2024 Tour De Bronx – 30th Anniversary edition
October 9th, 2024 by Mr. C
This Planet Chocko online journal is seemingly turning into a bike blog of sorts! It’s just because it seems to be the only major event I’ve been attending lately. Hopefully, we’ll come back ‘atcha with some more diverse content like we’re really known for. We have to wake up the other kaiju half of this zine blog! Let’s go Chocko!!!
In the meantime, last Sunday I joined in on the free annual NYC bike ride that tours the streets of the Bronx. It was the 30th anniversary of the Tour De Bronx and it was a gorgeous day for bicycling! As usual, riders can choose between the 10 mile, 25 mile, or 40 mile ride. I clocked in with my usual suspect of 25 and the rest was history! the 25 mile route this year seemed to be just a little bit different in a good way from what I remember from years past. Areas that we rode through included the South Bronx, Crotona Park East perimeter, Starlight Park, Bronx River Park & the Greenway, Castle Hill, Pelham Bay, Morris Park, & the finale at the NY Botanical Garden. The major rest stops remained the same at the Castle Hill YMCA and at Pelham Bay Park. Now that I think of it, the Crotona Park stop was 86’d out. As far as the ride, I noticed more green way path usage along the route which was great. I’m telling you folks, don’t sleep on the Bronx! It really is a beautiful borough. The Bx is insanely underrated and underappreciated. Rolling around the city streets, the quieter residential neighborhoods, the waterfront, & the park space gives me a different perspective of the Bronx. I would guesstimate that the rider count was about 3-4 thousand. Not as much as in years past from the looks of it. I’m not sure if it was capped off by the City to a max rider count or what. I pretty much still agree that it’s a family friendly ride but let it be known that the vehicular traffic in the streets remain open like a normal day unlike a ride like the 5 Boro Bike Tour in which car traffic is blocked off. Note that the 5 Boro bike tour is a paid event and the Tour de Bronx is free. I also noticed that there were less volunteers and NYPD on the streets to direct traffic unlike in years past of the Tour De Bronx. All in All, the ride was amazing! What wasn’t amazing was when I got back home, the NY Jets lost another game and the very next day the coach got fired! Better Sundays to come I hope! See ya all later! I included a 10 min YouTube video below that I compiled to give you a glimpse of the ride!
Tags: 2024 tour de bronx, bicycling, nyc, nyc bicycling, tour de bronx
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Fort Lee Historic Park – 4th of July – shots fired at NYC!
July 4th, 2024 by Mr. C
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Today we celebrated our country’s Independence Day with musket demonstrations and a cannon firing in Fort Lee, NJ – a significant location of America’s past and where George Washington’s troops once were stationed and eventually had to retreat. Today’s events weren’t as stacked as the annual reenactment of the retreat of George Washington’s troops as the British army closed in on Fort Washington in NY & Fort Lee in NJ. The reenactment is usually held on the weekend before Thanksgiving. But still, the musket demo and the cannon firing was a great way to celebrate America’s birthday!
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2024 NYC 5 Boro Bike Tour
May 10th, 2024 by Mr. C
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It’s been a hot decade+ since I last rode the NYC 5 Boro bike tour but that changed last Sunday! The ride was exactly how I remembered it, same route, most of the same rest areas plus a few new ones and a few challenging spots in the ride! The scattered start times of the assigned 6 waves seemed to have eliminated a lot of the bottleneck in the tour especially in the beginning leading up to Central Park.
The ride was pretty smooth despite it being a little chilly, windy, and rainy especially during the 2nd half of our ride. It started raining pretty steady just before we hit the Queensboro bridge which was about 15 miles into the tour and lasted to the end all the way to the Staten Island Ferry. If you rode in waves 3-6, there was no way to avoid the rains. If you rode the first two waves, you may have stayed dry if you were a quick rider.
It’s always surreal to be riding on the slab highways in the city where only cars roam. It was nice riding with a large group on the FDR drive, Queensboro bridge, BQE, & Verrazanno Bridge. It was totally a bicyclist takeover! The areas that had some steady incline included the 59th street Bridge, several stretches on the BQE leading up to the Verrazanno, and the Verrazanno bridge itself! Boy it felt good blasting down the bridge at the end to the finish line!
A nice touch of this 5 Boro tour was the addition of handing out a commemorative medal at the finish line! Not sure when the Tour started giving out souvenir medallions at the end to the riders but they never had that prior to 2010. A little web searching brings up finishing medals first appearing in 2016. In total, the mileage of the tour was a little over 40 miles with the ride back to the Staten Island Ferry. There was a 30-45 minute wait to catch the ferry back to Manhattan which wasn’t bad compared to past years IMO.
One main reason why I stopped riding the 5 Boro Tour was because of the cost. Over the years, the registration fees started to creep close to triple digits and now in 2024 it’s basically $150. I won’t ride the NYC 5 boro bike tour consistently anymore but I do think it’s a great experience and a must do at least once. It’s just a great way to see NYC. That being said I’ll definitely make an appearance again on this ride especially when introducing & accompanying friends & family on the ride! This year I rode with my nephew on his first time on the tour and he loved the experience so much so he will get his daughter on the 5 Boro bike tour next year! I hope you enjoy some of the photos and video that I captured on the ride! Salute, I’m out!
Tags: 5 boro bike tour, bike ny, bikeny, biking nyc, new york city, nyc
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2023 PorchFest in Rutherford
November 5th, 2023 by Mr. C
It was a fun day of free outdoor live music in Rutherford, NJ at Porch Fest! It would be a day of 13 bands playing at 7 homes using the porch as their stage! PorchFest was originally started in Ithaca, NY in 2007 and now this gathering of the arts & community has spread across the US in towns of all sizes! Thanks to the Rutherford Arts Committee as well as to the homeowners who generously lent their porches & lawns to the wonderful local musicians who shared their time to showcase their music!
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Getting spooky in Hackensack!
October 30th, 2023 by Mr. C
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2023 Tour De Bronx
October 27th, 2023 by Mr. C
The artwork looks like a Toofly production but I’m not 100% positive. Anyone knows, let us know!
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First thing that came to mind while riding on the Grand Concourse while pedaling towards Yankee Stadium was the Tony! Toni! Toné! Song – “It feels Good”….it certainly felt good last Sunday to be riding in the 29th annual Tour de Bronx bike ride again this year! It’s been quite a few years since I rode this open street tour of The Bronx. I would guesstimate about 4000 riders came out that morning. The bike ride would start on 161st street & the Grand Concourse and end at the Bronx Botanical Garden. I parked my car at Fordham University which is directly across the street from the Botanical Garden. I then biked to the start line which was about 4 miles away close to Yankee Stadium. The ride started at about 11:15 am. The 40 mile folks started a little earlier. Overall, it was a fun ride and of course the tour is always free! This is one big reason why I continue to ride the Tour de Bronx! Besides riding in a very underrated and under appreciated borough of NYC, it’s just a hop, skip, & bridge away from NJ! I’m already looking forward to the 30th anniversary of the Tour de Bronx in 2024!
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Tags: bike, nyc, tour de bronx
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disc golf at FDR State Park in Westchester County, NY
August 4th, 2022 by Mr. C
We enjoyed the layout of the 18 hole disc golf course at FDR State Park in Westchester County, NY . The majority of the holes were in wooded areas but a few did open up the baskets to the skies! There were a handful of tee offs that sketched us out a bit in that if you were off a little to the right or the left, that disc would get lost in the outgrown bush. We did end up losing a disc in the marshes.
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Tappanzee Bridge ~> Tarrytown ~> Sleepy Hollow
August 2nd, 2022 by Mr. C
We rode over the Tappanzee Bridge pathway once again and explored the waterfront area in Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. After riding over the bridge and into the local streets of Tarrytown, I do have to say riding on Broadway was pretty sketchy. There’s a lot of cars on a pretty high speed road and not enough real estate for bike riders. I just stayed on the sidewalk and cruised down broadway and made a left to dive through to the waterfront. I’ll have to come up with a better way or routine next time. The views of the Tappanzee were amazing once by the waterfront and the lighthouse at Sleepy Hollow was uber cool especially with the little pedestrian bridge to the lighthouse. Of course the lighthouse was closed and it looked like some renovations are being done so maybe in the near future there will be access to this historic lighthouse! We ended the day with a nice Greek hefty lunch at Lefteris Gyro!
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frisbee golf in Warwick, NY
July 31st, 2022 by Mr. C
We made a little frisbee golf excursion the other day to check out the 18 hole course at Warwick Town park. I believe this park & disc golf course has been around for at least 15 years maybe even longer. Any regulars at Warwick please chime in!
This course goes through woods and back onto a beautiful open field. This disc park is maintained really well and the lawn is manicured very meticulously. There are two disc tee off pads for each hole, one silver (beginner) and one blue (advanced) to their matching two baskets options, one silver (shorter distance for beginner) and one blue basket (longer for advanced). There was one tee off pad that we had a hard time finding, I think it was #5 which was around the corner from the woods and into the open field. It was mainly a 3 par course per hole for the silver tee to silver basket. We didn’t really keep score but we estimate we were about +20 each at the end of the 18th. We’ll have to work on that for the next time! All in all, great time and a great well kept park!
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Tags: disc golf, frisbee golf, sports, warwick park
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Run, Walk, Bike, Explore the Tappanzee Bridge path
July 24th, 2022 by Mr. C
Photo source: https://mariomcuomobridge.ny.gov/
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A few weeks ago we cycled over the Tappanzee Bridge multi use path for the first time and it was amazing! This pedestrian path opened in 2020. I would never have dreamed that we could do this as the old Tappanzee Bridge, there were no walk or bike paths. The original Tappanzee bridge
opened in December 15, 1955 and served it’s duty for providing access for commuters and truckers alike until a much needed new bridge was in the plans to deal with costly repairs and maintenance.
In 2018, both spans of the new Tappanzee Bridge opened to the public! On June 15, 2020 the 3.6 mile multi use path was opened! The Nyack side walkway is called the Rockland Landing located at 1200 Rt 9W South Nyack. The Westchester Landing path is located at 333 South Broadway, Tarrytown.
It was surreal to find yourself pedaling over the Hudson river in this vast open location. You look over one side and the beautiful Hudson River exposes itself then you look over in the other direction and a massive multi-lane concrete highway engulfs you. You can seriously hear and feel the vibration of the cars, motorcycles, & trucks zooming right by you.
photo source: https://mariomcuomobridge.ny.gov/
photo source: https://mariomcuomobridge.ny.gov/
Tags: biking, mario cuomo bridge, new york state, nyack, tappanzee bridge, tarrytown, walking
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biking at the Jersey shore from Atlantic Highlands to Sandy Hook
July 22nd, 2022 by Mr. C
Hello world! We hope our readers are doing well – all 3 of you! Sorry for our severe absence from this blog but honestly we or at least I didn’t have
much interesting going on plus I was feeling kinda blue bayou. We promise to try to pick things up again. This bike ride at the Jersey shore helped inject me with some of those much needed endorphins! Let’s see if we get lucky today and run into the Boss at Sandy Hook or Kevin Smith and Jay Mewes (Jay & Silent Bob) at Leonardo, NJ!
It was great being back in Monmouth County, NJ – an area where I spent about 12 years working. We used to have an annual beach day outing for our company which was held at Sandy Hook usually towards the end of September. New Jersey, for all you that do not know because our state is so different – most beaches in NJ charge an admission fee per person to get on the beach or in this case, Sandy Hook which is a national historic park and former military base charges a parking fee which to my amazement is $20 now! Another point to note that these entrance fees are usually in effect between Memorial Day to Labor day which is basically all summer long. Anytime outside of these dates, there are no entrance fees! I’m sure that is why my former company had their outing after labor day plus it’s usually much cooler in temperature in their defense!
Anyway, we took our bikes back to the former stomping grounds and rode from Atlantic Highlands to Sandy Hook beach! And we avoided the $20 entrance fee because we were on bicycle! Of course we rode on a day that would start this little heat wave in NJ/NY but it was worth it! The total distance we rode was about 20 miles round trip and boy I’m glad we were
somewhat prepared with the liquids because it was Buster pointdexter feeling hot,hot,hot! We stopped at Slater’s Deli on Rt 36 in Leonardo for their awesome subs and pork roll breakfast sandwiches!
Sandy Hook is an amazing destination of natural riches that has an extensive ocean and bay beaches for swimming, surfing, paddle boarding, fishing, picnicking, scuba diving, wind surfing, & bicycling. Of course we’re not forgetting about you, the professional sun bathers out there! For the nature explorers, the park has hiking trails, salt marshes, bike paths, and a forest with much wildlife. We saw a few deer roaming around even in this hot weather! God bless you bambi! The National Park Service took over Sandy Hook in 1975 after the U.S. Army decommissioned Fort Hancock which served as an active military base from 1874-1975.
It’s about a 1.5 – 2 hr drive to Sandy Hook from NYC but there is the Seastreak Ferry that departs from 35th st & East river or Pier 11 Wall Street that goes to Atlantic Highlands, Highlands, & Sandy Hook. From Atlantic Highlands or Highlands, it’s about a 10 min car ride to Sandy Hook or you can bike there in 25 minutes or so.
The Seastreak Ferry info can be found here .
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Slater’s Deli
866 NJ-36, Leonardo, NJ 07737
Slater’s Deli
866 NJ-36, Leonardo, NJ 07737
Quick Stop
58 Leonard Ave, Leonardo, NJ 07737
Tags: atlantic highlands, highlands, jersey shore, new jersey, sandy hook, sandy hook beach
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Kenny Scharf : When Worlds Collide (2020)
December 24th, 2021 by Mr. C
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This movie was an inspiring look into the life & art world of Kenny Scharf! We’ve always enjoyed the murals painted by him when we randomly stumbled across them while combing the streets of the dirty NYC. His art seemed to bring all his painted subjects to life even the inanimate ones! I had no idea Kenny’s background stretched back to days spent with Keith Haring, Jean Michel Basquiat, & Andy Warhol. All four of these folks along with all the graffiti writers of the time transformed the street art & culture of lower manhattan unto a world of its own! The documentary really sets apart his friendship with Haring and how influential he was in his life no matter how polar opposites they seemed to be. I admired how competitive they were with each other in the art sense and the School of Visual arts in Manhattan seemed to be the breeding ground.
I loved how the center of Scharf’s life revolved around his family and his connection to his own self no matter how dark things got like in 1980s NYC or when he lost Haring to AIDS in 1990. You can tell he was a very well rounded & grounded individual.
I also enjoyed the fact that Kenny Scharf was able to tell his own story along with his wife & kids! As a matter of fact the director of this documentary was Malia Scharf, Kenny’s daughter!
The doc followed Kenny around to his studio in L.A. during current times as well as providing amazing archival video, still, & sound footage from the 1980s with Haring, Basquiat ,and the likes! The film goes on to extrapolate Scharf’s thirst for abstract expressionism & nuclear annhilation in the art realm. His canvas was literally everything including everyday inanimate objects which he brought to life! He was in love with nature and incorporated it in his paintings. He was also a fan of cartoons and the Jetsons which he frequently incorporated into his pieces! Cartoony subjects made art more accessible & fun according to Scharf. Of course along with the light hearted & fun times in his life, there were plenty of dark shadows that inhabited his mind as well from his experience in NYC in the 1980s & early 1990s in specific to the club scene in NY at the time. AIDS also annihilated 1/3 of his creative friends around him. His witnessing of his dear friend Keith Haring taking his very last breath while he held his hand was a very emotional part of the film as Scharf retold the story in the documentary. All these experiences good & bad manifested into his work.
Kenny described his art very well in the film. He has the syndrome of seeing faces in everything! Everything is a person and everything has a personality. Even objects not living or breathing has a personality & a face to them! He also gives a lot of credit to the graffiti artists for making art accessible to everyone. Art should be for everybody not just in the art gallery. The street was the main way to communicate.
As if his skill & being wasn’t enough, Scharf also had many layers to his art. He made animation & video performance art. Merger & fusion of fine art culture & pop culture is what Kenny truly is! He loves to advertise free thinking & directed it right at the people!
As for the current Kenny Scharf, he seems happy to still create his art in his studio in L.A. alongside his wife & kids! Now he is obsessed with garbage, plastic garbage in specific – taking the discarded, unwanted & turning it into something! The film describes Kenny very well. He is a showman, a performance artist, an emcee of the art realm. It’s not about being a star or being famous. It’s just about being an artist.
When worlds collide was Scharf’s piece from 1985. In the documentary, he visited his painting which he hasn’t seen since those times.
When Worlds Collide piece by Kenny Scharf from 1985 (oil and paint on canvas)
“Everything is existing at the same time, tranquility & chaos can coexist.” – Kenny Scharf
Tags: documentary, graffiti, kenny scharf, street art, when worlds collide
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