I mentioned before that my homey M. Cuomo was going to leave his single speed in my care when he moved to Florence. Well, dudes, here she is. I have named her Trixie. Someday she might even be Trixie the fixie. But for now she is just a very loved single speed who just got herself a new set of drop bars.

The top two shots are of Trix as she looked after I took her in. Since then I have hooked her up with a new set of Nitto drop bars. I also flipped over the gooseneck on the stem for a more aggressive riding position. Try not to be jealous. I know that Trixie is hot. I haven’t even had a chance to ride her with the new bars. But Friday is my day off of running. So, you better believe that I’m going to be taking Trixie to work tomorrow instead of the A Train. Some shots of her new bars, below.

Ok, first the PBR Koozy gvwy, now this. I know what you are thinking. Just the same, first person to call me a hipster gets slapped (kidding). But, seriously, don’t call me a hipster, k? Also– thanks again, Mike.

I saw this on Curated, which led me to Core77.  I was dying over this quote from the Core 77 post–

When a tip about Project Aura arrived in my inbox last week, I suspected that it was just another hipster bike lighting system and the electropop soundtrack of the Vimeo teaser initially confirmed my intuition.

Hahahaha. Anyway, isn’t this an awesome idea? It would look lame on my current bike. But my friend has been talking about letting me take over his SE single speed when he moves to Italy in July. I’m pretty sure that this system would look very dope on that setup. It’s like Tron meets Williamsburg. Also, is that the young Michael Diamond riding the bike in the photo? I don’t want to start any rumors.

Here is a vid of it in action. Pay attention because it could very well be the coolest thing you see today–

On a completely unrelated note. We bounce for Europe a week from today.

The plan was to get up super early and go on this epic ride today, for Summer Streets. I had mentioned the plan to our friend Col, the night before. So embarrassingly enough, Reagan and I were still in bed, trying to decide whether or not to go, when Col called and was like “where are you guys?” That, apparently was we all of the motivation that we needed. We hurried to throw on some clothes, round up some other friends and headed out the door. Col had already made his way downtown a bit, so we picked up our friends Jared and Debi on the way down to 72nd Street. After some minor confusion, we met up with Col at the 125th Street Piers. We had an awesome relaxing ride all the way down to the Brooklyn Bridge. It wasn’t really crowded, either. The weather was the most amazing thing ever. It almost felt like fall, this morning. Cool and breezy.

We took a little breather at City Hall before heading over to Battery Park City for some lunch.

As we were sitting down for lunch (on a patio near the Hudson), we saw some police boats speeding up river, but didn’t think much of it. We decided to head back up the Hudson River Path, on the way home, since Park Ave. was only blocked off until 1. Around 14th street, we started encountering massive gatherings of fire trucks and police cars. At first, I thought it may have been some sort of drill or exercise, until I started seeing all of the camera. When CNN shows up, it is pretty safe to assume that something major is going on. That whole section of the West Side Hwy. was blocked off, going south bound and completely littered with emergency vehicles. When we came up on the 30th Street Heliport, the only helicopters there were all NYPD, and they all had their rotors going. Looking out into the Hudson, there was a pretty tight gathering of Police and fire boats. At that point, I thought that maybe one of ferry’s had capsized.

This is where we finally stopped and asked some cops what was going on. They told us that there had been a mid-air collision between two aircraft. I didn’t stop to take any photos, because it was pure chaos. As we made our way farther up the path though, I did stop and snap a few. But, it wasn’t of any crashes. Just old subway cars loaded on a barge.

We had an awesome morning, and a really great ride. Reagan has really been a champ about these 25+ mile bike rides that I keep dragging her on, weekend after weekend. I feel bad for the people who crashed.

Here are the rest of the Photos from our ride.

I’m pretty sure that the message this sign is trying to convey, is that the use of Bicycles, Skateboards and Roller Blades, are not permitted beyond the sign. Then again, maybe not. That is a pretty strategically placed trash can. So theoretically, even if the sign means what it says, one could just discard their bike or skateboard in the trash can, then proceed past the sign. Rollerbladers on the other hand, aren’t permitted even if they ditch the fruit boots.

Saturday, we had an impromptu biathlon. Not the kind were you ski and shoot, but the kind that is a triathlon, minus the swimming. It started at 6 A.M., with running a couple of laps around the Central Park loop. For those who keep score, that is 12 miles.

After the run we showered and got on the bikes for Summer Streets. The ride was awesome, again this week. I really hope that NYC starts doing it every year. It is so amazing to be able to roll the whole way down Park Ave. completely devoid of any motorized traffic. It almost felt like I was Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky, or Will Smith in I am Legend. Ok, not as dramatic, but definitely some similar qualities. One of the coolest parts of the ride is going through the tunnel portion of Park Ave., that cuts through Grand Central Station. During our ride, we met up with one of our friends from my work, who had just picked up a new single speed. We rode together from Union Square, to DUMBO, in Brooklyn. On the ride back up town, we met up with our friends the Carters, who were also out enjoying the event. We all had lunch together before finishing off the ride.

After 12 miles of running, and 30 miles of cycling, we took a much deserved nap, before spending the remainder of the evening with Piper. Sunday was a lot of church, lounging, and Piper visiting. I hope that we can keep up the action packed weekends before the weather starts to crap out.

If we stick to our plans, Reagan and I will be spending the majority of the day outdoors tomorrow. We are going to try to hit the “Summer Streets” path tomorrow on our bikes. Since Reagan had to work last weekend, it will be the first time for her. Our ride, will come after a super early morning run. Now that I’m writing it, it seems like a little much. But I’m sure that it won’t feel like that tomorrow, if the weather keeps going how it is right now.

Piper’s doctor called me yesterday to tell me that they switched out her GJ tube for a regular G-tube, again. They said that the GJ tube seemed to be leaking and may have come dislodged. I was surprised that they didn’t need our consent, and that they could do it without a interventional radiology team. But they said that she is doing ok, so I’m not going to complain.

I rode my bike to work yesterday for the first time, since my last one was stolen. I now have the biggest, most expensive bike lock there is. It weighs like 50 pounds. When I rolled up to work, there was a security guard standing near the bike rack. Since I am now paranoid, I went down to check on it a couple of times during the course of the day. The security guy was standing there every time. Where were you 2 weeks ago security guy?!!! Reagan rode her bike to work yesterday for the first time. Her lock is kinda crappy, but she can lock it up right in front of the salon, where she can basically see it the whole time. Unfortunately, she is also paranoid, because of mine being stolen. So she was compulsively checking it. Hahaha, poor thing. I plan to buy a 50 lb. lock for her too.

Marathon training is still going great, for Reagan, so-so for me. Reagan has been getting up every morning to go. I have been joining her for the long runs on the weekend. This week is a 10 mile run. She wants to do it on Friday morning. I like it better when we do the long runs on Saturday, but I’m thinking that it will give me a good excuse to go into work late. I know that I suck at training, but at least I’m getting a lot of riding in. That has to count for something, right?

Our newish little fish are starting to grow. Reagan loves them when they are little and wants them to stay that way. I must admit, they are pretty cute when they are so small. I am pretty impressed that they have all held their own, so well. Even though they all pick on each other, there still haven’t been any fatalities.

For whatever reason, I really just haven’t been into the Olympics this time around. I feel like a total loser, because suddenly this year, everyone seems to be obsessed with them. I used to love them when I was younger, especially track/field and gymnastics. I grew up in the era of Michael Johnson, and Mary Lou Retton. Beijing just isn’t doing it for me though. I have a tough time even reading the highlights from the previous day, each morning. I find myself being more interested in the peripheral political issues, surrounding the games, than the actual events. Speaking of politics, I really enjoyed Jim Nelson’s commentary (as always), this month. It hasn’t been posted on the GQ site yet, so I can’t link to it. But if you get the magazine, I suggest you check it out.

I love this picture, because I feel like it captures Reagan’s excitement about bike riding, so accurately.