Friday, July 30, 2010

The Vagabond Vagabonds On

It's weird. It's the summer and I'm in New York. This has not occurred in a number of years. I should be traveling. Needless to say, I'm a bit antsy. My biological clock knows something is off. No moving back or forward a few hours.

Oh just you wait clock, just you wait. Because soon enough I'll be the closest to East Asia than I've ever been before. Okay, actually I'm only doing a pit stop in Hong Kong on my way to INDIA! INDIA! INDIA! Oh yes India!

Twenty-eight days (29 1/2 if you could travel time) in INDIA!

Okay so this actually isn't happening until December, but I'm already preparing myself for a full sensory overload. Scents, colors, heat, damp, light, beauty, pain, grit, dirt, tastes, all.

CANNOT WAIT

A New Set of Wheels


After seven years of living in the city I finally got a set of wheels! A two wheeler that is (please, cars and I don't really get along). Monday I decided to go on Craigslist to peruse the bike posts, and to my surprise, I found a perfect bike for me conveniently being sold in Williamsburg.

I arranged to meet the seller and after a few laps around the block, I was the proud owner of a red Fuji Sports 10 (from the 70s?). It's a little bit rusty, a little bit worn, which could describe the rest of my Brooklyn life. Meaning, it fits perfectly in my life.

Is the bike a perfect fit? Weeeeellll, the frame is an inch too big, I can't really stand over the bar, but the handle bars are comfortable, the bike goes fast. I've even managed to control it with one hand!

Biggest accomplishment on my soon to be named bike: Biking from Williamsburg to Astoria and back. Not bad for a girl who in the not so distant past scraped the skin off her left leg while frantically trying to get her foot out of the peddle harness of a bike 60 degrees from the ground as a car zoomed closer and closer on the cobblestone street outside of Musee Picasso. Oops


Lessons Learned: Bikes and Biking

1. If the seat is crooked, the bike goes crooked. I attribute this to the weight being off centered

2. Good back breaks are important.

3. Parents have absolutely no regard for their children's lives when crossing the street