Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Getting Engaged on a Bicycle

May 25th, 2011

"Can I help you?"

He works in retail. I work in retail. I knew what I was there for. Easy enough. All I had to do was tell him what I wanted.

"I was just stopping by," I said, with my chest thumping. I smiled at the clerk and walked out the door. With my heart still racing, I walked down Chapel Street and headed towards York, where I had parked my car. Once I got to the car, I sat in the driver's seat and took a few deep breaths.

All right, I thought to myself. I am going to do this.

I walked back to Celtica. The clerk, an elderly man in his 70s, smiled at me when he saw me return.

"I'm actually here for a wedding ring," I said.

"Ah," his eyes lit up.

Keeping all this a secret from Nicole was challenging. I had told her that I was driving down to New Haven to visit my grandmother--which was true. I didn't share any other details about the trip. That night, I penned a proposal to my dearest. The following morning, I was going to have to put this plan in action, as coyly and discreetly as possible.

The following morning, Nicole asked me if I had planned to do anything special today. After all, it was our five year anniversary. I had to give the appearance that I wasn't planning to do anything to out of the ordinary as to arouse suspicion.

"Well, it is our day off."

"And?"

"I was thinking we could go hiking up a tall mountain--or go for a bike ride."

We ended up taking our bikes to the Farmington Canal Trail--the secluded path from Simsbury to Massachusetts where Nicole and I had started training for our epic journey last year. I knew just the spot where I would We started pedaling. After about mile 20, we crossed the bridge over Salmon Brook.

"Let's turn here," I said.

Nicole wasn't too pleased, because she knew we were traveling downhill to the riverbed. Arg, she thought to herself as we coasted towards the river's edge. One more hill to climb.

Once we reached the river's soothing waters, I handed Nicole a note to read. It read as follows:

"My dearest Nicole,

I am writing to let you know that the things I enjoy doing mean nothing without you.
Even the simple act of waking up in the morning has special meaning when I wake up next to you.

I have learned what it means to be in love after spending five wonderful years together. I can feel the aura of your love like a magnet, and I love the feeling of being loved by you.

You are the one constant in my life. Your affection is unlimited and unceasing. I never understood true love until we lived together. All my hobbies have an augmented feeling when we do them together. It is clear that our love will never temper, but only grow stronger with the passage of time.

When we play tennis, make stir fry, or watch movies together, it is exciting because we are in love. When we enjoy and endure epic bicycle travels together, we are in love. And when I freak out and yell at traffic as much as I try to restrain myself--I'm glad you can forgive my impatience because we are in love.

It is clear that not a soul can love understand me the way that you do. Your gifts as an artist and a chef are only exceeded by your empathy, compassion and understanding. I love to be in love with you.

Please accept my proposition for extra special love. My dear Nicole, is it so clear to me that we are right for one another. Please say Yes when I ask you to marry me, so that we can finally display to the whole world what our relationship means. Please wear this ring to symbolize our ever fixed mark, a love which has no limit.

Please say yes because our love is real, yes because I love you, and you love me.

Please say yes,

Your Love,

~Kevin.

Nicole read carefully, looking at me to gauge my reaction to her reaction. When she had finished reading, our eyes locked. She held the letter in her hand.

"Is this for real," she asked.

I nodded.

She said Yes!!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Central Park on bikes again!!

Turn back the clock. It's springtime. Last year. The blizzard of blizzards. Followed by blizzard after blizzard after blizzard. Back when I was dreaming about a full-suspension 29-inch wheel mountain bike just so that I could commute to and from work. Back when melting snow revealed cars that had been parallel parked and buried under snowbanks months before.

Ah, springtime!

And what better way to celebrate than a return trip to lovely Central Park. Nicole and I had visited mid-town Manhattan to see a special exhibit on Andy Warhol's "screen tests." The verdict: fascinating!
It was as if Dali himself made an appearance!

Afterwords, we walked over to Columbus Circle, where we ordered the strangest, most exotic, and perhaps, tastiest pizza ever: mango rhubarb! The rhubarb were fresh and in season, and the mango, rhubarb and blue cheese were just sitting on the crust, displaying their odd comoradie, waiting to be consumed.

Not only was the taste alone worthy of an investment, but for $15, we had probably scored the cheapest lunch for two in Central Park West!

We headed outside again, and then was shining. Nicole spotted about two dozen steel-gray Trek 7300s that were part of a bike rental fleet.

"Ah, Connecitcut!" He said, with a conniving green. "I give you the special rate!" He displayed a card with prices per hour for rental, with each additional hour costing substantially more than the hour that preceeded it. "It takes about an and half to ride the whole park," he said, with a smile that wouldn't dim. "I'll give you a special rate for the second hour" he said as he turned towards Nicole. "Since you're from Connecticut."

I was a bit turned off by the huckter-ness of this man's  nature. But he seemed to have a good fleet of bikes, and it was a beautiful day. And I could tell Nicole was very excited to get on a bike again.

So we decided yes, we'll take it. "Come with me he said. "I'll get the bikes for you." With that, he started walking us 180 degrees in the opposite direction of the bike rental stand. Huh? "Where are you taking us?" I asked.

"Towards the bikes he said."

Well they appear to be over there," I said, pointing to the bike fleet under the giant sign that said, "rental."

His smile disappeared, and he became firm. "They are more expensive." He said, trying to reassure us that we had made the right decision. "We have the same bikes."

Nicole and I just sort of looked each. Okay, whatever. We continued to follow from the southwest corner of the park to the sidewalk on 59th street. The man picked up a walkie-talkie. "Yeah, two bikes" he said. "That's right, two of them."

The operation was sketchier by the minute. Sure enough, one of his comprades brought out a Wal-Mart bike. I had had enough!

"All right," I said to the mysterious stranger. "We're not riding those bikes."
Wheeee! Coasting down the park's west side.

"But they are more expensive!" He replied. Clearly, he had gone through this routine before.

"I don't care," I said. "I'll pay more so I can ride a bike I actually like!"

He followed us briefly, trying to win us over one last time. "I'll do half off for the whole ride!"

"Forget it," I said, as we kept on walking. Boy I do feel sorry for anyone who took his "special" rate for 25 percent off.

We walked over to the bike fleet and talked to someone behind the counter. Oddly enough, they had a flat hourly rate. And it was cheaper that what the sketchy dirt-bags who walking around with rental pamphlets peddling all the passers by.

We briefly signed up to ride a tandem. After a few minutes of riding, we quickly realized it wasn't for us. Whoever was sitting in the rear seat had a lovely view of the front riders shoulders. That, and pretty much every nut and bolt needed to be tightened on that damn thing. We politely returned said tandem for the 7300s that had first caught our eye and started riding again.

As we rode up "museum mile" across from Fifth Avenue, we couldn't help but soak in the amazement that we had been here on a gray October day just a few months before. This team we saw color everywhere--the blue sky, the budding flowers, and the leafy greens and the beautiful edifices that line the eastern and western edges of glorious Central Park. What a day!

We also felt some of the same feelings as on our ride before. The power of Central Park's combination of landscaped lawns and unspoiled beauty does not diminish with each visit. The jagged rocks of Manhattan Schist that jut out of the ground, the running brooks, the majestic trees--all of them inspiring in their own way. And there is no better way to experience what is perhaps Manhattan's greatest asset than on a bicycle.
The unmatched subtle majesty of Central Park .

After we reached the park's northern border at 110th street, we followed the park's winding road south towards home base. Here we encountered something unusual in most of Manhattan: hills. Despite our efforts to stay in shape with the occasional ride on a stationary trainer, we noticed our legs were a bit out of tune after a few months of relative inactivity. It made us want to start riding bikes again--preferably our own. Nicole commented on how our bikes were lighter and faster than the 7300s we had rented. I knew what she was thinking, but was bit daunted as to the logistics of bringing our bikes down for another Manhattan day trip.

When we returned our bikes, though, Nicole was still grinning with the prospect of a future bike ride through Central Park. In the meantime, however, I figured our trip wouldn't be complete without a ride on the Lexington Avenue Express to the Brooklyn Promenade. With that, we walked a few blocks east on 59th street and took the subway to downtown Brooklyn. We perused the neighborhood's historic Federal Townhouses and were treated to sunset views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. Beautiful. But, still our day was not done.

At dusk we continued our walking tour of the neighborhood and spotted a sushi restaurant. We were especially enticed with the two drinks for the price of one with dinner purchase. Unlike the bike rental hucksters, this was a real bargain. We enjoyed a lovely meal of fresh sushi for two, along with a few glasses of plum wine. The total bill--tax and tip included--came to less than $35. I couldn't help but marvel that a price for a similar meal would be difficult, if not impossible, to come by in Connecticut.

But Connecticut was the next stop our list--home. After all, if there was one thing we had learned from our trip, home is where the bikes are. And our cats needed us.

Our next bike ride, however, proved to be more than just fun, but perhaps the most important bike ride of our lives . . .

Friday, March 9, 2012

What have Nicole and Kevin been up to lately?

A great many, things, my friend. A great many things.

The last year has been very exciting, eventful, turbulent, stressful and gratifying all at once. What a year it has been!

But we have been up to?

Where is Nicole riding her bike now? Do tell!
We'd like share. We may not have known so at the time, but when Nicole and I rode our bikes away from the wild horses of Corova Beech, our journey together was by no means at an end. Merely, one exciting chapter had come to a close, and many new sagas were in the making that day.

We shall continue riding our bikes. Dreams of future epic bike tours loom on the horizon, while other exciting and important goals are close at hand.

And we'd like to let you know what we've been up to in the last 12 months that got us here . . .

Stay tuned!!