BDC in The City.

A while back I agreed to take some time away from my Boulder life and go to The Big Apple to train a bit with my buddy Cliff Scherb (a.k.a Cliff Bar, but I guess now that I have the Power Bar Sponsorship I should just go back to calling him Cliff). Cliff started an online coaching company called Tri Star Athletes ( www.tristarathlete.com ) and we thought it would be fun to do an inner city camp for all the die hards he coaches here in Manhattan.

I was very excited to go on this trip especially because I wasn't going to bring my bike. Cliff has and extra Scott road bike that he was going to let me use. The last time I came into the city with my bike was a complete nightmare! Not having to deal with all that and save on the added costs got my trip off to a very enjoyable start.

When I got on the plane I could tell right away that it was a NY based crew. Everything is very "to the point", efficient and has just a hint of friendliness so that they don't come off rude. It was very impressive the way they can say "All you's people needs ta sit down now!" and not be rude. True skill.

Anyway, somehow I got stuck sitting in front of this woman that had two over grown monkeys...I mean kids...that decided to scream and climb all over the seats for the entire flight. When the flight attendant came by with her cart there was no hint of friendliness but instead a rather large dose of an "un friendly" hint. "Lady your kids cant be climbing all overs the seats and screaming bloody murder while the captains got the seat belt sign on! Are you crazy or something?.....Pretzels?" Okay she didn't say all that but when she got to me I gave her the eye roll and wink letting her now that all of us passengers would back her up if she decided to go off on this women. She didn't and I just got my usual extra snack, a shoulder squeeze and wink back from her. *Sigh*

I of course forgot my headphones and with the new airline crunch they weren't giving any out for free. Jet Blue had the Wimbledon Final on so at least I could watch something that really didn't need the sound. The match between Federer and Nadal was so good it took my mind off the screaming, chair rocking and occasionally peanut flying over my seat. I really wanted Nadal to win. I love Roger and think he is an awesome Tennis player but I go for the underdog 99% of the time. When Nadal took it in the 5th set I found out how many people were watching the match. The entire plane made this huge gasp. You would have thought we were going down. The lady sitting in the aisle across from me was a real hoot as well. She was a blonde (dyed for sure) in her 40's (total cougar) that looked as if she may have been trying to make it in LA for a few years and finally realized Tinsel Town wasn't calling and decided to cart her ass back to NYC. She was watching as Nadal gave his speech and she had her head set on and I am assuming that her ears were a bit clogged because she kept going "AWWWWEEEEEEEE...." followed by a lip smack sound that was so freaking loud you could no doubt hear it from both ends of the plane. Literally every 5 seconds "AWWWEEEEEEEE.....*lip smack*" I couldn't control myself and started laughing. I was so embarrassed because she could tell I was laughing at her. Luckily the captian started the final descent although I would have liked to get up and go to the can so I could stop my laughing. "Awwwwweeeeee *lip Smack*"

I will admit that I felt a little displaced when I got into the airport. I have become so accustomed to traveling in smaller cities except for LAX where I really know where I am going. Here it is like a zoo. Actually it is a public zoo like Lincoln Park. What a dump! But I guess that is part of the lure to NYC.

Cliff had given me two choices to get to his place. I could either take a cab or hop on the train. I only had one bag so I decided to catch the subway. Honestly, taking a cab is like doping. It is expensive and totally cheating! Getting the train was no big deal but when I got off at 23rd st. I soon found out that I was in Queens rather than Manhattan. A cab was tempting but I just got back on the train and took one that was headed towards Manhattan. The great thing about NYC is that you have plenty of landmarks to go off. Cliff was right down the street form the Empire State Building so I just got off when I was in Manhattan and walked towards that.

When I made it to the apt I was quite impressed with the pad. The last time I stayed at a friends in NYC, the bed took up the whole place. cliffs was more like Jerry Seinfeld's place. I can do this for a week!

I settled in and got on line to see if I could find some Yoga classes in the area. Sure enough I found plenty and figured I could go all week for free. Then cliff and I walked downstairs to Whole Foods. It was just like being in Boulder but I was trapped in cement! Hopefully I won't die when we go on some rides. I'm sure there will be plenty to write about in the next few days.

Cheers,
bdc