Thursday, September 13, 2007

The New York Introspection… Am I Crazy?


New York City is amazing! There is really nothing in the US that can compare to it. Even the two other largest cities in the US (Chicago and Las Angeles) are very different. NYC seams to emit a chronic energy that every inhabitant absorbs whether they want it or not. Every waking moment the city has its IV pumping you with a unique concoction of speed, fear, and unlimited adrenaline. Except for the few dog owners and yoga instructors, recuperation has almost completely been outscored to the west coast where the words 9 to 5 still hold meaning.

Over the past two years I have had the opportunity to visit the city on a few occasions. I think I keep returning for similar reasons that adrenalin junkies repeat the same stunt again and again. What can I say; I’m a sucker for the pace. On my last trip out, I decided that the only way I would be able to maintain my high was by multiplying the degree of madness, so, I brought my fixed gear bicycle.

I’ll spare you the details on how amazing riding a fixed gear bike in NYC is but I must say, I haven’t had that much fun on a bike since I was 13 years old when I would repeatedly jump my old banana seat schwinn into the neighbors yard. On my first ride threw the city I instinctively gripped my handlebars so hard that my knuckles turned white. Thankfully as I persisted in it, I became accustomed to the buses, dump trucks and cabs and eventually I was blending into the madness like a minnow swimming in a school of herring.

Does this make me crazy? I didn’t think so but I wish you could see the expressions of all the people I told, their face seamed to freeze into one of those frowning stares that children have nightmares about. One of those faces that kids think will somehow get stuck and never return back to normal.

Yeah it was a fun trip, a really run trip, even when I wasn’t biking all over. I was able to see the Mariners beat out the Yankees, watch a Broadway musical about little children who try out for spelling B competitions (something I was never good at I might add), and even watch The Baxter with Suvi (who miraculously stayed awake threw the whole thing even though it was really late and she had classes the next morning).

Enjoy the big apple