I don’t remember when or where, but at some point I mentioned that my elder son is a Plane Fred, and I want to thank the person who suggested Landing Lights Park and Planeview Park for planespotting:
We swung by there while out at the Kissena Velodrome this weekend and it did not disappoint:
…though it did deafen.
That’s LaGuardia Airport, by the way. Prior to this I’ve generally taken him to Jamaica Bay, since not only is it close to JFK, but there’s also some natural beauty for the non-Plane Freds in the family to enjoy. Plus, I used to live around there, so I can take little nostalgia trips and relive my boyhood:
How to catch fish:
- Find bottle or jar
- Tie string around opening of bottle or jar
- Put bread in bottle or jar
- Submerge bottle or jar
- Wait until jar is full of hungry fish
- Reel in jar
I’m not a Fish Fred so I don’t know what these are, but we used to call them “killies.” Whether that’s an actual type of fish or a hyper-localism I have no idea. I’d imagine a Fish Fred could use these as bait to catch bigger fish, but my ambitions were never that big…which pretty much explains the subsequent course of my life, come to think of it:
And yes, I was relieved to learn that these fish do eat gluten-free bread.
Speaking of nature, I enjoyed some this past weekend, and it occurs to me that this bike is now nearly two (2) years old:
Someone who’s never ridden a Platypus might look at the step-thru frame and the basket and assume it’s just an upright old lady bike. (I mean no offense to older women, by the way; I’m just saying the kind of people who make assumptions about Platypodes also no doubt dismiss people as “old ladies.”) In fact, it’s a sprightly bike that encourages spirited riding, both on pavement and on the “G-stuff:”
The 29er tires I have on there are overkill for the road, but they’re lots of fun off of it:
And in conjunction with the long wheelbase, not only is the bike extremely smooth, but it’s also pretty much impossible to spin out while climbing on loose terrain:
Yet despite the long wheelbase it also changes direction readily, like when you need to avoid an explosion of seasonal color:
And of course the basket means I can easily integrate an errand or two into my ride, which allows me to pretend I’m actually getting stuff done when I’m riding it:
Basically, the secret is to volunteer to go pick something up, and then to vanish for three hours.
At the same time, while the Platypus is not even remotely plodding our ponderous (I mean it ain’t light, but unless you’re carrying it up the stairs you don’t notice), the fact that it’s an extremely comfortable bike with a step-thru frame that’s very easy to accessorize makes it an obvious choice for around-town riding. For this reason, in addition to being my go-to bike for mixed-terrain rides that also involve carrying stuff and or fetching stuff, it’s the bike I use for any and all family rides and date rides:
Including beach runs, obviously:
In other words, the Platypus accounts for virtually all of my non-Strava mileage (as well as a fair amount of my Strava mileage).
Of course in a perfect world I’d be doing almost all my mileage on the Platypus and Strava-ing none of it. Alas, I’m not there yet–but I am working on it. With a little luck, I’ll get there eventually.