Categories
Travel

Back to New York

Argyll and I returned to New York together to get his gears looked at again.  We started out from a different train station.

ny-mParking was a challenge, but if it hadn’t been, we would have missed this wall of green, as well as the back of the abandoned stationhouse.

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Not to mention an up-close look at an electrical tower complex.

nym-twWe weren’t all that early, but we also managed to watch a few trains go by.

nym-sptThe one above is regional rail, and below, Amtrak, headed westward.

nym-amThis was a turn-around trip:  I was carrying Basil’s O bag (or, rather, Argyll was) and just a day pack with a change of clothes.  (The day pack is wearing my high-vis vest — that’s what “city chic” means to me!)

nym-lgI was sitting directly across from Argyll when I took this picture; we’re practically alone in the quiet car. nym-tnk

I always forget how industrial is the approach into Philadelphia.

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After all, why wouldn’t it be?  Rail-yards are the essence of industry.

The last few times we went to New York, water levels were at record highs; this time they had ebbed to more usual levels.

nym-flThe sky can be surprisingly variable during the relatively short trip to New York City from Philadelphia and points west — a journey of only two to two-and-a-half-hours.

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Though I often read on the train, I love the view outside the windows, always the same and ever-changing as it is.

nym-fpMy first stop, even before I head out to The Manhattanites’, is always here, at “Around the World“, an international magazine store specializing in “Fashion Publications”.  Fashion magazines do nothing for me, but I do sew from European pattern magazines, and this is the only place I can buy them.  (Also, I like the proprietors.) nym-tn

I couldn’t get the train I wanted, so Argyll and I had a few hours to noodle around on the Greenway, and to enjoy my favorite tunnel view, at 181st Street.

nym-orArgyll is getting as used to going to Fairway Market as is Basil.  We picked up a baguette, some grilled artichoke hearts (to swoon for!) and cheese:  a “Great Hill Dairy Blue” bought solely because it is made “on the shores of Buzzard’s Bay 50 miles south of Boston” because who am I to resist the call of buzzard’s bay? and a Gloucestershire offering called, horribly, “Slack My Girdle”, which I bought in spite of the name, and which turned out to be an excellent cheese.

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I couldn’t get the baguette into the O bag, and Argyll still didn’t have his saddle bag,  Fortunately, I always carry a shopping tote and I had already attached the straps for his (future) bag, so I tied the tote to the straps to anchor it.  The tote was bungeed to the rear rack, too, but of such amorphous shape, and of such slippery material, that I was unsure about its ability to keep from shifting.

nym-pvThe Greenway detour just north of Fairway is no more; in its place is this gleaming new pathway, so it’s smooth sailing all the way to the market now.

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Argyll posed with the George Washington Bridge in one of the little byways that dot the Greenway, and also stopped to check out the flowers, just coming into bloom in early June.

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The next morning, we returned to The Sign of the Brompton(s), aka NYCeWheels, and whatever was still misaligned in Argyll’s gearing was set right — and has been so ever since.

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(Really, best trade sign ever, don’t you think?)

Argyll was quite please to be in proper running trim.

nym-pDr. Diarist was equally pleased once I got Argyll home to him.

nym-cThen Argyll and I hopped on an evening train and said good-bye to New York (for now).

We waved to night-time Philadelphia, and its hideous screaming-blue-neon advert as we went by.

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That neon blue reflects nicely in the Schuylkill River, but I can’t help thinking of this kind of willingness to let business dominate the landscape as a form of civic dysmorphia.

And then we were home.

7/7:  Various edits, due to complaints on the home front: capitalization, correction of British spelling because, uh, we’re not in the UK.  Note to self:  coffee first, blog post second.

Categories
Tours, Trails & Group Rides

CVT Ride, the Last of May

The Chester Valley Trail is getting a real workout now that summer is here.  It’s  a nice, easy, run with a lot of beautiful landscape, some suburban views, just enough lightly rolling terrain and  a few small inclines to keep things interesting.

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Steve marshalled the troops before we began.

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Then we were off.  The bowered trail is so restorative!

People tend to drop off at points along these rides.  By the time we got to Wegman’s, on the leg back, and stopped for refection, there were only four of us left.

Basil came in with me, because, you know, he’d rather have the whole experience.

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On the other hand, he was perfectly happy hanging with the big guys while we ate lunch.

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I’m beginning to think of this trail as if it’s a national treasure.  The full ride on the main section is now about 22 miles/35.4 km; that’s a perfect length for a basic recreational ride!

Categories
Basil, En-Scène

Spring Color

It’s technically summer now; this probably counts as an end-of-spring shot.

cfbBasil’s racing green disappears into any leafy background, but his yellow holds its own and contrasts enthusiastically with the floral reds and pinks at the local grocery store.

Categories
Miscellaneous

Aaargh!

Dear Blogger Bloggers —

I can’t comment on your blog posts!  Well, sometimes I can, but mostly it’s impossible: Blogger just blows away my carefully-crafted text as soon as I click “preview” or “publish”.  Off it goes, into the ether, never to be seen again.

While I doubt that this is a significant loss, in the over-all scheme of things, this makes me sad.  It makes other people sad, too, when they can’t comment.  I know, because the Internet is full of people complaining about Blogger’s commenting platform.

All you wonderful bloggers in my sidebar?  I’m reading your posts, and enjoying them.  I just wish I could say so, now and then, on some of them.

Woefully —

The Brompton Diarist

PS — “WordPress”.  WordPress is good!

Categories
Tours, Trails & Group Rides

Lock and Roll

Bert’s Memorial ride was an excellent experience, but very short on miles.  Altogether, I clocked just under 13 miles/20.9 km, and that with many (good!) stops along the way.  Back home the  next morning, I jumped on the chance to ride with the usual suspects on a longer jaunt.

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The Chester Valley Trail is quite familiar now, even though the new section only opened late last winter, but so beautiful!

We started at the trail head near Warner Road in King of Prussia.  Only Saul and Mike showed up for the ride; I had forgotten to take my allergy pill, and they very kindly agreed to a stop at Wegman’s so that I could pick some up.

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Basil waited in the shade with them while I dashed in and gulped down the pill.

I took very few pictures on this ride; I was too thrilled to be zipping along, and we’d already made a stop that normally wouldn’t be necessary. This, however, did not prevent us from stopping for a bite to eat on the way back.

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Shockingly, Saul suggested locking up Basil when we went in to find food.  I was horrified, but, hey, sometimes you need to try something to see what it’s really like.

Basil was cool, but you know, it’s just so wrong to lock up a Brompton!

Nicely fed, we released the bicycles and headed back.  End-to-end, this section of the Chester Valley Trail, which runs east to Exton, is just under 24 miles/38.6 km.  It’s mostly level, too, with only a few slight or short inclines, so it’s perfect for almost any cyclist, fit or not.