Muffins in Nyack

I fully enjoy dodging yellow cabs and jaywalking pedestrians as much as the next cyclist.  There's nothing like getting squeezed between a FreshDirect truck and an M15 bus on Second Avenue to clear your sinuses and wake you up in the morning.  Works even better than inhaling a jalapeno or drinking Red Bull (neither of which I've tried).  And there are very few things more exhilarating than racing a Chinese food delivery man who rides a bike with an electric motor.  (There's been an explosion of these types of bikes in NYC... kind of like rabbits in Australia.)  They are damned fast!

But after a week of testing my tailbone's ability to absorb the brunt of every single pothole (also known as the cyclists' "coefficient of restitution"), I'm usually ready to get out of the city and enjoy the quiet wilderness of... New Jersey.  Ah yes, the lush, verdant forests of the Garden State.  But I'm not alone here. 

Every Saturday or Sunday morning, there's a conga line of cyclists making their way across the George Washington Bridge and north on River Road and 9 West.  Like lemmings, we scurry up to either Piermont or Nyack where muffins and coffee await at Bunberry's or the Runcible Spoon.  Yes, I've heard rumors that you can get muffins and coffee in Manhattan... but where's the challenge in that?  Even cyclists from Texas know that this is the proper way to get sugary, fatty calories and your morning caffeine fix.

I miss the warmer rides when my face didn't feel like it was just vigorously scrubbed with a Brillo pad.

Finally, for those of you who are still looking for Christmas gifts for a cyclist, Wade over at the Cycling Tips blog has some really good suggestions for last minute gifts.  (Just to clarify, "Wade" refers to the name of the blogger.... not the verb "to wade".)  Though I might also have to gently tell you that if you haven't yet bought a Christmas gift by now (the morning of Christmas eve), it might be a good time panic just a little.  Just saying....

Hint: Gift certificates are a great last-minute panic solution.  Or chocolate.  Or alcohol.  (Icewine works well.)

Happy Holidays!