May 27, 2008 at 1:41 am (New York)
Tags: alex grey, blue ridge, cosm, eva, met, moma, play
This is how it like unfolded, O my brothers.
On Friday, having spent a pleasant few days largely taking it easy, I decided to go out and do something more active. This, I decided, meant visiting the Metropolitan Museum and then the Museum of Modern Art. The Met was alright – its Islamic Art exhibit, which I’d been looking forward to especially, was gutted for renovations, sad to say – but it is MoMA which concerns us, because it was at MoMA that I met this lovely girl. We played eye-tag a bit in the line for the coat check, and then she passed by me a bit later heading for the escalator, and since after all I am on an adventure, I decided the thing to do would be to swallow my shyness and approach her.
Well, she was fortunately of a very outgoing sort, and barely had I spoken a word when I found she had launched us into the middle of a conversation about which floors to visit first and why. This was all well and good – she knew which exhibits she liked, having visited several times before, and I was perfectly happy to let her lead the way. Read the rest of this entry »
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May 25, 2008 at 3:59 am (New Jersey, New York)
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May 20, 2008 at 4:42 pm (New York)
Tags: alex grey, cosm
In Ithaca, I promised Delilah that I’d ask Alex Grey whether he’d ever considered painting the subtle energies involved in anal sex. Alex says he’d not thought of it, but who knows what the future holds?
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May 20, 2008 at 11:32 am (New Jersey, New York, Uncategorized)
Tags: catskills, cosm, detours, full moon, health, rain, viriditas
Apparently there has been some concern, but I assure you all I am still alive and in good health. Even my knee pain has all but disappeared, and my riding improved tremendously, since I raised the seat on my bike by about an inch and a half.
Greg and I had a hell of a time getting to the city. We were hit with heavy rain for all of the second day, plus the bike route we were on led us ten miles in the wrong direction before we realized we should turn back. To add insult to injury, I got a flat and had to replace my front tube. The next day was more rain and another huge detour, but this one was at least going in vaguely the right direction, through the beautiful Catskills National Park. We stopped at an organic health food store, incongruously situated in Downsville, just as they were closing, and the proprietress graciously offered us crash space for the night on the back porch.
The next day we made it as far as Monticello, but with all the delays we wouldn’t have made it to the city in time had we not got a ride from Monticello to Suffern, courtesy of a friend of Greg who was also on her way into the city. From there, yesterday, we biked the remaining 75km into the city – across the George Washington Bridge and down the trail on the west side – and I barely made it in time for the full moon gathering at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors.
Read the rest of this entry »
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May 14, 2008 at 10:06 am (New York)
Tags: birthday, cosm, food, greg, ithaca, parties
I’m going to be honest: biking to Ithaca was sometimes awful. In the mornings and evenings especially, I was lonely, intimidated, in pain and generally miserable. I was in kind of a state of dissociation: everything in my head would say “Turn back; go home; give up. It’s not worth it.” Meanwhile my body, very much on its own, would get dressed, eat breakfast, hop on the bike and start pedaling despite knee pain. By the afternoon I’d be feeling pretty good, climbing and descending the beautiful foothills of the Appalachian chain, biking through charming little towns (New York does the whole small town thing much better than Ontario) and enjoying the sun and fresh air. Then I’d arrive at my day’s destination and by the time I went to bed I’d be feeling morose all over again.
Now that I’ve arrived in Ithaca, the whole trip is beginning to shape up much more like I hoped it would. Ithaca is a charming university town, tucked against the southern end of Cayuga lake, full of hippies and anarchists – the vibe is very much like what Peterborough could be if it were less of a shithole. I was fortunate enough to connect with some lovely people who have been hosting me, feeding me, and generally showing me a good time. One of them, it looks like, will in fact be joining me as far as New York City. Everyone I’ve met has been exceedingly nice and generous – this is the first town I’ve come to in which I could genuinely imagine myself living.
Saturday evening, when I arrived, I was invited to a Taurus party outside of town. There was good food and a bonfire, and people gave me advice and supplies for my journey. Since then I’ve wandered through nature trails, attended the local farmers’ market, gone mushroom hunting, helped out at the local bike co-op, cooked some delicious food, and generally kept busy. Last night we celebrated my birthday with vegan cooking, wild morel mushrooms and shots of Chartreuse. I’ve stayed here several days longer than I intended to, since I’ve been so thoroughly enjoying myself; and so Greg and I will be attending not the exhibition opening at MicroCoSM but the full moon ceremony at CoSM a few days later.
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May 9, 2008 at 2:10 pm (New York)
Tags: bike shops, bikers, camping, flats, food, hitch-hiking, motels, people, terrain, weight, wind
I had a bitch of a time getting to Warsaw. The terrain, previously quite flat, became disgustingly hilly, and I hadn’t even hit Varysburg when I got my first flat. With the help of a random driver-by, I patched the hole and was in the middle of pumping the tube back up when the valve broke. So, off with the tire again, in with my spare tube – and that one went flat only a few kilometres later. The problem was clearly with the tire, but now I had no more inner tubes (in retrospect I could have changed the tire and then patched the second inner tube, but I wasn’t thinking very rationally at this point). In desperation I walked my bike onward up a steep hill, trying to flag down a ride from motorists, but no one stopped.
Finally, at the top of the hill, I encountered a restaurant called August 25, where I met some fabulously nice people. One guy – I believe his name was Danny – was renovating a campground just down the hill, and offered me one of the cabins for the night. The cabin was filled with assorted junk, including two beds, complete with mattresses; I slept on those in my sleeping bag.
In the morning, a retired microbiologist named Bob drove me to a bike shop in the nearest town where I picked up a new tire and tube, plus two extra tubes just in case. After grabbing a bite to eat, I continued on – and immediately hit a series of grueling hills. The worst by far was the one just past Warsaw that I had to climb to get to the motel. I’m not ashamed to say I walked my bike all the way up. And, at the top, I found I had another flat, this time on the front wheel. This time, at least, I was able to find and remove the tiny stone that had caused the problem, then patch the tube with no problems.
Today, thankfully, things are going better. Despite a strong headwind, the kilometres just flew by all the way to Geneseo, and I hope to reach Geneva or at least Canandaigua before nightfall. I met a fellow bike tourist who warned me the terrain will be pretty hilly as I go south through the Finger Lakes, but I have some dead weight I may be able to jettison (notably the portable stand, which is heavy, requires a socket wrench I don’t have, didn’t come with enough washers, and didn’t even
help much when I used it).
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May 6, 2008 at 10:23 pm (New York, Ontario)
Tags: hostels, microcosm
(Well, it’s a pretty friendly beast so far.)
After a nice communal breakfast at the hostel, I crossed the Rainbow Bridge and entered the States uneventfully. From there it was a leisurely 55km ride alongside the Niagara River to Buffalo, where I checked into another hostel – this one a part of Hostelling International, and therefore rather larger than the last.
It was still early in the evening, so I went for a walk along streets recommended by the guy in charge of the hostel. Turns out Buffalo is rather quiet, so there were no outrageous adventures, though I did pick up some things I needed.
It’ll probably take me at least three days to get to Ithaca, and I may want to rest a day at that point. That’ll give me six days to get from there to New York City, which should be manageable. From the sound of it, New York will be hellaciously expensive, so I’ll probably want to get in, attend the MicroCoSM event, then get the hell out.
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May 6, 2008 at 11:31 am (Ontario)
Tags: fitness, food, hostels
Well, I made it to Niagara Falls, but it was stupid of me to attempt it. I made it to Grimsby around 5 without incident, ate a meal, and felt so good I thought I’d continue on: there was a hostel in Niagara Falls with a tantalizing $25 price tag, and I’d be that much closer to New York City.
I was about 10km from St. Catharines when my legs started feeling tired. A guy passed me on a bike and said there was a camp ground only about 5km ahead. This was perhaps a sign from god that I should turn off and set up camp for the night, but I was feeling stubborn, so I didn’t. Instead, I ended up getting lost (worthless road atlas is worthless, especially in the face of poorly marked or unmarked roads). By the time I got in at the hostel it was after 11PM, my legs and knees were killing me, and I had traveled a total of 120km. That’s a reasonable average per day, but not when I’m just starting out.
The hostel, at least, was quite nice. I was roomed with a medical student from Japan, and in the morning there was toast and jams and muffins for breakfast. Today I’ll take it easy – maybe just go as far as Buffalo or a little past it.
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May 5, 2008 at 12:37 am (Ontario)
Tags: books, food, pacing, planning
Well, I made to Oakville. Riding fully-loaded took some getting used to, though, and I think I may have overdone it today – by the time I got to my mom’s house my legs were like jelly. This is probably because I took only a few short breaks, where I should probably have divided the ride into two or three segments, separated by a half hour or hour long break. Part of it may have been the unfamiliar strain, though. At any rate I’ll have plenty of time to fine-tune my pacing.
Here at home I got a lovely home-cooked meal and then decided to cut my hair. I’m not sure I did as good a job as I have in the past, but at least it’s more contained now.
Tomorrow I’m aiming to reach Grimsby, which has certain advantages over Hamilton (not the least of which is not being Hamilton). I worried I might have to circle the tip of the lake, but it turns out there’s a skyway from Burlington into Hamilton that cuts right across the water. That’ll save me a lot of time and (hopefully) be a nice scenic ride.
One of the hardest things to decide on when I was planning was what books to take. These are the ones I chose in the end: Read the rest of this entry »
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May 3, 2008 at 8:15 pm (Ontario)
Tags: delays
Well, I didn’t leave today. This was for a number of reasons, not the least of which were the heavy downpours during the afternoon. I might have started my ride anyway, but the guy who was supposed to take care of my geckos bailed on me, so I had to find someone else. This also gave me more time, much-needed, to pack up all my stuff and tie up loose ends here in Toronto. Tomorrow it will still be rainy, but not nearly so much, and I will be off.
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