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Mike Schuyler and Lynette go cruisin' for a bruisin' on the Twin Air
"HEY, COOOOOOOOOOL BIKE!!!" The wolf whistles came from all sides and street corners - not surprising when you'e cruising through Times Square at peak hour on Hanz Scholz' TwinAir tandem.
The event: The Great Five Boro Bike Tour, and Bike Friday' first ever official visit to New York. Since it was also my first visit to the Big Apple, I had appealed to our NY owners for somewhere to hang my helmet. I received a warm response, one being from Pocket Rocket owner Mike and Cheri Schuyler who offered me their living room in Greenwich Village, as well as Mike's legs and enthusiasm to captain the TwinAir.
Why did we ride the TwinAir? I think of this machine as being akin to a 'concept car' - a dream bike that shows what Bike Friday is capable of. The difference is, it's not concept, it's real.
Sunday May 5: Mike and I got the TwinAir to the starting point at 7am. Our yellow passes ensured we started slightly ahead of the 29,999 pairs of mainly big wheels and 1 ginormous wheel, i.e., a Penny Farthing. We met the Goehring family of Pedal2Paradise fame, and several Bike Friday owners in the waiting area. I searched for Bike Fridays and whenever I spotted one, I left my captain guarding the ship and waded through the sea of wheels (taking care not to topple the carbon fiber wonders poised for flight) to deliver the owner a Bike Friday lapel pin. At 8am the MC's voice boomed over the loudspeakers: 'Remember, this is not a race, it is a TOUR!' Then, we were off.
The Tour wended its way through the five boros: Manhatten, The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island. The marshalling was excellent. Initially I wondered about winding up concertina'd in a 30,000 deep pileup of tubes and tires but a synchronized swat team regulated the flow like a well-engineered valve.
The route, intriguingly industrial rather than scenic, was flat and punctuated by numerous rest stops dispensing organic health bars, sun dried tomato and oregano chips, fancy water, and a platoon of portable toilets. At one stop I looked up and swore I was back in my home country, finding myself staring at a Sydney Harbor Bridge lookalike, albeit a pink one - the Bayonne Bridge.
At the 42nd and final mile we ran into the BFCA (Boston Chapter) contingent, led by Anna Kleinfeldt and Bill Redford. We strung the yellow Bike Friday banner across Bill's tandem to attract any owners rolling across the finish. (Sorry to those who missed us, we did try). We also attracted other interesting and quirky bikes to our little impromptu booth: A Strida, and a Swift. I want a Strida to hang on my wall as art - because you have to be at least 5'4" to ride one. Waaaah!
Thank you to all the owners and aficionados who supported our first foray into 'Gotham City' as it is also known to insiders. Join the BFCA (NYC Chapter) and eep an eye on the Bike Friday Events Calendar http://www.bikefriday.com/events. Little wheels make you fly!
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