Friday, June 25, 2010

Thoughts on Biking Brooklyn

I just took a 2hr bike through NYC. I took Manihattan bridge from Brooklyn and the Brooklyn bridge back. Here are a few thoughts

Here is a link to the Route:

  1. Prospect Park is really nice. I should plan every route through the park. Friday nights there are awesome concerts at the Band Shell via @CelebrateBklyn and on 4SQ. I caught some of Kid Koala's show. Very cool event - evening concert in the park. Large crowds of people chilling on blankets and dancing around. My check in got me a Swarm badge.
  2. Do not bike on the Brooklyn Bridge. The walkway is wooden ( atleast horizontally ) and not very pleasant. Pedestrians hardly respect the pedestrian vs bicycle lane division and tend to spill over on the bike side for pictures.
  3. Surprisingly, there are bike lanes everywhere ( up to Prospect Park )
  4. Ocean Parkway - bike along the satellite road, not the bike path. Bike path is riddled with little kids, potholes, strollers and houligans. The satellite side road is better paved, free of pedestrian shenanigans and is fairly car-free. Also you can bike a lot faster - at the speed of cars.
  5. Smith Street is good to bike through. The lane is mostly paved except for a few bits around Poly. Take 9th Street to Smith street. Do NOT take 15th street - messy around Ft. Hamilton
  6. Flatbush was actually better than I expected - keep pace with traffic - even up the mild hill and everything works out fine
  7. I need a cycling jersey with back pockets. Regular t-shirts don't quite cut it - too much drag and I don't have anything in bright color. Carrying stuff in short pockets sucks
  8. I need to put some lights on my bike. An LED in the front and a reflector thing in the back.
  9. If I don't get a shirt with pocket, it would be awesome to get one of those under-seat saddle bags for cellphone / wallet / keys
  10. I need to buy a bike lock. I think I'll stop by Roy's Sheepshead Cycle tomorrow
  11. My bike is a triple. The front gear really confused me for a while but I finally figured it out. The shift still has 3 positions, but only two gears. I need to shift TWICE to go up or down.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

5ive things I have done with the iPad

1Youtube
2 browse the web
3 paid a bill
4 planned a vacation
5 Netflix

Sunday, June 13, 2010

25th Birthday - Thank You Everyone

Hi Everyone

I thought I'd write something with a little more permanence than a Facebook event message to t thank everyone for making the trek out to Echo Lake Park, NJ.

It was great seeing everybody come out to the picnic. I had a great time, and I hope you did too.

The present is wonderful. I now have a Mac id, Apple has my credit card information, and I finally feel like a fully fledged member of society. I will now proudly hold my head high when I walk into the Apple store. Thank you everyone for the great present. It's really cool! I can watch Netflix without getting out of bed and moving to the couch. I can also @foursquare check into my house with ease.

A special thank you to my lovely girlfriend. Here is the video footage of her amazing poem.



Thank you everyone for your kindness, friendship and support.
- George