Red Snot

Americans huh – they have either got guns or Aids – some even have both!

I had a wander around the Big Apple today, or as I think it should be called – The Big Cluster Fuck! Maybe New Yoike as they say it here isn’t quite so bad, maybe its just more of the fact that I am not a fan of cities. The subway (that´s aparently not something you use for crossing a busy road) was very confusing – see, I am a great fan of the London Underground, where you choose the line by colour, walk down to the platform and there are two options, lets say Northbound and Southbound, and just to make it even simpler it gives you the final destination too so it is easy to know where you are going – here in Yoike, I am still at a loss.  I did manage to buy a week long pass though, for the very cheap sum of 29 dollars.  The subway has to be the only way to go though, the roads seem to be permanently gridlocked.

Hardly surprising though – when the names of the streets are stupid – West 59th Street East & Wall Street for gods sake ! Then there’s 79th Street and the Hudson River – No wonder Sully touched down on the water, I think he had lost his way a little.

I did make it to the Empire State Building today.  The lift went up so quickly my ears popped.  You have all seen those lift counters counting up the floors each floor at a time?  Well, this one was so quick it went in tens. 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 !!  I had to take 2 more lifts to get up to the 109th floor – and I can tell you it was bloody windy up there!

I also managed a trip to ground zero where the World Trade Centre once stood.  We can all remember where we were and what we were doing when that news broke. The city streets are small around that area – it was easy to imagine just how horrific that time must have been.

The new towers are going up now, I think they are calling them Freedom Towers, looking all nice and shiny too.  Don’t suppose it will be too long before someone takes a pop at them too.

Tomorrow I might head to Liberty Island or up to the war ship along the river – they have a submarine there too.  Machines of War ! Times square is on the list too, as is Madison Square Garden.  Of course, I will do Central Park but we are moving up the river on Tuesday and will be 3 blocks away so I intend to run and cycle the park – dodging bullets, bandits and baddies.

New running shoes today too, my Saucony Triumph 9’s are seriously munted after less than 200 miles so after a decade of Saucony – I have switched brands.  I also had two new wheels for the mountain bike courtesy of Specialized.  After a problem with the rear hub that they couldn’t replace, they agreed to the shop buying me two other wheels and fitting them – so I now have SRAM rims front and rear.  Had a quick 26 mile burn on it yesterday and it felt good.  It was beginning to feel a bit harder to pedal – at the time I thought it was me just getting worn out but no,  bent axle and extra bearing friction were the cause.

My route was a little curious.  I wanted to cross the George Washington bridge, and I did manage it too but not without cycling through one of those areas where I did think I would get shot while dodging the pats of human shit left behind by the crack heads. I was pleasantly surprised when I got out of there and back along the river – life is just one great big adventure!

I have added a few more photos – strangely enough, in the photo album called ‘America 2012’ feel free to take a look but give me an hour or so to upload them first.