RR: Darkest Suburbia

CC says:

snip

I haven't
smacked a single car with my palm all week.

I'm going to get totally ****ing soft here.

Enjoy it while you can. ;-)

Steve

(Corvus Corvax) wrote in message . com...
So it's over. We are no longer Manhattanites. Welcome to Buffalo. We
were in a pub tonight having dinner, and we were chatting with a
friendly bartender. I explained that we had just moved in from the
city. He explained at some length how he had lived in the city for
fifteen years, and rattled off all his old neighborhoods, names which
meant nothing to me. Still a terminally clueless Manhattanite, I
asked, "Which borough is that?"

Heh. He didn't mean the same city.

For the linguistically inclined, "Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo
buffalo" is a grammatical English sentence.

I ride to work this morning, about 6 1/2 miles, on the fix. I've been
commuting in all week, and hardly see another rider on the roads, much
less anybody on a track bike. I'm already missing the Manhattan thing,
where I would see at least one or two other riders running fixed every
time I went out. No matter. We will be ambassadors of Manhattan fixie
culture to the savages.

I miss the conflict, too. This is ****ing boring. The drivers all have
this bovine placidity. I'm clipping along at 19 or 20 on a four-lane
suburban arterial. A street like this, out where Jimbo and Carla live,
would inspire fear in the hardiest rider. In Buffalo, the cars drift
down the highway like lily pads on a quiet stream. Dull. Stultifying.
You couldn't pick a fight with these people if you tried. They just
stare. I think human-powered vehicles are a strange and wondrous sight
to them. I smile at them and line up with the cars at the stop light
and I signal my turns. I am Mr. Polite And Vehicular. I haven't
smacked a single car with my palm all week.

I'm going to get totally ****ing soft here.

CC

Welcome to Hell and lake effect.

JD

(Corvus Corvax) wrote in message . com...
So it's over. We are no longer Manhattanites. Welcome to Buffalo. We
were in a pub tonight having dinner, and we were chatting with a
friendly bartender. I explained that we had just moved in from the
city. He explained at some length how he had lived in the city for
fifteen years, and rattled off all his old neighborhoods, names which
meant nothing to me. Still a terminally clueless Manhattanite, I
asked, "Which borough is that?"

Heh. He didn't mean the same city.

For the linguistically inclined, "Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo
buffalo" is a grammatical English sentence.

I ride to work this morning, about 6 1/2 miles, on the fix. I've been
commuting in all week, and hardly see another rider on the roads, much
less anybody on a track bike. I'm already missing the Manhattan thing,
where I would see at least one or two other riders running fixed every
time I went out. No matter. We will be ambassadors of Manhattan fixie
culture to the savages.

I miss the conflict, too. This is ****ing boring. The drivers all have
this bovine placidity. I'm clipping along at 19 or 20 on a four-lane
suburban arterial. A street like this, out where Jimbo and Carla live,
would inspire fear in the hardiest rider. In Buffalo, the cars drift
down the highway like lily pads on a quiet stream. Dull. Stultifying.
You couldn't pick a fight with these people if you tried. They just
stare. I think human-powered vehicles are a strange and wondrous sight
to them. I smile at them and line up with the cars at the stop light
and I signal my turns. I am Mr. Polite And Vehicular. I haven't
smacked a single car with my palm all week.

I'm going to get totally ****ing soft here.

CC

P.S. -- Enjoy Denver, Anthony.

The local riding scene will fill you in on Ellicotville. It's about
50 miles south of town on Route 219. The "Pale Ale Trail" near
Holliday Valley and Hollimont ski resorts was the site of one of
IMBA's epic rides last year. For your sake, I hope we don't have a
winter like last.

Corvus Corvax wrote:

So it's over. We are no longer Manhattanites. Welcome to Buffalo. We
were in a pub tonight having dinner, and we were chatting with a
friendly bartender. I explained that we had just moved in from the
city. He explained at some length how he had lived in the city for
fifteen years, and rattled off all his old neighborhoods, names which
meant nothing to me. Still a terminally clueless Manhattanite, I
asked, "Which borough is that?"

Heh. He didn't mean the same city.

For the linguistically inclined, "Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo
buffalo" is a grammatical English sentence.

I ride to work this morning, about 6 1/2 miles, on the fix. I've been
commuting in all week, and hardly see another rider on the roads, much
less anybody on a track bike. I'm already missing the Manhattan thing,
where I would see at least one or two other riders running fixed every
time I went out. No matter. We will be ambassadors of Manhattan fixie
culture to the savages.

I miss the conflict, too. This is ****ing boring. The drivers all have
this bovine placidity. I'm clipping along at 19 or 20 on a four-lane
suburban arterial. A street like this, out where Jimbo and Carla live,
would inspire fear in the hardiest rider. In Buffalo, the cars drift
down the highway like lily pads on a quiet stream. Dull. Stultifying.
You couldn't pick a fight with these people if you tried. They just
stare. I think human-powered vehicles are a strange and wondrous sight
to them. I smile at them and line up with the cars at the stop light
and I signal my turns. I am Mr. Polite And Vehicular. I haven't
smacked a single car with my palm all week.

I'm going to get totally ****ing soft here.

CC

P.S. -- Enjoy Denver, Anthony.
I lived in Binghamton, NY for about 2 years. I spent several weeks in
Grand Island on business on a couple of occasions since moving out west.
It was as bad as Binghamton.
If Buffalo is nearly as bad, I'ld start checking out monster.com right away.
Good luck.
--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado
(remove ".nospam" to reply)

Corvus Corvax wrote:
In Buffalo, the cars drift down the highway like lily pads on a quiet
stream. Dull. Stultifying. You couldn't pick a fight with these people
if you tried. They just stare. I think human-powered vehicles are a
strange and wondrous sight to them. I smile at them and line up with
the cars at the stop light and I signal my turns. I am Mr. Polite And
Vehicular. I haven't smacked a single car with my palm all week.
CC
P.S. -- Enjoy Denver, Anthony.



Yeah kinda strange isn't it? You could always head up to Toronto for
some urban cycling experience... Oh wait forget it they are bike
friendly... Nothing like LI/NJ drivers up there either! Hey enjoy the
peace and quiet!



Jimbo(san)



--
--------------------------
Posted via cyclingforums.com
http://www.cyclingforums.com

Craig Brossman wrote

I lived in Binghamton, NY for about 2 years. I spent several weeks in
Grand Island on business on a couple of occasions since moving out west.
It was as bad as Binghamton.
If Buffalo is nearly as bad, I'ld start checking out monster.com right away.
Good luck.

Strangely enough, I find that these old forgotten rust belt cities
like Buffalo or Pittsburgh or Cleveland can have an astonishingly high
quality of life. Real estate and groceries are cheap, the air is
clean, people are friendly, the pace of life is very relaxed. As long
as you can make a steady living, you can live really well. However,
unlike Pittsburgh, Buffalo never had any kind of economic revival
after the steel mills closed, and downtown is postively
post-apocalyptic. But right now, that's ok with me. Even in Manhattan,
I preferred dive bars over the high-zoot lifestyle anyway. Mostly. The
forlorn, decayed city suits my mood these days, and I think I can be
happy here.

But, man, people here are amazingly fat. Not as bad as Wisconsin, but
still pretty bad. That's one thing I really, really miss about
Colorado is the women. Colorado has the best looking chix in the
country. Lean, atheletic, slightly hippie. I'd love to live in
Durango, but you know what? If everybody who wanted to live in Durango
actually moved to Durango, Durango would suck. Look at Denver. Or
Aspen. I would rather live in Buffalo than be yet another one of those
asshole yuppies who builds his McMansion outside some lovely little
town in Colorado and then gets all up in arms over all the other
yuppies moving in and building McMansions. (This is hypothetical, of
course, as I can't afford a house like that anyway.) It's enough for
me that guys like you and JD live there. I'll come up and ride next
summer.

CC

wrote .

The local riding scene will fill you in on Ellicotville. It's about
50 miles south of town on Route 219. The "Pale Ale Trail" near
Holliday Valley and Hollimont ski resorts was the site of one of
IMBA's epic rides last year. For your sake, I hope we don't have a
winter like last.

Thanks. I'll check it out.

CC

Corvus Corvax wrote:
Colorado has the best looking chix in the
country.

I dunno... I've had my head turned more than a few times by the ladies
down here... No, not in the city limits, but out in the county,
Collierville, Germantown, etc., Day'um!

Clyde_in_TN wrote in news:N3_Ua.95066
:

Corvus Corvax wrote:
Colorado has the best looking chix in the
country.

I dunno... I've had my head turned more than a few times by the ladies
down here... No, not in the city limits, but out in the county,
Collierville, Germantown, etc., Day'um!



ya gotta love those southern women... I moved all over the US before
learning the most beautiful ones were right here at home in Mississippi.

--
- Chris -
www.skokatt.com
_____________________________

People say I'm cruel. But I have the heart of a small child.
In a jar. On my desk.

Corvus Corvax wrote:
Craig Brossman wrote

I lived in Binghamton, NY for about 2 years. I spent several weeks in
Grand Island on business on a couple of occasions since moving out west.
It was as bad as Binghamton.
If Buffalo is nearly as bad, I'ld start checking out monster.com right away.
Good luck.


Strangely enough, I find that these old forgotten rust belt cities
like Buffalo or Pittsburgh or Cleveland can have an astonishingly high
quality of life. Real estate and groceries are cheap, the air is
clean, people are friendly, the pace of life is very relaxed. As long
as you can make a steady living, you can live really well. However,
unlike Pittsburgh, Buffalo never had any kind of economic revival
after the steel mills closed, and downtown is postively
post-apocalyptic. But right now, that's ok with me. Even in Manhattan,
I preferred dive bars over the high-zoot lifestyle anyway. Mostly. The
forlorn, decayed city suits my mood these days, and I think I can be
happy here.

But, man, people here are amazingly fat. Not as bad as Wisconsin, but
still pretty bad. That's one thing I really, really miss about
Colorado is the women. Colorado has the best looking chix in the
country. Lean, atheletic, slightly hippie. I'd love to live in
Durango, but you know what? If everybody who wanted to live in Durango
actually moved to Durango, Durango would suck. Look at Denver. Or
Aspen. I would rather live in Buffalo than be yet another one of those
asshole yuppies who builds his McMansion outside some lovely little
town in Colorado and then gets all up in arms over all the other
yuppies moving in and building McMansions. (This is hypothetical, of
course, as I can't afford a house like that anyway.) It's enough for
me that guys like you and JD live there. I'll come up and ride next
summer.

CC
I guess I wasn't very specific.
You are very correct, no/low crime, cheap everything ... But, exercise
to most folks I knew in Binghamton was going out for wings and beer, on
a heavy workout they would up the bump it up to non-filter cigs. Good,
friendly people, just not a very outdoor oriented or athletically
inclined. And the weather was always damp.

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado
(remove ".nospam" to reply)