You ever zipped through city traffic??
Played chicken with a city bus??
Felt the added heat index from being behind, in between, side to side rush hour??
Where we at??
What you think we doing??
Biking baby!!
Greatest way to see the city…
Well in my opinion anyway…
Today we headed Uptown!!
Famous, infamous, cultural and historical Uptown!!
Harlem, Dyckman, all of Wash Heights, Broadway, Amsterdam, Hudson River…
A few, barely.
Today however I want to focus on this marvel we know as the George Washington Bridge, the G-Dub.
Which connects Uptown to Jersey. I first experienced this marvel when I first decided to bike ride for my cardio. It was fun, it burns, and you see the city for what it is- opportunity. However you define that word is solely to your liking. When I say opportunity, I speak on what is felt. A new route, new restaurant, a hole in the wall gelato spot, and recently all of Hudson River Park. You never know who you may see, which event has the whole Sixth Ave closed. Back to the G-Dub, as a non driver (for now) I crossed this bridge many times as a passenger. But in crossing this bridge most of the time I was sleep, blinded or simply not in connection with the sights. Let’s get where we need to go. Through time (as it seems to always go) I realIzed I am my surroundings. Everything around me is living. Man made or God made, we co exist without even connecting the vibes. It had to be a good four years ago when I first made my trek across this marvel. Cutting through Harlem up Frederick Douglass Blvd., I found myself admiring Rucker Park. I was too much of a punk to ever come here in it’s hay days. Also very young and sheltered…
Fuck you going Uptown for?
With Polo Grounds right across the street, you felt the history. The court floors were not like anything I have ever seen before.
Wood?!
On a NYC street?!
I could see why Rucker was Rucker. Saluting the little homies practicing for the tournament, I make my way further Uptown. My destination for that day was Wash Heights but my body wanted more. Riding by the water on the FDR, you can see the Bronx. How close yet so distant we are from each other always amazes me. Cutting through the park at the end, Dyckman.
Home of the Haze.
Summer basketball tournaments.
I love Dyckman!!
The vibes, the area is literally soaked in culture.
Dollar pastelillos!! (All kinds)
Famous restaurants.
O the women!!
Listen let me focus…
Not now!
Bike riding up here when the weather is perfect produces a certain high I haven’t felt anywhere else in the city yet.
A feeling of belonging.
A sense of community.
Exaggerated accents while switching in between tones in a language I do not understand (only the curse words) intrigues me. Its parks, marinas, and the women!!
These proud, hardworking, delicious, thick beauties.
Let me focus.
Cutting through traffic on my Diamond Back, I end up at the bus terminal right before the bridge. Signs of the bridge kept me circling around until I found myself heading down a steep hill. For a second I thought I was about to end up on the highway. I must have questioned a good six bikers in full gear for directions until I came upon the steep ramp that takes you right up. Now I rode the Brooklyn Bridge before but it’s not as open as this one. Let me explain, fix your face. Now on the bridge, the only barrier that keeps you from the cars seems not enough. The path is narrow to the point where if two bikers coming from the opposite side, one has to yield to ensure safety. My attitude was until I got to the middle of the bridge.
“Knees weak, palms are sweaty”.
I was frozen.
The openness with the power from all the cars shook me. Now what literally, in my bones shook me, was feeling the bridge itself sway back and forth.
THE FUCKING BRIDGE IS FALLING!!
Nah, nah, but it felt as such.
Who thought of this?
It didn’t help that every eighteen wheeler driving by made the bridge sway a tad bit more. My scary self just keep seeing me tip right over. Still frozen, I turn to the water and suddenly cannot move. Not by fear. The beauty of a city that turnt me off for a while. It just hit me right there and then, just as all those classic sky high photos of the city do- the only way to appreciate its marvel is from high up above. Just like flying over in a plane or in a tall building with a dope view, it is its own dynamic. It’s own property. No rats up here. You can see straight down the Hudson-OPENESS. Only that guard rail spoken about earlier kept me from experiencing the Hudson personally. It makes sense why you see suicide phone boxes or numbers all around…it’s that easy!!
After seeing the hardened riders zipping by me as if we were standing on solid ground manned me up a little. Enough to even take selfies of this beauty I finally experienced. Yea for those wondering, I completed the whole bridge. Jersey and back. Accomplishment warmed me up. Now four years later equipped with my blue Legacy Beach Cruiser (DE-BO!)- I’m back!!
This time is different though, better than the first if I must add. Riding his brand new bike, my boy Otto has us on a new path going Uptown. A path that took us to none other the G-Dub but under the belly of the beast. The awe I was in shocked even me. All of those beams, bolts the size of car tires (kinda), the weight of all those cars on it. How the fuck did they do this?
How many?
What equipment?
How long?
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, damn near touching!!
How did they even get up that high at that time?
The workers with the balls to do this!!
How hasn’t it collapsed?
Turning my view from vertical to horizontal now, I’m further in a cluster fuck.
What the fuck…
Have you ever seen the G-Dub from underneath?
The construction…
The stability…
The strength!! Holy shit!! the strength!!
A human did this!!
Not Gawd (well he made us which gave us free will to do this but, yeah you get it).
Pardon me, humans!!
People like you and me.
Breathe, shit, eat the same.
At this critical time in my life, I felt/ feel this derived from my Higher Gawd.
How can I doubt my art?
When something like this was built?!
I know doubt was heavy with this project.
The magnitude made doubt inevitable.
But almost fifty years and halfway in my life, I’m here admiring it. Doubt didn’t stop this bridge, it made it!!
Bare hands…
Dangerous conditions…
All to provide for theirs!!
Who am I to even bitch, in anyway?!
How can you doubt such hard work?!
Such team work?!
Amazed while my boy get his pics in, I start to self reflect. Man, woman, are capable of anything!!
Anything!!
Dedication..
Discipline…
And hard work can and WILL change your life!!
“Don’t ever be scared of hard work”…
I was told this during my Puerto Rico trip by this couple. An immigrant with nothing who became one of the top distributors in the winery business. Also he travels when desired. With two more destinations after this trip. Never be scared of hard work.!!
As if it was written (it was) this was on a day I wasn’t to fond of myself/ situation. Yet you think this marvel design was built in days?
Months?
Years people!!
What last forever takes patience. Not regular patience- undeniable faith!!
Yes I’m getting all this from a bridge.
How can’t you?
It’s just not that…
It’s a symbol of what can happen when you trust not only yourself but the people placed around you. Make hard work a priority and the outcome will speak for itself. A perfect example comes from that very same day maybe an hour later. Being in Dyckman, it’s mandatory a pastiello (pollo) is eaten.
Without question!!
Also you never know who you may see
Or what you may see…
Heading down from La Marina, we see some OVO members I was later told by my boy.
“That blue though”…
Must have been my Nipsey attire.
Heading towards Mama Juana, we end up in the middle of the street, little towards the right.
Speeding by is an Audi R8, sexy car, PCNY logo smacked on its grill (Frasier wassup!!)
Behind that, still oblivious to what’s taking place is the truck used in movies/ videos that focuses on making the target appear as though they’re driving. Moving more to the right to not get hit, I end up eye to eye with the talented artist The Weekend. Literally in arms distance. A look of being startled is only salvaged with me simply saying wassup. A simple exchange of greeting but meant so much more.
The right place…
At the right time…
With the right people…
EQUALS SUCCESS!!
Now I know it sounds groupie-ish
“I saw him, I saw him”…
However my biggest setback was putting these things on a pedestal.
Always forgetting we have the same twenty four hours in a day. Shit the same , same body functions. What makes him different then me?
Me from him?!
Of course status and power but we are the same. The very people being watched are just that- people!! You, I can do it too!!
It’s all in arms reach!!
Stepping out of my comfort zone has been rewarding ever since. What makes me smile and tear form pure joy, it’s only going to get better. Staying positive when it feels so good to be negative has changed me. Bigger picture for everything. Understanding everyone has their time.
You may be down now but how long was you up before that?
Difference between The Weekend and millions of people- he never gave up on himself. Never doubted himself into non action. He found his gift and worked hard until it works for him. The fact eye contact was shared with such power reassured me (even as I write this) my time is very soon, very soon!!
“The journey cannot be cheated for it builds character”…
Well I’m building my own G-Dub…
At the moment…
I’ll keep you posted…!!
Chico C. Deleon
PayneInTheCulo 