Down With SUVs (With Apologies to the Subset That Aren't Self Absorbed)!

Okay, my apologies to any of my friends and fans (okay, all 52 of you) who might be frustrated by the lack of posting.  Forgive me readers for I have sinned and its been three weeks since my last posting.  I will now do penance by going off on a long cycling related diatribe that has to do with an incident that happened to me today. 

WARNING - SOME OF THE LANGUAGE AND IDEAS IN THE FOLLOWING WHILE NOT PROFANE MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO SOME (ESPECIALLY THOSE OF YOU WHO DRIVE AN SUV) - SORRY!

So today I ws finally able to get back on my bike after a two week absence.  The family and I went away to Cooperstown and had a relaxing, rejuvenating and refreshing time!  We had the chance to see the Baseball Hall of Fame (Sarah,did so under duress!), The Farmers's Museum (we saw the New York State Carousel and William suffered his first bee sting - ouch!), we played miniature golf (twice - a moral imperative!), visited Howe Caverns  (it was SOOO cool and we got some really amazing pictures of geological formations!), we went on a haunted house/sites tour ( (not so scary but very interesting!!!).  Overall it was a great time had by all and we got back in time to still have a bit of  "vacation" before the start up of school.

So I've been out riding again this week to begin seriously training for the cross country ride.  I've been getting into the habit of leaving the house at 6:30 ish since that's realistically the time I'll be leaving when on the road next summer.

Today, however, I left a bit later than usual - about 8:00.  I had just started out and I was about 3/4 of a mile from my house, just ready to start a 30 mile psuedo- time trial.  I wasn't riding agressively, I was just doing an easy spinning cadence and I was just passing the Administrative buildings of the Northport School district on Laurel Avenue, otherwise known as The Brosnan Building and closing in on the raised crossing by the library when a woman in a large maroon SUV started beeping her horn agressively at me.

Now, I will admit that I was not hugging the shoulder at this point simply becuase there was no shoulder as you can see from the Google Maps Street View here:


View Larger Map

I was actually about two feet from the curb, taking up about a quarter of the lane.  Now, despite the fact that there was an intersection coming up in about 30 yards (if you play with the above link and follow the road up you'll see), she decided to race past me missing me by about a foot!

Now you have read posts about my Irish temper and about how I've been working on trying to calm that down.  This, however, pissed me off so I decided to sprint after her and see if I could catch her at the light about 100 yards or so up the road.  As chance would have it, I did catch her.

Trying to be as calm as I possibly could, I pulled up to the side of her behometh.  As I pulled up I noticed that she had flicked out a cigarette from her window and I thought "Oooo, would that ever tick off Sarah!"  I regained my compusre enough to ask in my most polite Sourthern manner, Excuse me ma'am.  I noticed you were honking at me back there.   Was there a problem?"  To which she replied, "Yeah, you were startting to take up the lane back there."  To which I replied (still maintaining the politness I learned from reading Bicycling Magazine), "Yes, but there was no shoulder and according to New York Stated DMV Law, I can take up the lane if I need to."  And here is where I got really pissed  off as she retorted, "Just try that next time and see what happens!"

And here is where the Southern Gentleman mentality failed me completely!  While outwardly all I said was, "Yes, and I will make sure that I have a lawyer on you so fast you won't know what happened!"  Inside I was having serious fantasies about something like this;

or perhaps this;

She then proceeded to peel out and show the ultimately in couth, refinement and tack - she flipped me off!  Now I could expect that from a 20-something or even a soccer mom in her 30',s but this was a "mature" woman in her late 50's or early 60"s!  Giving up on the idea of chasing her down again, I started to have even more lavish thoughts in my head as I settled in to finish my training ride.  Thoughts like this;

Of course, that one would entail her actually using her SUV for what it was intended - CLIMBING THINGS - instedad iof just carrying her big butt around so she can throw cigarette butts out the window!

I also thought of this fantastical possibility - if I only knew how to get a hold of a crane and a tank!!!!;

Instead I just settled into a pedaling groove and the words to this song that I had recently heard kept playing in my head;



Its by a guy named Bill Burnett who also brought us "The Happiest Song in the World" so you know he's not some hate-mongering misanthrope who likes to just rag on people indescrimately;



Of course even if I was alternating between the "Big, Fat Stupid Suv" song and "The Happiest Song in the World", I knew that my mental revenge was in a sense futile because there are way too many of these kind of people out there;

 WARNING!  THE FOLLOW CONTAINS EXTREMELY  MATURE LANGUAGE!
\



It just leaves you feeling like George Castanza in that episode of Seinfeld;




The frustration leads from that fact that as a cyclist people just assume that you're trying to be Lance Armstrong and that you're doing it because you think you're better than them.  But there are a lot of us who ride because we enjoy it, and some of us are even riding becuase we're trying to make a difference in this world - helping the lives of others.  But if you just follow this link you'll go to a nice YouTube compendium of "I hate cyclists" videos.

And therein lies part of the problem all of us cyclists face - too many of these idiots (male and female) believe we should be on the sidewalks or on the RUNNING  paths.  This guy even knows the argument that cyclists are subject to th esame laws as motor vehicles and that we are supposed to be on the road but like the other idiots out there, he would much rather just run us over and "teach us a lesson"!  As many of you know, I've been hit three times (once fairly badly) and doored once  - which ended up with me riding in an ambulance and receiving fifteen stitches.  And yet I still get on my bike, despite the lunatics who want to run us off the road.

But why rag on the SUV?  Because in my own non-scientic observation its usually the SUVs that are the most agressive towards me.  They're the ones that buzz me closer, honk more and (once) throw things out the window at me.  And the thing is, most of them seem to be nothing more than glorified mini-vans that have never been used for what they were designed as this scene entitled "SUV Boot Camp" clearly illustrates;



And that fact that so many of these people on facebook who are hating against cyclists seem to also be SUV drivers just seems to add to that.  I mean, its bad enough when you get hit by a regular car but against a two ton SUV, what chance do we have.   There is a very funny video on YouTube that shows Adolph Hitler ranting against the facebook hate groups that are directed against cyclists.  Now don't get me wrong - I AM NOT GLORIFYING ADOLPH HITLER IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM - but the very IRONY of having the most vitriolic hater of all time going into a spittle inducing tirade against those that hate cyclists is pretty damn funny.  I couldn't embed it here because the embed code has been disabled but you can follow this link and it should take you right to it!

But, as usual, I have to admit that my wife is right.   When I finally finished my 30 mile adrenaline/anger fueled ride at an average speed of 18.5 mph I came home and told her about my confrontation and she immediately launched into "You can't talk to people like that!"   And I guess she's right.  Think about it, I'm in the middle of nowhere during next summer's cross country ride and some idiot in a large vehicle cuts me off.  I finally catch up to them to calmly ask them what I did wrong and they hit me with the damn thing - or worse!

And that's the reason why its important to have a support vehicle during the cross country ride!  So my faithful reader, if you've made it this far please do me a very big favor.  If you haven't already done so, please go to our facebook page and add us to your likes.  We are really trying to get to 1,000 as soon as we can!

The other thing you can do to help us is to go to the web page for our Cross Country ride and donate.  It doesn't matter how small, anything you can spare would help us in our goal to make an amazing summer possible for some kids who really need some sunshine in their life!

And lastly, if you haven't already done so, please sign up to be a regular follower of this blog.  I will be updating it a lot more frequently now and I will be using this to post pictures, videos and shout outs to all of you when I'm on the road next summer!

So, thank you for reading, thank you for being part of my life, and thank you for making a difference!

Stay well and I'll see you on the road!

Wedding at the Beach - Song on the Sand!

(Amy takes an artistic shot!)

So I have now lived in the New York City area for almost 20 years and in all that time I have never been to Coney Island.  Of course, the first thing I was confused about was the fact that it was not an island.  That was cleared up by this bit of information;
"Coney Island is the westernmost part of the barrier islands of Long Island, about 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) wide. Formerly it was an island, separated from the main part of Brooklyn by Coney Island Creek, which was partially tidal mudflats, but it has since been developed into a peninsula. There were plans early in the 20th century to dredge and straighten the creek as a ship canal, but they were abandoned, and the center of the creek was filled in for construction of the Belt Parkway before World War II. The western and eastern ends are now peninsulas."

Okay, that settles that.  If you want to read more about how it got its name and all you can read here.  Of course, back in the day

Coney Island was one of THE places to go.  The beaches would look something like this;


(Has anyone seen my car keys?)

Although today it looked a little bit more like this;

(Oh, there they are, under this bucket!)

To say it is no longer the hippest place to go (although I did see quite a few hipsters) would be an understatement.  Or it could have just been the weather forcast that kept the attendance down.

However, we weren't really there for the beach anyway (although we would have packed for it if the forecast was better).  We were here for Pat and Stephen's Final (?) Wedding!!!!!!!

We were incredibly excited but I personally was a bit nervous since Stephen had planned a special surprise for Pat.  Certain of the wedding guests would create a verbal Flash Mob and begin singing a section of a song from La Cage Aux Folles called "Song on the Sand".   For those of you who don't know it, it sounds like this;



Once I realized it wasn't going to be all of the guests singing I was feeling very conflicting things.  On the one hand I was incredibly honored and humbled that I would be asked to do this (although Amy and I only three solo words), and scared to death since I would be doing it in front of people who were still in the business and making their living at it!  I mean I haven't done an equity show in how many years?  But I do think my voice is better now than it was when I was performing, simply because I have done some shows and I have been trying to sing and do open mics when I can;

(okay, I'm just grimacing musically at this point)

But we managed to work on it (just a bit) and be (somewhat) prepared for singing.  We all dressed in flowy white and tan clothing to sort of fit into the entire beach theme and we headed out for Coney Island!  Now I had never been although we pass it almost every time we travel back from visiting Angela and Per in Philajersia.  The kids were excited out of their minds and for one the traffic wasn't bad.

We made our way towards the boardwalk and as we got close we were greeted by the sites of The ORIGINAL Nathan's Hot Dog Stand;

(Uhhhh, I don't think I can eat 62!)

and the famous parachute drop;

(Geronimooooooooooooooooo!)

and the cyclone;

(Say what you like - I like wood!)

And the oh so intriguing Soaring Eagle;

(Oh yes, flipping upside down while riding on your belly - yeeehawwwww!)

Unfortunately the only thing we did get to visit of those attractions was Nathan's - but more on that later!

We finally made it to Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park;

(Ahhhhh, childlike Mecca awaits!)

And the kids were wild with anticipation.  Of course we had to explain to them that we couldn't go on all the roller coasters because we were: a) here for the wedding, and b) only able to go on what was in Deno's Amusement Park.  That's okay, fun was in the future!  Next we came to this incredible sight!





(Aunt Laura's Coulrophobia would definitely kick in here!)

You see, the kids have been viewing this icon for years as we pass by in the car and they were so close to actually being able to ride it that they were besides themselves.  (I guess in here I should mention that we couldn't find the sheet music for "Song on the Sand" although I had gone back to the car to get it so I was a bit nonplussed and beside myself because I thought for sure that everyone else would know their parts, be flawless and I would sound like a crow with a lymph node problem).
While on line for the Wonder Wheel we happened to see the gorgeous Pat Dwyer - one of the grooms for the day - who gave us each bracelets giving us unlimited access to the rides at Deno's Amusement Park - now the kids were in total heaven!  We made the FIRST of our forays on the Wonder Wheel to be greeted by this site;

(James: The people look like tiny ants!)

Although the "rocking car" was a little unsettling to some, no one lost their lunch and we headed to the bumper cars (Mama's favorite);
 

(Auntie Laurelle and James!)

(In only a few years she'll be driving for real - SCARY!!!!!)

And then we reconnected with old friends while we ate some lunch.  We then managed to get some more ride time in, including James and I going through the haunted house.  Right before the end of the ride he asks, "Is this supposed to be scary?"  You have to love the honesty of children.

We then had a quickly improvised vocal rehearsal after walking up and down the boardwalk to find a quiet place.  I was so relieved to find out that I wasn't the only one who needed the words and that we didn't sound bad at all - it was a very nice vocal arrangement skillfully directed by fellow Texan Ricky Pope!  We were ready for the surprise (and the eventual tears)!

Finally it was time to head to the beach for the ceremony!  We all walked out to the beach and surrounded the happy couple, the best people and the officiant.  It was beautiful!  I only have one picture from the actual ceremeony to share'

(Not the most flattering of photos but it'shows the bystanders in the background which was sort of humorous)

(however by following this link to a trailer for their documentary "Married and Counting" and if you look closely at :42 you can see William cavorting on the sand behind them!).  But despite the fact that we don't have any pictures of the actual ceremony it will be forever etched in the minds of everyone in attendance - including the bystanders who just happened upon us.  It reminded of my own wedding to Amy and that magical day when only she existed and all I could remember of the ceremony was her eyes.  The chance to actually participate in the wedding of these two beautiful souls was such a rejuvenation to our lives and do be able to sing the line from the song "something about sharing" made it even more poignant!  As Stephen says in the trailer, "How can anybody object to love?" and it was such an important lesson for us to share with our children - that love is love!  This is the second of their weddings that we had the honor to take part in and we were/are so very grateful!!!!!

After the ceremony everyone threw rose petals at the happy couple and then we were finally able to take some wonderful pictures of everyone enjoying the sands of Coney Island;

(Like Movie Stars, right?)

(Two childlike souls celebrating like - and with - children!)

(Its so amazing when they actually play together!)

(Almost there!!!!)



(The finished masterpiece!!!!)

And mama finally got the picture of the family dressed in our summer finery!

(Our happy family!!!!)

It was about htis time that received word from some of the locals that we shouldn't be out on the beach once the sun went down since that's when the gangs start coming out.  Now, of course the only thing I knew of gangs and Coney Island came from the movie Warriors so of course I was expecting something like this;

So I was on the lookout for any wildly painted hearses.  On a side note, the psycho leader of the Warriors' rival gang later played Feste in the Lincoln Center production of Twelfth Night starring Helen Hunt.  So to avoid any possible flight back to Long Island, we reentererd the sanctuary of Deno's where the kids once again had a field day;

(Sarah enjoying her Carousel)

By the time they had enjoyed the rides it started getting dark and we said our goodbyes to the newly married couple then we started to head out.  We had three very tired youngsters by this point - too tired to even fight with each other!



(Peace at last - for now)

But we had time for one last ride before we left - not the look of abject terror unadulterated joy on William's face;

(Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!)

We then headed to Nathan's Original Hot Dog stand for a late night snack because after all, how can we go to Coney Island and not have a hot dog?



Finally it was time to pack up our little wedding warriors and take them home in our non-customized Subaru!  And as we finally pulled into our driveway after a day of fun and love, this is the sight that greeted us in the back seat;

 

And that is what happens when love takes hold!

 

So I didn't talk about riding or Connor's Army this time but sometimes more important things take over, things like love and family and friends, and isn't that what life is all about?

Yin and Yang Keeps All in Harmony

I'm not sure if Buddha ever rode a bicycle (even though he could have built his own out of bamboo).  Of course to do that he might have to travel to the exotic land of Brook - lyn to do so which is a far trek from Shangri La.  And under no circumstances should this be confused with the group Sha Na Na which started as a group called "The Kingsmen" back in 1969.  They had their own television variety show for a while.  If you never saw them, this is what they look(ed?) like performing "Get A Job" in 1973 which they actually performed in 1969 at Woodstock - yes THE Woodstock;



And what does all of this have to do with anything you may ask?  Its all about the Yin and Yang of Life.  Let's take a little journey, shall we?

For many of you who know me,  I have spent most of my life growing up in a Korean-American household.  This means I've gotten some really different influences in my life that I'm very grateful for but at the same time probably contributed to the Gemini/bi-polar mess that I am.  For those of you who have followed this blog, you know that I spent my misspent high school years in Germany at Ansbach American High School.  While there I participated in a variety of activities including sports (football, wrestling, soccer, baseball), band (marching, concert, jazz) and drama/forensics.  I was a very busy boy and yet I still managed to keep my grades up enough to be in the National Honor Society.  I have no idea how that happened. 

Anyway one of the other things I did while there to tap into my Korean heritage was to take Tae Kwon Do lessons.  Now I probably could have taken a form of Karate, or Kung Fu but my cousin was living with us at the time and he had some previous experience with Tae Kwon Do as well so I worked with him and with a teacher who was stationed at the base.  He was completely old school and we worked our butts off almost every day for two years.  We learned forms, we learned to use weapons and we learned to fight in a controlled environment.  I even went to a tournament once and I did okay but no trophy.  The point was he was old school and he treated us fairly but firmly and we respected him and really learned the material.  With my cousin's help I worked very hard and I advanced to second degree green belt in two years but that's as far as I got.  Now when I mean "old school" I don't necessarily mean this;



or even quite like this (sorry, this one is from Brazil so its in Portuguese - but if you've seen the movie you know what's going on);




So, no he didn't use anything to trick us into it rather he just made us work hard although I wouldn't have been adverse to this "old school" technique;



No, it was just hard work and lots of practice, drilling and sparring.  And we NEVER used pads.  We used mouthpieces most of the time but never EVER with pads.  I remember my cousin clocking me in the mouth with a spinning back roundhouse kick that knocked me off my feet.  That was cool to see coming at you but not so much when it hit.  My point is that "old school" training or even "back in the day" training (to see when that was just check below)

(you see it ranges from the front haunches to the mid spine - borrowed from Bikesnob NYC)

when you were really training to learn the art and the reason behind the technique and the traditions behind it you would never see five-year-old black belts trave;ing around and giving demonstrations or young Circassian boys getting their black belts in Tae Kwon Do;



Yes, they may have learned the "moves" but the maturity and understanding to use it correctly is not always there.  Nor the respect or the patience or the multitude of other things.  Now some may say, "well its not REAL, its only a junior black belt" but to the kids when they are bragging/telling others there is no distinction made.  They simply say "I'm a black belt".  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not jealous but let's be realistic here and see the real problem.  Everyone is after quick results and instant gratification.  A black belt in five years (that's assuming they started right out of the womb).  Where is the balance?  Where is the harmony?  How can there truly be any?

Why do you ask am I even talking about any of this at all?  Well today was a day of experience the true nature of Yin and Yang and the ebb and flow of balance.  Today was a day of sadness for me, much more than I thought I would have but it truly was difficult for me.  I had been preparing for it all week but  when it actually came it was a bit more than I excpected.  You see, today was my last day at Sunrise for the next two years.  Next summer I won't be at camp since at this time next year I should be somewhere in Western Virginia getting for the final push up the coast.   Yes, at long last it will REALLY happen, either solo or supported but next summer Connor's Army XC happens.

As exciting as that will be it was saddening to know that I won't be back, especially when so many of the campers told me how much they would miss me and drama.  This year I was the only drama teacher so I got to see every single kid in camp from the smallest Acorns to the oldes CIT's and all the counselors in between.  I saw some kids who couldn't be bothered to try drama become some of the first to volunteer or to come up to me during the day and say "what are we doing in drama today?"  Although I reall missed being able to teach dance as well, being the only drama teacher this summer really allowed me to make some connections - connections I hope will last me two years.

To counter act this Yin (blackness, negativity, sadness) was a good deal of Yang (whiteness, positivity, happiness) to even everything all out.

To begin with, after months of having pain in my lower back area and putting off going to the orthopedist, I finally went yesterday morning and found out I have sacralization of my L5 vertabrae.  Although I'll have to go to physical therapy (the Yin) I won't have to have surgery (the Yang) at least for now - Yay!

Secondly, we finally have our donation link up on the Sunrise Day Camp home page!  You can see it by going here - and if you happen to feel moved to make a donation - even better.  Go Yang!

Thirdly, I have been working with a camper who is a high school student (i.e., Leadership) and he came to camp with very little swimming experience.  He is an accomplished athlete and has great power but hasn't really swam much in the past.  I've been working with him to try to get him from level two (the small three foot pool with elementary/middle school kids) to the big pool (i.e., four to six foot).  We've had our ups and downs and he has gotten so close on so many occasions but the swim instructors were hesitant to put him up above.  Well today he made it!!!!!!   He was so incredibly happy and they let him stay there.  I was so proud of him and what he's accomplished!  Again, go Yang!

And lastly, we've been working on trying to get a sprinkler system and a patio put into our back yard.  The patio is not so important but I just don't want my grass to completely die while we're away next summer so we're putting in a system to keep it watered during the two months we're away.  We just found out that the company putting in the system might be interested in sponsoring us!  Woohoo!  Even if it's not much, every little bit helps and we'll be able to have the money we need to pay for gas!!!!!!

Now all this good news/bad news may not completely give me inner peace like our friend here;



but it really makes the sadness of not seeing my Sunrise family for two years (except for the occasional Sunrise Sunday) a little easier to bear (get it?).

Stay well and I'll see you on the road.