A Visit with BikeSnobNYC
One of my favorite blogs to read is from a man named BikeSnobNYC. If you couldn't guess from his monikor, he writes about one of my favorite activities: cycling. His wisdom and humor make me laugh.
He recently published his second book and was doing a national tour to promote it. I wasn't surprised that he scheduled to make a stop in Portland (we have the world's largest used bookstore, and BikeSnob makes fun of Portland and its cycling culture), but I was relieved to find out and immediately made arrangements so I could attend the event.
After finishing my day at the office, I rode my bike into downtown to grab a quick bite to eat at a foodcart. While waiting for the foodcart man to prepare my sausage, I noticed a man standing in the same parking lot taking pictures of all the cyclists riding by (it was on a bike thoroughfare). It was the man behind another popular, large blog, BikePortland. I often disagree with him and find him ultra-smug, but I find relief when BikeSnobNYC takes a playful stab at BikePortland, which happens pretty regularly (and probably why he was shying away from attending the event with BikeSnob).
After downing my sausage, I rode over to a bike shop on NW 21st and Lovejoy--a block away from the hospital where I was born. A crew of about 45 cyclists had gathered, and right in the middle was snobbie himself. My first impression: he's shorter in real-life. We eventually departed about 15 minutes late, at which time it started to sprinkle. Then it started to rain--harder and faster and harder. Our route took us through NW Portland to Naito, where we rode till reaching the Steel Bridge, which we crossed, rode down the Esplanade, crossed the Hawthorne Bridge, took a break at the Salmon Springs Fountain, then weaved our way through downtown till we reached Powell's.
I should have just locked up my steed like everyone else, but I'm so paranoid about leaving the Black Sheep exposed for so long in such a high-risk location that I rode a couple of miles back to my office so I could store my bike. I then ran back to Powell's, making it a few minutes before he took the podium. While I was riding and running, BikeSnobNYC gave an interview to the same character I did a few years ago.
I stood behind the seated crowd of about a 100, partly because I prefer standing over sitting (I have a stand-up desk at work), and partly because I stunk like a sweaty towel at the gym. After he gave his presentation (without reading from his book--he said he had confidence in our ability to read on our own), I snuck away to see how much I had on my giftcard that my father-in-law gifted me last year. It was almost enough to cover the book (I have his first book in Kindle format), so I grabbed one from the stack and took my place at the back of the line. I only had to wait about 20 minutes before I got to speak with him one-one-one, shake his hand, and make an impression--I mean, my only goal was to be cool enough to make his blog (sadly, I did not).
He recently published his second book and was doing a national tour to promote it. I wasn't surprised that he scheduled to make a stop in Portland (we have the world's largest used bookstore, and BikeSnob makes fun of Portland and its cycling culture), but I was relieved to find out and immediately made arrangements so I could attend the event.
After finishing my day at the office, I rode my bike into downtown to grab a quick bite to eat at a foodcart. While waiting for the foodcart man to prepare my sausage, I noticed a man standing in the same parking lot taking pictures of all the cyclists riding by (it was on a bike thoroughfare). It was the man behind another popular, large blog, BikePortland. I often disagree with him and find him ultra-smug, but I find relief when BikeSnobNYC takes a playful stab at BikePortland, which happens pretty regularly (and probably why he was shying away from attending the event with BikeSnob).
 |
| BikeSnobNYC wearing the cap (on his left is a one-armed man) |
I should have just locked up my steed like everyone else, but I'm so paranoid about leaving the Black Sheep exposed for so long in such a high-risk location that I rode a couple of miles back to my office so I could store my bike. I then ran back to Powell's, making it a few minutes before he took the podium. While I was riding and running, BikeSnobNYC gave an interview to the same character I did a few years ago.
I stood behind the seated crowd of about a 100, partly because I prefer standing over sitting (I have a stand-up desk at work), and partly because I stunk like a sweaty towel at the gym. After he gave his presentation (without reading from his book--he said he had confidence in our ability to read on our own), I snuck away to see how much I had on my giftcard that my father-in-law gifted me last year. It was almost enough to cover the book (I have his first book in Kindle format), so I grabbed one from the stack and took my place at the back of the line. I only had to wait about 20 minutes before I got to speak with him one-one-one, shake his hand, and make an impression--I mean, my only goal was to be cool enough to make his blog (sadly, I did not).
Comments
Post a Comment