One real problem living in the City That Never Sleeps is that I never sleep. I  might doze off on the couch after dinner but I’m up again in time for the 11 o’clock news and ready to walk the dog. Then I’m up, often at the computer, typing away, way past the wee hours. Even if I go out for a glass of wine I’m up again at 2 am with a sugar rush. Then following day I roll out of bed far later than I’m willing to admit.

Enter the iPad

There’s something particularly comforting about couch computing.  Wrap myself in a slanket, put on my German knitted slippers, boot up Netflix or download a book, and sleep won’t be too far away.

Dodging tourists, shoppers, and venders in the Prince Street bike lane I paused for the light. Looked up, and spotted this familiar landmark in irresistible light.

Took a walk through the neighborhood to see what’s changed. It’s truly amazing how the mind becomes flooded with memories and space is transformed back in time: the pizza place where we’d buy 15 cent slices at lunchtime, the old music room at JHS 3, strolling down Bleecker from my friend’s place on Charles.

Making my way down narrow sidewalks, tilting my umbrella for passersby so as not to become tangled in some rainy day mishap. I recalled walking on Bedford, to and from school, skipping and jumping over steps that still protrude onto the uneven walkway. Then there was that day in November we were dismissed early, half crying, trying to comprehend what had taken place in Dallas.

But I wouldn’t be walking that route for long. Only a few months later I transferred to another school with an entirely different route. Nowadays, more often than not, I ride my bike through the narrow streets of the West Village, too fast to soak up the details. Today, navigating the pavement afoot, was a pleasant way to spend a rainy afternoon.

some people played in the snow.
others spent the day at home tweeting.

from my bedroom window.

Got a surprise in the mail today. Someone who borrowed my Nikon FM 2 with 55mm Auto Micro lens finally decided to return it….. ten years later. It’s almost like having a new (old) camera.

Earlier this month Rocco Ristarante closed. This traditional Italian restaurant was a staple on Thompson Street since it was opened by Rocco Stanziano in 1922. It featured a rich old world interior with black and white tile floors. When the weather was warm they’d open the front doors to create an open air cafe. Word on the street is that the landlord wanted to raise the rent from $8,000 to $18,000 per month. Maybe another restaurant will open in its place.

We never did get around to eating at Rocco’s and at this point I guess we never will. Even so, we’ll miss this part of the Italian American community that was Thompson Street and their lovely old neon sign.

UPDATE: According to Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York the space will be taken over by “the super trendy Torrsi” who wanted to keep the old sign. Turns out, Rocco’s is taking it with them.

Having yet another trendy restaurant isn’t as bad as, say, another Starbucks, but its one more hole in, what once was, a vibrant Italian American community.

While it’s not quite as convenient as a point & shoot for some situations, it is the camera I always have with me, whether I’m running, biking, walking the dog, or shooting a an event with my real cameras. And I’m quickly developing an appetite for apps and it’s Lo-Fi appeal. Either way, its something to do on a cold winter afternoon.

Maybe it was the pressure from my foot on thin plastic that caused the front fender to fold under itself which resulted in the bike coming to an abrupt stop, causing me to fall. Maybe it exacerbated by the extravagant mud flaps attached to thin flexible plastic.

Whatever. Once I grabbed my left hand and rotated it back into place, I grabbed the front fender and rotated that back into place, as well.  There’s something about going endo on warm mecadam that makes you lose the presence of mind to actually document the situation.

I can only be thankful that it happened in a buffered bike lane rather than in traffic, and that I only sustained a sprained wrist. So today, ten days after the fall, and desite the fact that I have not yet regained full use of my right hand, I’d de-fendering the intrepid little Sirrus.

But when I bought my new 21st century bike it didn’t have fenders so for the first two winters I used a pair of black Planet Bike Hard Core Freddy Fenders that I picked up at my local bike shop.

These certainly made winter cycling a lot neater. One year I even ran them through May for the Montauk Century. I remember one roadie refering to the Sirrus as “that ehh … bike you’re riding” as though having fenders somehow made me less of a cyclist, or my Sirrus less of a bike.

Ride a bike with fenders in January and you’re hard core. Ride the same bike in May, you’re a Fred, or in my case, a Doris.

All of this fender joy ended when the allen bolt that secures the rear rack to my drop out eyelets became stuck. I spent the next two or three winters with snow, rain, and muck splashing up onto my legs and across my back… which sort of puts a chill on winter riding.

I must’ve first seen Planet Bike’s Limited Edition Pink Cascadia Fender when they decided to do a limited run in 2007. But then it didn’t make sense to buy a set of fenders, if I could still get them, when I couldn’t actually put them on my bike.

I tried al l sorts of methods to remove the stubborn bold including buying a better tool, buying a lesser tool and filling the head with crazy glue to improve the grip. None of these methods worked.

Then early I finally decided to google “Stuck Allen Bolt.”

Lo and behold I could a website that explained several methods of removing these troublesome widgets from your iron steed. Then once the bolt was off and I thought that was it, who could resist trying to track down a pair of these pretty pink wonders?

I promptly sent off a message to Planet Bike the same day. They responded, within moments of my inquiry stating that they had run out of the limnited edition fenders long ago and had none, in any size, available. But if Google had worked miracles for me once it was certainly worth a second try. The first time met with few results but when I tried it a few days later, Amazon, of all places, was near the top of the list!!!

Fenders must be in their heyday because a mere two days after my Cascadias arrived the New York Times Fashion and Style section published Gear Test|Bike Fenders That is, if fenders ever had a fashion heyday.

While the hardware included wasn’t entirely consistent with the description included in the directions, it certainly was an ample amount of hardware for mounting, including some 25mm allen bolts that are long enough to mount the fender brackets inside the rack braces, with room to spare.

FItting the fenders was not quite as easy as I remember. The Cascadia seem to be a bit longer than the Hard Core and seem to run a bit slimmer. Although Planet Bike says they’re for road bikes with tires up to 700 x 28 these Cascadias run fairly close to my Armadillo 25mm tires. They also lack the metal hook that latches onto the chain stay connector. The front bold isn’t quite long enough for the Sirrus fork so I wound up using the one I’d left in there from my old Hard Core fenders.

Some users on Bikeforums have mentioned conflicts with the Nexave front derailleur that provides very little clearance between the derailleur and the rear tire, and suggest upgrading to a Tiagara. Fornow, I firmly attached the bottom section to the chainstay connector with a bolt to hold it firmly in place. Let’s hope the derailleur upgrade won’t be necessary.

1 – spinning up the Greenway with some good tunes

2 – in the fog with blinkies on.

3- when body heat generated is just enough to keep me toasty warm.

4- Riverside Park at night.

5 – Fresh snow

6 – Shopping in Harlem or Red Hook then letting the bike carry my dinner home.

7 – crossing the Brooklyn Bridge.

8 – Lunch at Nathans, Coney Island

9 – Falling asleep on the train ride home after a century.

10 – Not taking the subway.