If the first rule of successful blogging is to write regularly then we suck big time.

But we DO NOT actually suck. No siree! Like some big old sperm whale, life sprang out of the cold blue waters and plum swallowed us up. Really!

To wit: I got married, bought a house, made a lot of waffles, launched a couple of web sites, pondered untold imponderables and did my meager best to help a few friends through some troubled times.

Lame excuses perhaps, but they sure did take up a lot of freakin time.

Fortunately, we still managed to ride our bikes...A LOT!

In fact, I even rode my bike to my wedding. And I rode it FROM the wedding, just-married decorations and all.


Please please please come on back soon. We are raring to post all sorts of awesome about the suddenly trendy sport that is biking about New York City. REALLY!

Bike Tunes: Ike Turner

Working Together (right click to Save Link and enjoy repeatedly--go for it!)

Game of Love (right click to Save Link and rock out repeatedly--why not!)

First things first: nycbikecommuter does not condone biking and listening to tunes. We DO condone rocking while riding and a good tune should stick in your head long after you hear it, providing ample fuel for your commute.

(Full confession: I have been known to listen to tunes while riding about Prospect Park. And maybe on the Manhattan Bridge. But never in traffic. At least not since I ran in to a car while listening to tunes).

And we DO condone tasty tunes, two of which we have gleefully posted and eagerly hope you will download asafp!

These tracks pay tribute to the recently departed Ike Turner. Whatever his personal flaws, Ike was a supremely tasty guitarist and even a fine songwriter--he wrote both these songs, albeit as Eki Renrut (get it?), a pseudonym he devised to procure additional royalty checks.

Culled from Working Together, a GEM of an album that you can snag in its entirety from iTunes, these songs show Ike and Tina in a more mellow mode than some of their more strenuous hits.

Given Ike's well-reported extracurricular ickinesses, I can understand if you greet the eponymous title track with a few ironic titters. But try to shelve your cynicism and enjoy what is a lovely plea for unity: the melody is a honey, Tina's vocal is rough-hewn but restrained, Ike chips in some tangy guitar and the horns take this track over top. Gets me every time!

Game of Love is far funkier fare. Ever the able rhythm guitarist, Ike drives the track with an itchy lick that could go on for many a minute without bugging me. Tina rides on top with a nasty vocal that never shows an ounce of strain or fuss. A stone cold groover!

If you dig these tracks, by all means read this illuminating interview with Ike. And run don't walk to find Bold Soul Sister, a Meters-esque mover that has yummy rough vocals from Tina and a groovin Ike riff that achieves lift-off on the fade-out. yummy!

Rest in Peace Ike.
Ride and rock folks,
nycbikecommuter

Popping Our Cherries

So the song is 'predator' by Ice Cube. It's an old commuting favorite.
It's approproiate to begin Jeffie and my blog with a little burst of aggression because that's what commuting is all about.
But like a samurai, the commuter always must hold his aggression in check, releasing it at opportune moments; much like
Ice Cube must have had to do during the filming of 'Are we There Yet'.

As fall approaches and there is a distinct nip in the air, the commmuters thoughts turn to an elusive goal-
That of being warm and dry on the bicycle while also arriving at a destination with suitable style and grace.
These are obtainable goals, reachable with a sartorial flare at your nearest thrift store, a utilitaarian choice for clothing that is sure to be rendered grease spotted and mystery-stained.

The trick is to wear wool. And lots of it.

I know, alot of douchebags roil around on douchy bikes with douchey leather carry alls that look like a good storage spot for anal lube like to wear wool and fetishize ancient wool jerseys.

I'm here to say that every douchebag must have begun with the kernel of a good idea. People can't be that stupid. I'm an optimist.

---

Okee dokee folks, the first entry...ack! Fortunately, I have a tasty subject: the steel-framed, commuting-love machine that is my brand new bike, the Surly Cross Check. With all apologies to my lovely fiancé KT, if my Surly came equipped with a pair of tits, I’d gladly spend my days dry humping it.

Why the Cross Check? Well, I know twit and diddly bout bikes…so I take my counsel from Harry, who has the hot and bothereds for the Surly Long Haul Trucker, a lovely sounding bike, but one that no ny shop seems to have built and ready to test. I am a wee man and would like to fit on my $1000 toys.

Now, the Cross Check happened to be built up and test-ready at a few Shamhattan shops...and it sounded swell for my bike needs: I commute, I take the sporadic outer-city toodle and even the stray long-distance tour. I took a test ride and was mightily tempted: sturdy but not sluggish; not exactly zippy, but hardly sluggish.

Ever the careful consumer, I dropped the good folks at Surly a line to ask about the LHT vs. CC; they kindly replied with a fair but fairly spoogy take on the Cross Check. Add it all up and I was a deeper shade of convinced: I bought the damn thing!

Since I am prattling and have barely ridden the bike, I will spare you a full review. But so far, I am deeply dippy. DEEPLY.