posted by: susi
How did Jimmy Stewart find relief from hours of sitting in a fake leg cast in a wheelchair during the filming of the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window? Apparently, one way was to ferry his co-star Grace Kelly around the Paramount lot on a bright red Phillips bicycle.
A charming photo of these glamorous co-stars is just one of the delights that await readers of the new book Hollywood Rides a Bike by Steven Rea, a film critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer and a cycling enthusiast. (Rea and his wife Connie own 13 bikes, many of them vintage British models.) Rea stumbled upon a public appetite for pictures of movie stars on bikes when, on Thanksgiving weekend 2010, he launched a Tumblr blog and posted a few shots that he had collected. Read more…
These beautiful street portraits of everyday South African cyclists came across our desk recently and we are so impressed! Taken by Stan Engelbrecht and Nic Grobler over the course of two years, the best of over 500 bike portraits are now part of a three-book series. Engelbrecht and Grobler, both Cape Town residents, love bikes––their bike portraits were taken along their own bike tour that covered nearly 4,000 miles. Read more…
photo: velojoy
posted by susi
One of my favorite spots for a walk in New York City is the High Line, the park on an elevated rail bed that runs along Manhattan’s West Side from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street. Every time I’m up there, enjoying swaths of beautiful native plantings, inviting promenades and intriguing city and river views, I think with gratitude of Joshua David (above) and Robert Hammond, the visionary co-founders of Friends of the High Line.
In my mind, of course, seeing New York City from a different point of view, which is central to the High Line experience, invites parallels with riding a bicycle. So, it was fun to learn that David, in addition to — or rather in sync with — his commitment to preservation, is a city cyclist and an advocate for liveable streets as a member of the advisory council of Transportation Alternatives, the cycling and pedestrian advocacy organization. I photographed David with the Raleigh Grand Prix that he has owned since the late 1970s, in Chelsea near Section 2 of the High Line.
The story of how two neighborhood residents, with no prior experience in civic engagement, became enamored of an historic, 1.45-mile-long elevated rail structure and committed to save it from demolition for public use as a park, is one of the great examples of community activism and advocacy of recent times. That’s why it’s been a particular joy to read David’s and Hammond’s newly published book, High Line, The Inside Story of New York City’s Park in the Sky.
It was the industrial charm of High Line’s street-level architecture that led David, who, as a journalist, was researching an article about real estate development in Chelsea in 1999, to look up and ask:
“Wouldn’t it be cool to walk around up there, twenty-two city blocks, on this old elevated thing, on this relic of another time, in this hidden place, up in the air?”
From the outside looking in, the question is, “How’d they do it?” The story, which unfolds in an appealingly conversational format alternating between co-founders David and Hammond, is a compelling study in navigating a labyrinth of political hurdles and a sea of red tape to thoughtfully, collaboratively and with an uncompromising focus on quality bring a remarkable vision to life. Section 1 of the High Line opened in June 2009. The book also includes a beautiful selection of photographs that chronicle the history and development of the High Line.
Back on street level in Chelsea with David, the preservationist says he gives thought periodically to buying a new hybrid bicycle. However, his loyalty to the Raleigh has thus far overridden the impulse. “It’s developed a patina,” David says with a smile, sweeping a hand across the “distressed” top tube of a classic bicycle in the shadow of what used to be another relic: the High Line.
High Line: The Inside Story of New York City’s Park in the Sky, Farar, Straus and Giroux, 2011. Purchase the book from the High Line web store, and all proceeds go toward maintenance and operation of the park.
You can’t ride your bike on the High Line, but you can park it it style. This handsome, lighted rack is situated below the southerly staircase. Read more…
The new Bike NYC, The Cyclist’s Guide to New York City will appeal to anyone who wants to experience, from the seat of a bicycle, the richness of New York City’s storied urban landscape, historic neighborhoods and vibrant cycling culture. That includes not only visitors, but also casual riders out for weekend recreation, as well as the growing numbers of people who use bicycles for everyday transportation.
Three authors bring a wealth of cycling experience to the new book, out this month from Skyhorse Publishing: writer Marci Blackman and photographer Ed Glazar are avid riders and bicycle tour guides, and Michael Green is a filmmaker and creator of the popular New York City bicycling blog www.bikeblognyc.com.
The compact volume gets rolling with essential safety tips and NYC cycling rules. The authors’ advice on how to avoid getting “doored” by parked cars, the most useful that I’ve ever read, may alone be worth the price of the book.
But the main attraction is the rides. Bike NYC lays out eight routes, ranging from 10 to 40 miles, that offer fun and adventure in all five boroughs. Most aren’t the usual suspects, so look elsewhere if you want a Central Park Loop outing. In sharing their favorites, the authors have assembled a uncommon selection of scenic and lore-laced journeys. Among them: Read more…
