On Sunday I took a solo trip over to Park Slope and checked out the 5th Ave Street Fair and Brooklyn Bike Jumble. The fair was an overcrowded mess of unhealthy food and way too many people. The bike jumble on the other hand was incredible.
Back in the day (think previous life in Virginia) I used to go to a huge bike swap in Trexlertown PA every year. Called T-town, the event took place inside a velodrome (freakin’ cool) and was the biggest collection of bike enthusiasts I’ve ever seen. It was teeming with every bike part/bike related piece of merchandise imaginable and everything was negotiable. T-town still goes down but it’s been years since I’ve been a part of it. The Bike Jumble on Sunday was like a really teeny version of T-town minus the velodrome and the 8 hour schlep. There were crank arms, bottom brackets, drops and straight bars, Campi and Shimano. Milling about the fray were hipsters and pros and pretty much everything in between.
In other words, I was home. 
To top it all off at the stone house on 4th street (the actual site of the original clubhouse for the Brooklyn Dodgers!!) there was an exhibit dedicated to the Coney Island Velodrome. Torn down in 1950 it’s a piece of Brooklyn history we really shouldn’t forget.
I took some flicks of the old posters displayed in the exhibit and marveled at the stories of a time when cycling was king. We’re clearly having a resurgence now, but the raw elements of the cycling community, at least as I imagine them to have been in the 1930′s have in many ways been lost. It’s probably a good thing since that means more safety and the introduction of things like helmets and technology that makes us faster. It just doesn’t keep me from wondering though, and longing in romanticism a little for what it must have been like back in that day…
My century is in 4 days. The day after tomorrow I’m getting on the longest solo plane ride of my life.
I sit and I make lists in my head that would sound so odd to a non cyclist.
- Chamois Butter
- Goo
- arm warmers
- lip balm
And on and on…
I’ve been trying to relax and focus and enjoy every bit of this intense anticipation but I have to admit that I’m a little bit nervous. I feel like every person who has donated has something tangible invested in me. I take that very seriously and I want to say that on Sunday I’ll do my very best to make every one of you smile when I cross that hundred mile mark.
I’d be lying if I said that responsibility wasn’t just a little daunting. Bear with me though, I do have a plan.
I’ll listen to a little music (The Temper Trap at the moment), do a little yoga and remember to breathe. I’ll focus on the simple pieces and parts of cycling that make me love it so.
Living through milestones in life is such an intimate and beautiful thing.
