NYC Journal

Maria Shriver did an newsletter that involved the subject of aging. “Maggie” has worked with her in the past. Maria Shriver did a very kind thing and kinda featured Maggie and provided links to her Instagram, website, and the book pre-order link.

What great PR and so kind from someone so prominent.

Maggie reported an influx of activity, and now we know where it came from.

Cal
 
MFM,

The quality of life is kinda great where I live now, and certainly NYC took a dive. It would take decades to get back to where it was, but that might never happen.

I experienced NYC at it’s peak, and it was a great-great city.

NYC is plagued with many problems, and perhaps the biggest one is global warming. The 8 inches of rain set a new record, but there is good probability of even worse flooding. Then there are the reports that NYC is sinking to exacerbate the problem.

During Fashion Week I experienced more congestion. Not really sure that the new policy below 59th Street is really the cause instead of the solution. A cab driver wanted to not cross over 59th, and clearly wanted to limit his travels below 59th Street. An unintended consequence.

Places like Beacon and Peekskill like to present themselves as “The Sixth Borough.” Lots of hipsters, young families, and refugees from NYC. While an exaggeration there definitely is a Brooklyn like vibe happening.

I’m so glad and happy we left. I now try to avoid the city.

Cal
 
Chris,

I lucked out with the timing, and I surely benefited.

Two great things happened to me because of Covid: we bought a house; and I retired early.

Are you saying that the homeless situation or crime is alright or not bad in NYC? Has the city become more affordable?

Am I wrong that Congestion Pricing in Madhattan has unintended consequences? Has NYC really recovered from the Pandemic? How about all the tier two and tier three commercial real estate?

I can ask these questions because for over 25 years I figure I made landlords, banks, and real estate agents lots of money being a gentrifier who helped make NYC a safe place for the wealthy.

The truth is the city I helped make great isn’t the same city anymore.

One of the reasons I photographed street and urban landscape so frantically for about a decade is that I knew I would eventually be shown the door and kicked out anyways. I would later learn that this was an act of desperation because I knew I would loose my sense of home.

Fact is I found a better place, a sustainable life, peace, and an interesting place and a new lifestyle that is better suited to me not so far away. My quality of life and level of freedom is much greater with less worry and stress.

I have to say though I do owe NYC a lot, but did I get a lot in return? Well maybe the payoff is my big pension from the hospital after 22 years of service. I met lots of cool people, and I did not have a boring life while I lived there.

Remember I too was deeply involved in the arts, first as a painter, then as a performance artist, then as a writer, and then as a photographer. I seriously added vibrancy to the arts and culture.

I was one reason why people from all over the world would want to come to New York, and in a ways I was somewhat a one person tourist attraction. I know this is a bit of an exaggeration, but really NYC is full of interesting people who struggle, and I definitely was one of them.

So what if I’m done with NYC. I gave NYC a lot, but I have moved on into a better space.

Just know that I am happier than when I struggled in NYC.

BTW I do feel bad and sad for my friends I left behind. I do wish that NYC was doing better, but it seems like a long ways off. I don’t have the decades to help make NYC great again. The next 4-5 decades I am committing to me.

Remember in the 70’s I was doing construction building out artist lofts in SoHo. I think NYC owes me more than I owe NYC.

Cal
 
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Went for a gentle spin on the Empire State Trail with Maggie. Pretty much only a warmup for me, but she needs time in the saddle.

Autumn leaves on the pavement. Really relaxing, and a nice way to unwind the day.

Some more seat adjustments on Maggie’s bike.

My friend Craig wants me to stop by his house to look at his private lumber yard. Craig is a licensed tree surgeon and has all hardwood lumber that he harvested and had milled. This could be crazy good old growth lumber that really isn’t available anymore.

Of current interest is some wide plank fir to make a set of carriage house doors for my detached two car garage. My dual doors are 8x8 while most are 8x7, meaning only 7 feet tall. My Baby-Victorian dates back to 1912, so a carriage house would be period correct and would be mighty cool.

I priced out some insulated great quality garage doors that were electric opening, and they cost almost $8K. To me not worth it when I can make really nice carriage house doors for about a quarter of the price. So what I have to manually open the doors. I’m not that lazy.

Anyways in about ten minutes I get the private tour. Craig lives about 3 blocks away and I’ll bike right over. I won’t be able to buy any until January. Oh-well. Craig is cool with that. I also need flooring for my attic which will be my workspace. Only 15x16 feet and the space is an “A” frame.

Wish me luck.

Cal
 
My friend Craig I discovered is a hoarder and also a wack job.

He is what I would call a tree monkey, who climbs into the canopies of huge trees. One of them is right in his backyard, a 500 year old oak tree that has a trunk that is about 15 feet wide. There are cables strung to support the remaining limbs and they are about 50 feet high.

Craig is 68 years old, and he still is a tree-monkey. Know that Craig is maybe 5’6”, maybe 5’7.” Does that sound kinda crazy to you?

This tree was written up in the New York Times. So this tree is over the top. Unlikely you ever saw a white oak tree this big/huge.

Part of Craig’s yard descends into a dry marsh of sorts and there he has stacks of rough sawn lumber under tarps. He showed me some of the stuff he has accumulated, and the fir he is offering me is 4/4 or one inch thick rough sawn that are 12 inch wide planks 8’6” to 8’10” in length.

The price is $1.00 a square foot, which is less than the cost of a 5/8 thick sheet of plywood if you do the math.

It’s a no-brainer that my attic floor will be 12 inch wide planks of fir 4-quarter thick. I’ll just lay down the boards over the rafters. Just imagine a 15x16 foot floor for under $250.00. BTW this wood is likely worth more than $10.00 a square foot.

Dain’s Lumber has reclaimed fir in 7 inch wide and 12 inch wide planks that are only 3/4 inch thick and the cost per board foot (square foot) is $12.00. Basically I’m getting a giveaway price.

Another thing is that a 4x8 sheet of plywood cannot negotiate the staircase. I already tried to move a 4x8 sheet of rigid foam insulation and it was a no-go. Also the attic stairs I installed has too small an opening.

I figure if I just lay down the planks they are big enough and heavy enough to stay in place. It will be almost like storing the lumber, but it serves a purpose of being a floor. How cool is that?

Craig asked me if I have an air compressor, I said no, and he has one to gift me.

So basically I’m doing Craig a favor by helping him clean up some of his mess. He has a Yamaha Midnight Special 750 motorcycle he held onto that he rode cross country on. It is a project and he would like to restore it. Let’s see if we can get it running.

Also he owns his late father’s 1976 Chevy pickup, a Silverado version set up for towing. I told him that the truck as it sits is likely worth already around $5K. Let’s see if I can get that truck running.

”I was just minding my own business.”

Cal
 
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So pretty much Craig has a tree junkyard and a kinda big mess of projects. So much raw materials.

He built a shed out of his rough sawn fir. Mucho cool. So beautiful. Basically you can’t buy a shed like his.

If I need to jack in a new column on the garage, he has the jack to do that. Also he has an engine hoist when I need one.

I think Craig has me read as the guy who does what he says and finishes jobs. He I guess is impressed with what I have done with our old house.

Pretty much one crazy guy pairs up with another crazy guy. The amount of work I did so far is pretty accomplished for just one man.

BTW I only got a tease of what he has. All I have to do is ask and he likely has one or two.

Anyways he also showed me some big beams he has if I ever wanted to build a timber framed house or barn.

Snarky Joe and Devil Christian are right: I have a talent for drawing out the crazies. LOL.

Cal
 
Last night a couple 19 tooth 1/8" track cogs arrived in the mail. I went downstairs, stuck the Rudge Clubman in the stand, took off the rear wheel and mounted the cog, snugged it down, then the lockring.
I took a ~14 mile ride this evening on the Clubman as a fixed gear.
Lately I have been having these moments of joy from riding, or grabbing my Pentax MX with 50/1.4 lens, or picking up a live cicada. It was a blast to ride the Clubman as a fixed gear. This is actually the most I've ridden the bike, even more than with the 16/20 freewheel. It's like rediscovering a bit of the real fun of riding. This bike has me so connected; the gear ratio is good, the chain slack is just enough to allow smooth rotation, but also perfect for track standing. I did a good minute trackstand waiting for a traffic light to turn on my way to the Schuylkill path. It's just so much fun. My legs feel a little more like noodles than they usually do, but that's good. Knees don't hurt, everything feels good.
Here's a photo of the Rudge Clubman just before East Falls.


So, this has me wanting to ride more fixed, for more utility. I need to lose some weight and strengthen my core, so riding a single speed is one thing that will expand the workout I get when on the bike. Riding a fixed gear (with brakes) will really open up my cadence to putting power down at whatever RPM I need. As I was riding up Spruce St. through the U. Penn campus, I was thinking that 46/19 is a good ratio while I get my legs back but I may need to step it up to 46/17. For now the ratio is perfect.
Anyway, the next project is brewing in my mind. I need to find a skilled welder who can make me a set of "dingle" cogs; two fixed gear cogs, welded together which use a single lockring. The smaller, outer cog is machined with a wider opening, then welded onto a steel spacer to provide the offset from the larger inner cog. Surly used to make the original "dingle" but stopped production a while back and anything out there is NOS. If anyone can find me a genuine NOS Surly Dingle cog for a 1/8" chain, I'll give you a working camera or two.
Then I'm looking for a 57cm frame with LONG Brev. Campagnolo 1010A dropouts. Broker that deal and a few cameras, a motion picture camera, and a lot of film.
I'm looking forward to riding more.

Phil
 
Phil,

Something pure about having a single speed. For me not a fixed gear, a freewheel, with brakes.

Pretty much you and a simple basic bike to get lost on.

As much as I have nice geared bikes the single speed has great appeal.

63 gear inches and 72 gear inches would be where I would want to go.

Cal
 
The rides I remember the most are the adventures I had on my Ti IBIS when I had it set up as a 63.59 gear inch single speed. I remember doing laps at Central Park and the climbing of the Harlem Hills.

I did the Tour de Bronx, rode from East Harlem over the George Washington Bridge and up 9W to Lake Rockland, and I explored NYC.

I also remember “timing the lights” from 79th Street up Third Avenue “taking a lane” and basically keeping up with traffic to 101st Street. Kinda crazy, and I could of kept up my pace. Evidently an unintended consequence of “Vision Zero” where they lowered the NYC speed limit to 25 MPH.

For a while I rode that 63.59 inch gear up here in Peekskill. The hills are tough, but it is a great workout for fitness and strength. I too have wandered around up here. Some solo epic rides…

The IBIS Alibi got delivered. The finish is pretty clean, and I don’t think this bike was ridden on a trail. The usual dings and scrapes I would expect on a trail ridden bike just are not here. I will wipe down the frame with Fantastic. The IBIS on the down tube is a sticker instead of a decal and it is in great shape. There is a worn spot on the sticker, but it is due to a water bottle holder.

All the welds are still 100% covered with the light gold metallic paint.

Pretty clean. Not bad for $245.00 without tax and shipping. Kind of a no-brained deal.

Also know that this is an aluminum frame and it will make for a very light bike. IBIS frames are known to be overbuilt and offer somehow responsive handling. I can hold up the frame and line up the seat tube with the seat tube of the IBIS SS. I can see the change in geometry for suspension. Also the top tube has a dramatic slope. Oddly the chain stays are square.

The “Warm Beer” color they say is a light gold, but to me it could easily be mistaken for a silver or grey.

An IBIS saddle also got delivered. $25.00 without tax and shipping. This style of saddle has very little padding, leather covering, and is very narrow like a Flite saddle.

Cal
 
I just got back from a "proof of concept ride." I wanted to see if I could do the whole commute to my workplace on a fixed gear. Granted, I'm on vacation this week, but it's a "staycation" and much needed break during which I get some of the more in depth projects off the ground, and also do a bunch of reorganizing. Anyway, I got on the Clubman and rode all the way except the last 500 feet; I didn't want anyone from work actually seeing me, because it was the end of workday when I got there, so I held off turning the last corner. It turns out that I ride a 46/19 (65GI) at a pace that gets me there at the same time as the Miyata. When on the Miyata, I can go MUCH faster, but I climb slower because I've got some low gears available to me. During the 1.3 mile hill, I just had to stand up and push. My average cadence uphill was lower but my speed was definitely higher; I'm usually riding a 42/26 at a good spin doing about 6-7mph going up that hill. Today I was standing for a few minutes and feeling fire in my quads. My legs feel great, and I KNOW I got an aerobic workout and pushed well into the anerobic with the amount of pain I felt. Now I'm just jelly but still need to make dinner.

As for finding a bike frame to create the monster multi-speed fixed gear, I'm still on the hunt. I DID find a 1983 Miyata 912 in user condition, no dents, just paint scrapes, for a stupid low price. It's about 30 miles away and what I'm going to do it take all the Suntour Superbe from my Miyata 610 and transfer it over to the 912. I've been wanting to both upgrade the 610 and build a nice racing bike. The 610 can go back to the light touring/commuting role but with components that aren't as precious. Back when I was working at Breakaway Bikes, in maybe 2008ish, my boss asked me to help clean out what he called "scrap metal" that was piled up in a stairwell that opened up into the back alley. I invited my friend Kurt to help and we unloaded THOUSANDS of dollars worth of what was called trash. Kurt paid his rent for more than 6 months just on sales of bike gear from that haul. I still have some of that stuff, rare handlebars, shifters, a couple freewheels; Kurt got maybe 8 sets of DT Hugi hubs which were simply thrown away for some reason. The boss didn't want to sort through and then list all that used gear. Anyway, it's still paying off and I'll be using a NOS Specialized roller bearing headset (rebranded Stronglight) when I repurpose the Miyata 610. I think of Cal's mantra: "if it's free, it's for me" and wish more friends could have backed their vehicles into that alley to take even more "trash" away.

Phil
 
Wow. I only thought our government threw away treasure.

At the end of the Cold War my friend Steve said that I single handedly downsized Grumman. Every week I would stop by his guitar shop and drop off useful tools and supplies. Pretty much taxpayer’s money.

My friend Cris I will see this weekend. He has totes full of teflon insulated wire I gave him over 13 years ago. I asked him to look for some number 2 welding cable that I gave him for when he was building a drag race car. Pretty much the best cable to use when you move your battery to the rear of the car for better weight distribution and traction. I figure I could use it on my 1966 C-10.

The IBIS Alibi frame weighs just under 4 pounds. Not as light as I thought. I would call the color Champaign instead of Warm-Beer. I will have A.J. Chase the bottom bracket threads to loosen some hard dried grease. She cleaned up nice.

It will be great having a single speed again. The Ti IBIS is a really great 2x11.

Cal
 
A ground fog has settled into the valley. Erie, mysterious, and magical.

Been overly tired since my colon exam. Two days of not eating I figure, and also I have this congestion I got from taking care of the grandson. Never had so much thick mucus. Now my throat is irritated…

I started building a cabinet for the upstairs bath. A simple design that will be elegant. Used my table saw to dado in some Chanel’s to hold side panels. I found higher quality clear pine lumber at Lowes. The quality of wood at Home Depo I found to be rather poor at my location.

I need to buy a radial arm saw. This will also get used for mitering new moldings.

It seems after having Covid that I pick up every disease lately, or maybe it is just getting exposed to disease through the grandson. Generally I am never ill, not even a cold.

Cal
 
Cal,
It’s interesting that you mention different quality of wood between THD and Lowes, as they both share the same distributors. The difference may be due to one lot having been seasoned differently from another, or even the environmental difference between the physical locations of the retail stores themselves. Interesting observation though and I’m curious to learn what may have caused the difference.

Phil
 
Phil,

I think in my case the difference could be turnover of stock. The Lowes is not as centrally located, and overall their stock seems to have less turnover. In other words HD has more stock turnover and volume. What I’m suggesting is that the leftovers accumulate after cherry picking.

Also I think the wood at HD gets a lot more handling wear and tare and abuse from more volume of customers.

In particular the clear pine I am buying is definitely not the same supply that HD uses. The wood is from imported from New Zealand at Lowes. Remarkably clear and perfect wood. A cut above the clear pine available at HD. The HD clear pine has no such labels and is a different supplier.

Not sure the wood being sold as pine actually is the same as we have here in North America.

Cal
 
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I had A.J. Chase the threads on the IBIS Alibi bottom bracket. The drive side had a spot that was questionable, so I wanted to be assured it would never become a problem. No charge.

Been doing research on sliding compound miter saws. I narrowed it down to a DEWALT DWS 789 along with the HD stand. Will likely pick one up before dinner.

This saw will also get used for replacing some of the moldings. Will be useful also for building frames.

Cal
 
I’m on a SEPTA regional rail train to Philadelphia after a few hours discussion with my friend in Bucks county who showed me the massive collection. These are mostly user bicycles but kept in good condition. A lot of frames, a lot of parts, and a century of cycling history.
He’s moving back to the UK in July and wants to have everything cleaned and catalogued for auction at Copake, maybe in 6 months. My mouth was agape looking at most of the stuff as I’m entranced by the history. He had a semi working version of the very first true derailleur on a Raleigh Clubman not unlike my Rudge.
It was a really good day trip with a KILLER uphill, like 1/4 mile 10% grade that I tackled on the fixed gear.
I have my eyes on a Sturmey Archer ASC hub with shifter for my Rudge Clubman. This is a 3 speed, fixed gear hub and I’ve only dreamed of owning one.
The massive fleet of British 3 speed bikes would be excellent for a film production studio to buy as those are frequently needed for period films, showing anywhere between 1912 and 1966.
Really an awesome quirky day.

Phil
 
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