hours at the various playgrounds around town. My mother-in-law was a firm believer in getting out and about with the kids starting from infancy. Since she was our child care -- and frankly spent as much or even more time with them then we did -- what she said went (within reason -- but I never found anything out of reason).

One of her favorite spots to take them was the Three Bears Playground in Central Park. When they were tiny she'd sit on a bench and read while they people watched or slept and later, she would follow them around as they navigated the bears and other equipment on toddling legs. Later on, she would sit reading a book while they bounced around on their own.

Yesterday, after services and lunch with friends, we decided to walk across Central Park. As we entered at 79th Street we greeted our friends, The Three Bears. And then the kids decided that they needed to get more intimate with them.

The following pictures just make me smile. I hope they do the same for you. (And I have no idea who the other kid is -- she was just enjoying the bears.)

Squid on Wheels -- The New York City Century 2008

Today was the 19th annual New York Century , A century, for those of you not in the know, is a 100 mile bike ride. The New York Century ride features five routes, ranging from 15 to 100 miles. This is the third time that Team Squid has participated in the ride and the furthest that we have ridden. We have now done the 35, 55 and 75 mile portions and no, we will not be doing the 100 next year -- we have an affair to attend that weekend , we'll try to find a different Century to ride -- maybe the Covered Bridges Metric Century in Lancaster.

I'd be lying if I said the ride was perfect. The kids got tired but were determined to finish. We offered to abort several times but they both insisted on continuing. Even after a bike fell on Squidette (she was sitting on the grass at a rest stop and my bike tipped over on her) she kept going.

Injuries were minor -- a branch scratched Little Squid's arm and I have some friction burns where my legs meet my saddle. (There is also some mild sunburn. Even our super duper sunblock can't beat 11 hours in the sun.)

Equipment malfunctions were non existent. 5 bikes (we had a friend riding with us), 10 tires and zero flats. Pretty amazing.

Now we are a bit sore, a tad tired but hey, we did it! 85 miles total including the ride to the subway to get to the start and the ride all the way home.

6:15 a.m. (Notice the new jerseys -- large Squid on the back, of course)Times Square -- about 7:00 a.m.

The Cyclone -- around 11:30 a.m.

The Kissena Park Velodrome (that's Little Squid on the track) -- around 1:00 p.m.

The Finish Line, 79 miles later -- about 5:00 p.m.

Honorary Squid -- He planned on riding the 35, maybe the 55, and stayed with us for the entire 75 (really 79).

Squid on Wheels -- High Bridge and the Croton Aqueduct

Our intention was to ride at least 40 miles this weekend in preparation for next week. (Don't ask, you'll just call the wrath of Huricane Hannah down on us.) You know what they say about the best laid plans, don't you ... let it sufficce to say that Little Squid got a migraine just before we were supposed to leave on Sunday.

The day was spent, instead, experimenting with headache relieving pressure points (verdict: they kind of work, if only to distract the sufferer for a while) and then shopping for (Mama and Squidette) and then assembling some furniture for Little Squid's room. I also hid the ends on Squidette's shrug. We decided that blocking was a futile endeavor.

Monday dawned bright and sunny and we set out to log at least 20 miles (note, we only achieved 19 due to various frustrations including a water bottle bent on suicide and a flat tire).

We did, however, finally get to High Bridge Park and introduced the kids to the High Bridge water tower and the Croton Aqueduct / High Bridge. The links do a much better job of explaining the important history of this site than I can. To sum it up, the High Bridge / Croton Aqueduct was built in 1848 (making it the oldest surviving bridge in New York City). It had a most important function, destined as it was to carry fresh drinking water into a city plagued with fires and disease. Cholera was a big one back then. The path to the bridge has been renovated and the bridge is now undergoing repair. It is supposed to open, once again, to pedestrian and bike traffic in two or three years. One will then be able to walk / ride the length of the entire Croton trail from the lowest reservoir (42nd Street and 6th Avenue) to the highest (Croton, NY).

High Bridge as seen from the plaza by the water tower.


High Bridge as seen through the hole in the gate that blocks access.


Structure preventing access to the bridge.


The High Bridge Water Tower as seen from the entry to High Bridge.

Mike -- stuck between and rock and ... yup, you guessed it ... a hard place.

Squid on Wheels -- A Ride to Bayside

This morning we set out to ride to the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in Flushing Meadow - Corona Park.
No one was actually racing when we got there but we did get to circle the Unisphere.

To get to the races / park, we had to first navigate our way across Manhattan and into Queens via the famed Queensboro / 59th Street Bridge and then wend our way across Queens.

The trip out took a good two hours to go about 18 miles but we had to keep stopping to consult the map. If we do it again, it will go a lot faster.

After seeing what there was to see, we continued Northeast to my parent's apartment in Bayside. My kid brother and his wife were in town so we all visited for a few hours, swam a bit, ate some pizza and then headed home. We did not ride home, but rather rode to the terminus of the 7 train and took the subway back into Manhattan.

The 7 is my favorite train. The views of Manhattan are fantastic -- especially if you can see out the front of the train. Sadly, however, the new subway cars do not have the large windows at the front that the old ones used to. So, we had to settle for the view out the side windows instead. I tried to get some good shots but the window glass was really dirty. If you ever have a chance, take the 7 from Main Street to at least Queensboro Plaza and look out the windows facing North. You will see New York as you have never seen it before.

Today's ride: 30.7 miles.


Thanks to Dee for nominating me for a Arte y Pico award. I know that I am supposed to nominate a few blogs but my brain is a bit fried right now from the ride. I'll get back to you in a few days. Thanks, Dee!

TdF: Intermediate Sprint #2

The challenge: the ride around your town and share what is special.

[Edited to add: oops, didn't read the instructions carefully enough and missed the deadline!]

The additional challenge: Um ... this is what much of Squid Knits is about. Is my post going to be subject to accusations of doping?

And, yet one more challenge: I am turning this contest entry into a contest itself. Anyone who correctly identifies all of the structures, in photographs labeled with a letter, will be entered into a drawing for some yummy yarn of my choosing and some chocolate that is native to my locale. One caveat, the prize will not be sent out until the cooler weather due to the chocolate content.

Contest closes at midnight, July 31, 2008.



And here we go ...

I live in a small island situated where a fairly famous river meets the Atlantic Ocean.
Over the last several years, my island has become more and more bike friendly and one can ride around the island with roughly half the trip being along, or really close to, the water.Near the southern tip of our island sits a small fort. This fort served as the main immigration intake center until facilities on an island to our west took over.

(A)

My grandfather came through the facilities shown below, which are, alas, not accessible by bicycle.

(B)

Several bridges connect my island with both the mainland

(C)

and another, much larger, island to our east.(D)

At least one of these bridges has been sold by aspiring entrepreneurs the world over. This particular bridge was also the site of my first date with the man who is now my loving husband.

My island was, unfortunately, the target of some horrid attacks almost 7 years ago and the damage is still evident.

But we are also home to the final resting place of a President and his wife.

(E)

This tiny island is home to both very tall and very small structures.

(F)

(G)

Some of them dress up for the holidays.(H)

But my island is home to more than just buildings, we even have areas that are somewhat natural.
And areas that serve to fulfill the most basic needs of my family.
Figured it out yet? Need one more hint? Our local newspaper is published less then a mile from our home.