Sunday, October 22, 2006

Boogie Down: Washing Town

I have always liked the Bronx an inordinate amount--from the leafy confines of Woodlawn down to the gritty industrial corners of the South Bronx, it is just a great borough, and also, apparently, an "all-American city":
























Who knew?

Actually, I think the guy on the right with the shiny fenders knows:



















As we pedaled along through Soundview Park, he waxed eloquent about the beauties of the borough--and I was inclined to agree having witnessed scenes like this:



















And this:















And this:




















And perhaps most awesomely, this:






















Perhaps I should explain. I was on the Tour de Bronx, you see, which is an annual event that I've missed for the last two years due to bad weather, flaky friends and my own general laziness. This year I finally got my ass up there again, and had a mostly fine time.

There were lots of cool bikes:











































Murals:





























And little kids cheating while riding tandem bikes:























Weirdly enough, I didn't get tired on this year's ride--maybe because I was inspired by the local scenery (which included a very cleverly named laundry called "Boogie Down Washing Town"), the snacks, and the low dudes-wearing-bicycle-pants to normal people ratio.

There were a few mishaps however. There wasn't enough pizza to go around at the end of the ride, Crotona Park smelled very strongly of dog shit, and I was the victim of a multi-bike accident towards the end that almost involved me crushing a lady's head under my bike wheel. Luckily, all were unscathed, so I returned to my home borough lamenting only that I hadn't spent more time on my bicycle this fall. Ah well--there's always next year, right?

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