You call that a hurricane?

Wow. What a let down. I suppose it's good that Irene didn't completely level and flood the Big Apple but I really was looking forward to fleeing to safety. Who knows what kind of adventures could have ensued. Instead. I awoke to a fairly bright morning sky with light wind and rain. No flying debris. No rooftops peeled back like sardine lids. No upside down cars. I grabbed the camera and set off for a little recon. No major damage. Lots of upside-down trash cans and small fallen limbs here and there.

Hurricane Irene: Bring it on.

Well, I'm all set for Hurricane Irene. I'm actually really excited about it! Yesterday I packed up some survival/rescue gear and I have a bunch of water stored away in the fridge. Camera batteries are fully charged and I'm just kicking around the apartment reading a new book about modern-westernized Buddhism. I don't plan on going anywhere today. Even if I could, NYCT has shut down all public transportation effective noon today.

I plan on getting out and about with my camera during the course of the day. Below are a few photos from the rooftop of my building; nothing too exciting, just overcast with relatively week winds. These photos were taken at 11:00am this morning.

I'm alive.

Wow, I haven't blogged since June 14th. I haven't had a gap open up like this since I was shelled in my very first criterium back in 2006! Nevertheless I'm back. I've been really busy and to be honest, pretty unhappy so I haven't felt much like reporting. I'm going to make this blog entry a quick & dirty overview of the past five weeks. That being said; onward with the quick & dirty:

Work:

I've been traveling a lot lately. Work has taken me to some pretty neat areas in the following states: TX, NC, SC, GA, IL, MD & VA. I really enjoy auditing the systems of different companies. The products and processes I see are extremely interesting to me and I really enjoy getting a close look at the state of the art technology these companies are utilizing. The project is now entering the final design stage and the car is going to look SHARP! At this point, it's a violation of company policy to release an image of the latest design, but as soon as the design is made public, I will be sure to post a few images; it's pretty sleek looking!

Hiking/Camping:

With all of the recent traveling, I haven't had that much time to get out in the woods. Two weekends ago however, my friend Jay and I hiked in to Island Pond at Harriman State Park in NJ. The hike in to the pond is only 1.25 miles of pretty brutal uphill, but the pay off is a refreshing pond. There are plenty of large rocks from which you can jump and there's a nice little island in the middle of the pond where you can lounge about and work on your tan. We had a really great time when we were there, to include cooking up some ribs and mac & cheese for dinner! The picture above was taken when I awoke in my tent at Island Pond.

Riding:

I don't know if I ever reported that the Lefty (suspension fork) on my Cannondale is busted. When I was out in Colorado, I blew the lock-out feature of this unit. It's a shame because I was really loving the Lefty's plush performance and the ability to lock-out the suspension on climbs and road sections. At any rate, my Cannondale is sitting in the living room until I get around to shipping it out to Mendon Cyclesmith (Lefty experts) in upstate NY for failure analysis and repair. In the mean time I have been riding my singlespeed (pictured below) whenever I get the chance. Last weekend my friend Dave and I rode at Sprain Ridge Park in Yonkers and had a truly epic ride! The trail conditions were perfect: dusty dry and practically empty. We didn't see another rider on the trails the whole time (3 hours). I was a bit hesitant to try out my tires (Kenda Small Block Eight's) for fear that a storm would turn the dusty trails to slimy booger-luge. But, the weather held and the riding was superb! I even busted out some trials moves from waaaaay back in the day. I was lazy enough NOT to post it on Vimeo, but you can download the QuickTime file here if you care to see me ride on picnic tables as if I were a 14 year old.

Lately, I've been getting out on the road bike after work. I get home from work around 5:15 which leaves plenty of time to skip across the GW Bridge and into NJ to ride north along the Palisades. Once in NJ, if you head 15 miles, or so, north, the riding gets very hilly. I typically turn around once I'm 12 or 13 miles out, making for a respectable (in my eyes) loop. There once was a time when I actually enjoyed riding hills. Those days are gone! So, these rides are pretty enjoyable! Also, I should mention that the fixed gear is riding like a dream. Ever since I gave the drivetrain an overhaul, it's been a tight and quiet ride. She's tip-top! I spent this past Saturday boppin' around Harlem and just really enjoyed exploring, getting lost and pretty much pedaling for the sake of pedaling (Sometimes I just head out the door without a destination in mind - spontaneity usually gets the best of me).

iPhone picture of the day

iPhone photo of an R32 train at the 168th Street Station,
processed to look like an old Polaroid using the Shake It app.

Lowest platform

There's so much going on these days and I haven't been carrying my DSLR around with me. But I have been taking pictures with my iPhone. Using the phone is better than nothing and keeps my photographer's mind active. Though I can't expose what I see, the way I want to, the phone at least freezes the moment for me. And it really is true what they say: The best camera is the one you have with you at the time. So, with all of the iPhone pictures I've been taking lately, I decided to use my flickr account to hold my "iPhone only" images. I even threw a widget up on the blog here to link to my flickr iPhone account. I'll be using several apps to process the images, like the Shake it app that I used to create the Polaroid effect seen with this image.

This image was snapped at the 145th Street Station while transferring from the D Train to the A Train this past Wednesday night.

Track Safety

This morning at work, my department had it's annual Track Safety Training. Here at Kawasaki Rail Car (KRC) we have a 1/4 mile test track where we test run the cars to check various systems prior to delivery to the Customer (NYCT, & PATH). Emphasis was placed on the 600 volts supplied to the cars through either the catenary wires overhead or the shoes on the car. Working around the cars it's easy to become complacent and brush up against the current collectors or the bugs, I've never come close myself, but there have been some dangerous instances at KRC in the past. The training is interesting though, not as fun as walking through subway tunnels like I did when I was trained by NYCT in Brooklyn. There are a lot of dangers involved with walking through rail yards. Switches can be thrown, power supplied, cars are moving and you have to pay attention to your surroundings. I just wish we could have had our training on a warmer day; it was 22 degrees F and snowing while we walked around the test track.

Harlem woman

I meant to post this snapshot last week. I'm really happy with it. I took this picture with my point & shoot camera just after my wife and I emerged from the 125th street subway station in Harlem. I like the well put together woman who is out and about on a sunny Sunday morning. I know the back story behind this image but when I look at it as a fresh observer I enjoy the mystery. What are the police doing? Why the expression on her face?

Capped at Cunningham Park

Today I took my 1X9 out to Jamaica, Queens to ride the excellent singletrack at Cunningham Park. It takes me an hour and forty-five minutes to get there by subway but it's well worth the journey. The trails at Cunningham are very flat but the twisty, flowing singletrack more than makes up for any lack in elevation gain. It's the ideal spot for a singlespeed. I loved ripping it up on my Cannondale. Although, I took a few dives over the bars today. The most noteworthy came at the beginning of my ride, just after completing a tough skinny. I had ridden the long (skinny) it's full length, only to crash while using the "off ramp" at the end of the log. My knees smashed hard on the rocks leaving me on the ground rocking in agony. I felt like I'd been "capped" by the mafia. I decided to keep my knees moving and pedaled on. I did take a few clips of video and I plan to turn them into a really short fun video. If I get it done tomorrow I'll be sure to post it up on the blog here. For now, here are a couple of images from today's awesome ride. I reeled in 14 miles. Ten of which, were singletrack. Click the screen shot at right to take a look at the ride details.

Above: My Cannondale F1 in front of an Alstom built, R160 Car (selectively desaturated).

Above: I love this section of Cunningham. So lush!

Reunited with an old friend

An old friend and I have recently gotten back in touch. When we were growing up, he and I used to hike and camp almost every weekend . As life would have it, we kind of lost touch over the years but it feels great to reconnect. We used to do an awful lot of all-seasons camping. We've hiked in New Mexico together as well as the High Peaks Region of the Adirondacks. We've meadow-crashed beneath the stars without a tent and we've built and slept in snow shelters. One fond memory that comes to mind is the time we climbed Blue Mountain (Elevation 3,759ft) on snowshoes by the light of the moon. So on Labor Day Weekend we'll be canoeing across 7th Lake, just outside of Inlet, NY for some more camping. Hopefully the lean-to will be vacant, but if not, we'll pitch a tent. A trip up Blue Mountain is definitely in order though there will be plenty to do. 7th lake is one of eight lakes in the Fulton Chain of Lakes. We could paddle down to 6th lake or up to 8th lake and explore those areas. I know there is a bridge between 6th & 7th lake that is a lot of fun to jump off of. Bear Mountain lies just north of where we'll be camping and is only a 3 or 4 mile hike to its summit. I imagine we'll be doing quite a bit of swimming, hiking, fishing and most of all relaxing and catching up with each other.

I don't want to bring my big DSLR with me for this trip so I picked up a Canon point & shoot. The S90 (shown above) is an amazing little 10 megapixel camera. It shoots RAW, allows full control of shutter speed and aperture, and even takes video. It has a rugged all-metal body and fits right in my pocket. Today I took it out on the streets and played inside of the 181st Street Station. Image quality is great if you ask me. I'm looking forward to taking this camera camping!

Lady in red

After weeks of not climbing, my friend Kreuter and I got a couple of hours of hours in at Brooklyn Boulders. We were both surprised at how easily we conquered a couple of 5.8 and a 5.9 routes right off the bat. However, there were a couple of 5.10's that shut us down. We each gave the routes several attempts but just couldn't make it past the crux of the climbs. Next time.

I took the R train out to Brooklyn. After a couple of stops the lady in red boarded and took a seat next to the cab bulkhead. I couldn't resist trying to capture her with my iPhone. How I wished I had my DSLR with me. I got a decent shot of her and then processed the image in my phone using Tiltshift Generator for selective focus/blur and vignetting. I love the way it came out. It reminds me of an Edward Hopper painting.

Back to work.

It's Monday and I'm back at work after being at home, sick for three days last week. I actually missed doing my job here at Kawasaki. As someone who loves trains, being an Engineer at this company is quite rewarding.

I'll be traveling to DC in the next few weeks. WMATA has ordered a few hundred new subway cars and I'll be helping to supply them. And then, in a few months I'll be traveling to Japan, Spain, Sweeden and possibly Austrailia (I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and my lenses polished!).

In stitches

Last night, after returning from a short run, with plans of making a deliciously fattening quatro fromagio pizza; disaster struck. While washing a small juice glass I heard a "pop" and lost my grip on the glass. looking down I noticed a huge flap of skin hanging from my right pointer finger. Oh, and there was blood. A lot of blood. Then my mind switched into what I call Boy Scout mode: Apply pressure and elevate the wound! I grabbed the dish towel and wrapped my finger. In less than 60 seconds I had grabbed my wallet, keys, phone and was out the door. I got a lot of concerned looks as I walked to the train station at 190th Street, on the train, and while walking from 207th street to the Emergency Room at 219th street. I wondered what everyone thought and what I could say if someone asked me what had happened... "knife fight"... "fought some thugs in the park"... something good; something better than "I was washing a juice glass...".

Once I got to the Emergency Room I had to wait about 45 minutes. During that time they called me into a triage room and replaced my dish towel with a proper temporary bandage. When I was called in to be sewn up I was pleased to see the same doctor who had handled my broken elbows a little less than a year ago. We had a short laugh and then she got to work, pumping my finger full of lidocaine and probing around inside for loose pieces of glass and damaged tendons. I was all set to be stitched and so she began. I've posted the "disgusting video" below for you all to enjoy. I wound up with 6 stitches which I'll take out in about five days.

Iphone panorama app

Above: 190th Street Station on the A line panorama

Yesterday I downloaded the Pano App for the Iphone. It's not perfect but does a decent job and is fun and easy to use. If you take your time you can create some fun panoramic images like the one above. The quality of the stitch relies heavily on your ability to accurately frame each shot in relation to the previous one taken. The app provides a transparent copy of the previous image on the display to help you align edges while taking your photos. Stay tuned for more Iphone pano's in the future. Good stuff.

168th Street Station

168th is one of my favorite stations here in NY. I often transfer between the 1 and A trains at this stop. The impressive tiled archway and two crossover bridges spanning the two tracks always makes me wonder what the station was like in its prime. I completely appreciate the visual appeal and design of this station deep down below the streets.

207th Street Station

Last stop on the A Train: my neighborhood - Inwood.

R62A

An R62A running on the 42nd Street Shuttle waits for passengers to board.

I really like the shape of this generation of cars. Bombardier built 825 of them from 1984 to 1987. (Kawasaki made the first 325 of the R62's) The city runs them on the 1 & 7 lines and the shuttle between Grand Central Station and Time Square. I snapped a shot of this one at Grand Central this past weekend. The MTA decal is the same as the ones we apply to the new R160's I help ship out of Kawasaki Rail Car in Yonkers every day.

I must admit, I have a not so secret desire to drive trains in the city for a living. Who knows; maybe one day I will.

Back to work

Tomorrow I'll be up at 5:30am and back to work. NYCT needs subway cars and it's my job to help supply them. Although I've really enjoyed being on vacation for the last two weeks, I do look forward to seeing the production line moving along and resolving field issues.

Our original plans to go to Chicago, never panned out due to snow storms and cancelled flights so we spent Xmas at home in NY. Manhattan's a beautiful place to spend the holidays. I was busy with the camera and took it just about everywhere I went and began a new project which I hope to publish to my site by the end of February.

Prospero ano,
Mike

7 Train

As I walked down the steps in Grand Central to take the 7 Train over to Times Square I noticed the large air ducts suspended from the ceiling over the platform. The units large scale retro design amidst the bustle of oblivious New Yorkers below them made me want to capture the scene.

Inwood

Getting off of the 1 Train last night at 207th st. An 8 second exposure taken with my G9. This is my neighborhood, Inwood. I love living here.

190th Street stop on the A line.