Please Stop the Rain, Please

I rolled out at 5:55am. I watched the forecast last night mention a four hour window of lighter rain early in the morning, and I intended to make use of the opportunity. The rain was light in the early morning, but make no mistake it was wall to wall rain today with temperatures ranging from 50 to 58 degrees — it was trying to say the least.

Early morning on a rainy Saturday is the perfect time to avoid crowds on the Empire State Trail on the west side bikeway. Which features the Intrepid Museum on the USS Intrepid …

…large-scale public art …

… a close up bike ride by the George Washington Bridge …

… featuring some makeshift cairns nearby on the Hudson River.

The trail turns away from the river bike path just above Washington Heights …

… before cutting in towards the Upper Bronx where multiple trails converge.

A turn north into Van Cortland Park through some beautifully maintained trails…

… until my first flat tire. Oy! Changing a flat is never fun — I’ve changed flats a eight to ten times, but never in the rain — and never so difficult a tire. This gravel tire—the “Tracer” is a brutal change. Despite changing the tube successfully, and massaging the tire numerous times to soften it up — these deep well, hooked rims, and tire combination are tedious and extremely difficult to put back on the first time (this is a two month old bike).

I kid you not, I spent nearly 2 hours trying to get the tire back on the rim — I broke two tire levers, and 5 good samaritans that stopped broke two more between them. I was physically spent, had bloody thumbs, raw fingertips and my forearms were toast. The last man that stopped was fresh-armed and a behemoth. He got the tire back on the rim, but so many of us had levered the tire to death, that we punctured the new tube inside — a sort of pinch flat — the tire would not hold air.

And while I had two more spares, I couldn’t envision spending another hour with another tube and tire change, I was spent, and it was now starting to rain harder. Luckily there was some canopy cover.

So with the tire replaced but flat, two hours later, I chose to walk to the nearest accessible pickup point to sort this out at a bike shop. I walked back half a mile to the Yonkers Gateway Motel and found the nearest dedicated bike shop and called for an Uber XL pick up.

I called and verified the bike shop was open on a holiday weekend and used the Google address on the web with the Uber driver, Juan. When we got to the address we found the store location had moved, not knowing I didn’t know, no one at the store told me on the phone. 

Juan graciously ended the ride, and drove me to the new location in Pelham, NY, just a few miles down the road.

Danny’s Cycles has multiple locations, this one in Pelham is manned by good, professional, mechanics and excellent people.

And they are fully stocked with a good selection of bikes and gear — and new Park Tool tire levers to replace the ones I broke (that were not the superior Park Tool brand).

Below with Hector, Jose, and Leyden at Danny’s Cycles after a successful change and a tutorial on dealing with very difficult tire/rim combinations. Jose (middle) with 17 years of tire changing experience admitted that the Tracer is a bear of a tire to change — patience, extra massaging of the tire, and brute strength are key. I’ve only changed about 10 tubes (flats) and hope to never have to replace another in my Tracer tires again … wishful thinking.

Lunch at Rockwell’s next door was crucial as I hadn’t had anything to eat since 5:30am and it was well past noon.

Both the overwhelming number of televisions and the hunger are responsible for my “deer in the headlights” look, but by this time the tire incident was four hours old and I had to figure out a new route to my destination in Stamford, CT. I still had 22 miles to go. The bacon cheeseburger at Rockwells was excellent though. It powered me through the rest of the afternoon.

But the rain didn’t abate, by 1:30, near Rye Beach, just beyond the trees, it became torrential. Here I ducked under a tree during a short break.

Still raining and now back on the East Coast Greenway (the ECG) in Port Chester, NY.

Ducking under some cover for a few moments out of the rain … what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Oy! Port Chester, NY.

The only, and first, indication that I was in Connecticut came from this CT Transit bus stop sign. Welcome to Connecticut! You should have brought your canoe. Near Greenwich, CT.

It was a day made for wading birds — the cormorants were happy! Greenwich, CT.

Cormorants on the edge of rain soaked bliss…

… thank you! Thankfully the day is over. I must be thinking of a hot shower and dry clothes below — just happy to stop and get out of the incessant rain.

Day 23:
Start: New York City, NY
Finish: Stamford, CT
Miles: 39.20

Unfortunately, this rain system will blanket the area through Monday afternoon — 2 more days of this! One day at a time. One pruned, raw finger at a time, one soaking at a time. Sunshine ahead later in the week — AND a few days at home in Boston. Yay!

What I’m Reading:

We slide like fish,
the road dissolving.
And in the fields
the farmlights chant:
You have no land—
You have no land.

— Milton Kessler / “Route 40—Ohio, U.S.A.”

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uneven endless flickers

Memorable Stuff I Read This Week

America is sick and people do not know their own minds.

— Excerpt from Mariah Garnett’s film Songbook / Whitney Biennial, 2026

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The strongest El Niño weather patterns in recent decades is forecasted later this year, which could bring floods, droughts and high temperatures. But it’s still uncertain whether winds and other weather factors will either ratchet up ocean heat or temper it — and therefore weaken the possibility of a strong El Niño. Forecasters should know more in the coming weeks, once they get past the notorious ‘spring predictability barrier’.

— Flora Graham / “Are we headed for a ‘super’ El Niño?” / Nature Brief

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It is absurd that people who look and pray like me and my cousins and uncles, with hearts that could fit in my chest, will die today from bombs forged and dropped by my tax dollars.

Kaveh Akbar / Dayton Literary Peace Prize speech

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Night was best, for, as everyone knows but does not tell, the sobbing of the earth is most audible at night. You can hear it clearly then, but the sobbing still harbors a little bit of hope, a little bit of promise that the day does not afford.

— Joy Williams / “Chaunt” / The Pelican Child

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Even now, when the smell of unleaded
gets trapped in my throat,
I can still hear it—
the cheap buzz of the Chevron lights,
breaking open the dark
in uneven, endless flickers.

— Molly Thapviwat / “Cherry Coke and Chevron Lights”

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An extra-long snooze after a short night’s sleep appears to offset some of the negative health effects associated with sleep deprivation. Researchers found that people who caught up on sleep the night after a brief slumber — termed ‘sleep rebound’ — were less likely to die in the eight years following the study period than were people who didn’t. They also found that most sleep rebounders didn’t wait until the weekend to sleep in. Instead, they tried to compensate for lost sleep as soon as possible.

— Jacob Smith / “Catching up on Zs could keep you healthy” / Nature Brief

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In my pursuit of tender lines, 
I’ve become a butcher, 
committing crimes against myself 
for the sake of  beauty.

— Yahya Ashour / “Keep My Poems”

What I’m Listening To:

I flew down to the brewery
All wool dead on my waist
Please stop my teacher
La profesora
I’m saving myself by eating rocks and plants
I pray for the incel

— Aldous Harding / “Worms”