Hudson River Bicycle Memories

The object of my desire in 1961: Dad's 26 inch Raleigh bike with the little tool bag behind the seat. It didn't get better than that at 7. I had a dinky 24 inch bike that was given to me on Christmas Day 1960. One year later, I plotted ways to get Dad’s bike. These plots took place in my head on our long rides up the Hudson; pass Grant’s Tomb on our way to the Little Red Lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge. We’d sit there looking across the river and I swore I could hear the kids screaming on the Palisades Amusement Park roller coaster.

Here are pictures from yesterday's trip.

Drive South

Picture on the left: George and Emery on 83rd Street with their banana seat bikes in 1969.

Above George's head, to the left, is a piece of my wall art. My drawings earned me a hard smack to the head from my grandmother. She easily identified my doodles on the wall at the 1st Avenue corner. "Do not embarrass me." One shot was enough to silence my graffiti.

A new section on the Hudson River bike path opened this week from about 96th to 110th Street. You can stay on the river path from the Battery to the George Washington Bridge without detours. Cool!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7ruuydWOY4&feature=related



Off to France for two weeks in one hour. Hope to write here while I'm away.

Bye, bye, Tommy

Drive South/John Hiatt

I didn't say we wouldn't hurt anymore

That's how you learn,

you just get burned

But we don't have to feel like dirt anymore

Though love's not earned,

Baby it's our turn

We were always looking for true north

With our heads in the clouds,

just a little off courseI left the motor running,

now if you're feeling down and out

CHORUS:Come on Baby drive south, with the one you love

Come on Baby drive south, with the one you love

I'm not talkin' 'bout retreatin' little girl

Gonna take our stand, in this Chevy van

Windows open on the rest of the world

Holdin' hands, all the way to Dixieland

We've been tryin' to turn our lives around

Since we were little kids, it's been wearin' us down

Don't turn away now Darlin' lets fire it up and wind it out

CHORUS BRIDGE:I heard your mama callin', I think she was just stallin'

Don't know who she was talkin' to, baby me and you

We could go down with a smile on,

don't bother to pack your nylons

Just keep them pretty legs showin', it gets hot down where we're goin'

We were always looking for true north

With our heads in the clouds, just a little off course

I left the motor running, now if you're feeling down and out

Come on baby drive,

come on baby drive south,

come on baby drive south

New York City Serenade

God bless bicycles, and where they take you.

Hudson River ~ April

Below, is the Little Red Lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge. I biked up to Columbia's Baker Field today, just to make sure it was there. As a boy, I saw the Ferris wheel and roller coaster at Palisades Amusement Park on the bluff across the river next to the bridge.
.
Before the trip north, I rode down to the Battery to make sure the water fountain was on near Pier One. The Town Pryor report, "All's Well!"
.
The picture below-below, is the Hudson River skyline shortly after sunset at 12th Street last night. I met friends at Tortilla Flats and snuck over to the river to snap the colors.
.