PEDDLING

SPRING HAS SPRUNG !!
At least for a few days!! Yesterday(Saturday) was outstanding. I went on a bicycle marathon up the Hudson from Chelsea to 125th St! I am told that is about 6 miles round trip. It felt great!
By the time I got home around 6:15 the temperature was 77 degrees!!
I used to live on 94th and Riverside Drive and on Tiemann Place which is one block south of 125th and Broadway.
The neighborhoods are very changed, very upgraded and very appealing.
It was a sort of Trip to Bountiful by Bike!
Many memories wandered along the path with me once I got off the River Bike path and onto the streets.
The bicycle path along the Hudson was beautiful most of the way and I was reminded of past peddlings.
I have had 3 bicycles robbed but have always loved the freedom of having those 2 wheels more than having a car.
When I lived in Greenwich Village I had a bike and rode along the river before it had paths. In those years the West Side Highway was an elevated rusty relic. The Highline reminds me a bit of it in style.
It was closed and rotting and the roadway was pitted with weeds growing between the blond cement slabs. But it was a decent ride and away from traffic below. It was also an odd sort of Time Machine feeling. Like you were rolling along above the past beneath you.
But truly you were on the Past as it was already a roadway being demolished above certain streets north of the Village.
I am thinking above 23rd but I can be mistaken.
We were able to use it for a long time without the city interfering. There were less cyclists in the city in those years I believe.
I remember riding it even after a section collapsed with some cyclist or pedestrians on it. But I can't always get my facts in too much order at this point in time.
Anyway..the new path along the river North is terrific and the Southern route to Battery Park is also a good ride.
The Trees along the path were in White and Pink full-blown blossom and the sunlight on the river was a welcome accompaniment.
There were hoards of people walking and strolling and skating. Many playing basketball, tennis and other games. People reading quietly on benches and lying on the grass. Boys and girls and boys and boys walking hand in hand and side by side.
All in all a very New York day. People really enjoying the city and the outstanding weather.
Central Park last Sunday was beautiful as well. But it was a colder day.
Anyway..I rode past the Monumental memories of my Upper West Side past. Notably the Riversdie Church, whose tower is encased in scaffolding..unfortunately, the Soldiers and Sailor's memorial which stood proudly and beautifully amongst the budding branches of surrounding trees and bushes, and the majestic Romanesque glory of Grant's Tomb. That building looks in need of care and they had the steps blocked off so all one could do was go up to it and admire the architecture but not go inside.
The old neighborhoods were redolent with memories from times past for me and that involved the wonderful mates and pals that I shared those places with and I remembered the dreams and enthusiasm we all expressed in a city that was ,to us at that time, FULL of opportunities, wonders and adventures.
I had a large Frie escape outside my bedroom window at 45 Tiemann Place and would sleep out there or read and rest listening to music.
My roommate and College pal David Cromwell (then David Burrow) and I shared a 2 bedroom place on the upper 6th floor and had an unobstructed view from that fire escape. The rent was around $94 dollars a month!!
LOVELY. Elton John singing THIS SONG'S FOR YOU , Laura Nyro wailing a glorious ELI'S COMIN or a plaintive BILLY'S BLUES, Carole King having the EARTH MOVE UNDER MY FEET...and my favorite from both those wonderful lady musicians; UP ON THE ROOF. I think I prefer Laura Nyro version as it, to this day, reaches something deep inside anyone who has lived in a large city and fces all sorts of frustrtions pursuing their dreams.
On the ride home I took a path that was actually for walking and strolling and was accosted by a policewoman in an electric cart who said it is a $50 fine for riding..I was actually not peddling just coasting with my feet on the ground.
I thanked her for her concern and information and took a few pictures along that path and then headed for the bike path parallel.
I passed the Intrepid and the Helicopter landing pads and the Circle Line boats and saw the Norwegian Cruise ship sliding down the Hudson to a festive splashing voyage.
People in this city get so happy and friendly when the days are as bright and beautiful as yesterday. I know I felt that.
My legs and butt however are sore today. =0-)
Int eh balmy evening of about 70 degrees--
We went to a gathering at a friend's new apartment in Styvesant Town near the Peter Cooper Village. Lovely apartment
but the rent is about a couple of thousand plus a month and I thought of that $94 dollar place uptown so many years and miles away.
It was such beautiful night we walked back to Chelsea from there. A long walk but easily done on such a night.
It is days like yesterday that make it worth living here.
I wish us all more days like that ahead and
of course health, peace and JOBS for those of us who are in pursuit of same.
With this weather and the joy it evokes we should all find the way through happier and easier ..
faster and more fun if you are PEDDLING.

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