Monday, March 1, 2021

 SUPPORT 

Michelle Clark/Denis Morton

 

Somewhere, sometimes

Oh!

Things feel good

Encouraged

Gentle

Glaze

Glee

Somewhere, sometimes 

We achieve what we seek

Slowly we allow ourselves 

To base our base from this place in space

and it’s good

Things feel good

Soothe

Surrender

 

Find what works

Whatever you crave

Make this what you need

#MakeHimWhole

#MakeYourWay

#MakeHersMark - ‘sup?

 

Experiment

Snap it up

See all you can

See your breath

See your thoughts

Engage these visions

From your layers feel

Melting in and on

 

Central

Palms down palms up

Tension

Palms up palms down

Squeeze

Flex fists freely firm

Release

Your abdomen holds you up

Sing into that

 

Surrender to your support

Cultivate and embrace this fortunate find.


© 2021 Jesse Schmitt

Taken from the collection 

"Aftermath"

Monday, June 3, 2013

Discover Hudson Valley Ride: June 30, 2013

If you have ever just marveled at the natural wonder of the Hudson Valley in upstate New York then you are not alone. So many people appreciate the painstaking beauty of the sheltering trees and the bustling river. Of course by train it’s a little impersonal, by car you could be sitting in epic traffic and if you’re still traveling into the Hudson River Valley on horseback then you’re probably not reading this blog post.

Have you ever wanted to see the Hudson Valley on bicycle? If so you’re in luck as the annual DiscoverHudson Valley Ride is getting set to kick off again this year on Sunday June 30.

This year’s event is going to be unlike year’s past. Riders will have the option of challenging themselves in a noncompetitive time trial. There is also a multitude of ways that riders can make this happen. The routes are 15, 33, 50, 75, and 100 miles. The whole thing is going to be fairly epic.

The 100 mile option takes riders across the Mid-Hudson Poughkeepsie Bridge into the winding roads of Ulster County before descending on Duchess and Columbia County. This is 100 miles and the whole thing is going to be pretty unforgettable. 9 rest stops make this daunting task a little more manageable.

The 75 mile option follows a similar course but will obviously be a little bit shorter. There will be 7 rest stops on this path meaning less chance for stopping and more chance for kicking it into high gear. Lagging 100 mile riders can drop back to the 75 mile option.

The 50 mile option will be also pretty great and will begin at the Walkaway Over the Hudson. The 5 rest stops on this path make it almost too good to be true. Riders from the 75 mile trail can always fall back in line with the 50 mile racers if need be.

The 33 mile option is no less challenging just because it’s a little shorter. You will have the ability to see so much of what the other riders get to witness and you are backed by the 3 rest stops along the way. Riders of the 50 mile track can fall back to the 33.

There is also a 15 mile trek through Ulster County and into Duchess County.

Riders will take off take off and finish from Waryas Park, 41 Main Street in Poughkeepsie New York. Each rider must wear their race ID, a water bottle, their bike and of course a protective helmet! Riders take off on the following schedule:

100 mile riders 7:30-8:15am
75 mile 7:45-9:45am
50 mile 8:45-10am
33 mile 9:30-10:30am
15 mile 9:30-10:30am

There is still time to register online! Come on out and Discover Hudson Valley and keep it locked here for my first hand reporting as a rider in the event!



Monday, May 13, 2013

Ride 2 Recovery Honor Ride 2013 Hudson Valley New York


Whatever your personal persuasion about combat and war, one thing we can all universally agree on is that our veterans and service people deserve our respect and support; especially our wounded veterans. This is what the 2013 Honor Ride in HudsonValley New York is all about.

Beginning in Maybrook which is just south of Interstate 84 and west of the New York Thruway and the Hudson River in Orange County upstate New York, the Honor Ride in Hudson Valley NY is a 60 mile bike fundraising tour. There is also a 40 mile tour and a 20 mile tour, each with staggered starting times.

100% of the money raised by this event will go directly to Ride 2 Recovery. This is a group who provides custom bicycles for the healing heroes of our nation. Helping heroes heal and using bike riding as the core activity. As well they provide room, board, and travel expenses to cycling events around the world so that our wounded warriors can pull themselves up and solider proudly on in their lives.

This is upstate New York so riders are going to have some elevation issues to contend with. However riders who have been here before know the territory. If you want to shove off with the main event just make sure you are at Veterans Memorial Park at 8:45am on Saturday June 8. The 40 mile leg kicks off at 10am and the 20 mile portion gets going at 11:45. Check in for all three times starts 45 minutes prior to your riding time.

There is a tax-deductible fee for riders and there are also fundraising goals for those who want to help out even further. Ride 2 Recovery is giving away paraphernalia for different fundraising metrics and all the money goes to a great cause.

Remember all you speed racers out there this event is a ride, not a race. Helmets are of course required and there will be police and motorcycle escorts. Riders needn’t worry as the whole thing will be done on closed roads. As well there will be SAG trucks on hand to help out with any issues and there are several rest areas along the course.

So come on out! Have fun! Ride an amazing 60 mile loop. Give a little something back to those who’ve given so much and haven't asked you for one thing in return.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

First Person: TD 5 Boro Bike Tour 2013


If you had asked me three months ago whether or not I thought I could ride a bicycle across the five boroughs of New York City I probably would have made some snarky comment about doing it over five days or totally flipped the question around into an attack on you. However 90 days, three bikes, a snapped chain, blown tires, subliminal training, and a stolen seat and pole later I have rediscovered my passion with bicycle riding.

Bike riding had always been a favorite activity of mine when I was younger. But friends parents cigarettes, stonewashed denim and Axl Rose apathy took over my pre-pubescent body; puberty did the rest. So it was with some shock and awe that I recently came upon biking again and picked it up like…well, riding a bicycle! On May 5, 2013 I was lucky enough to be able to participate in and report back to you about the TD 5 Boro Bike Tour.



The TD 5 Boro Bike Tour takes riders up from Battery Park in Lower Manhattan, across Houston Street and onto the Avenue of the Americas up into Central Park. From there the tour continues to travel into Harlem, across the Madison Avenue Bridge into the Bronx and then quickly back out onto the Third Avenue Bridge back down the FDR along the east side of Manhattan. From there we cross the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge into Long Island City, up to Astoria Park and back down across the Pulaski Bridge into Brooklyn. After that it’s time to hop on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway before approaching and conquering the Verrazano Narrows Bridge into Staten Island where the tour finally comes to an end.

All at once. It’s 40 miles. It’s no joke. Maybe for the most experienced riders this is something of a warm up for larger events like the NYC Century Bike Tour (100 miles) later on in September. But for all of us it was a challenge we all welcomed.

So it was with anxious enthusiasm that I came upon the scene out on Church Street and West Broadway at 6:25am. The scene looked bleak; no one was there! That all changed rather quickly. You see what the TD 5 Boro Bike Tour did after the influx of more than 32,000 riders last year was they staggered the starting times. So now rather than there being scores of people out at the start, there are three waves of riders who break up their encroachment by some 30 minutes.



The energy quickly heated up as I realized the scores of riders swelling all around me.  Cars were being towed away for not obeying the Sunday parking restrictions on this day. Still the Bike Tour got larger. In truth at 6:25am I was early. I still had to stand around in the frigid May dawn air for an hour and twenty minutes before the first wave of riders, of which I was part, took off.

As the crowd grew, everyone seemed tense. I staked my claim of turf to wait near Thomas Street and Church Street. As more and more people began to congregate the intensity just became that much more electric.

TD 5 Boro Bike Tour is an annual event which goes back 35 years with 2013 being 36. If last year’s numbers were any indication this year’s tally was going to be even greater. It was instructive too as I awaited our starting time to listen to many of the past riders share their stories.

One man standing nearby insisted that even though it was cold now, “by the time you get to the BQE, you won’t remember the cold.”

That was partly true. By the time I got onto the BQE (around mile 30) I was far more concerned about my numb hands and arms than the cold which was still with us. Even though it was May, it was still early May. The first Sunday in May. When overnight temps can get nippy. The wind gusts reminded us it’s not quite summer time yet.

The TD 5 Boro Bike Tour is a clever mix of professional grade riders, regular annual folks who come out for the experience (some get dressed up in silly garb or have helmet accessories), and others who ride alone and ride for their own reasons.



As I awaited the starting gun there were a bunch of guys with large stuffed rats on their helmets and the rats themselves wore their own pink bike helmets. A few of us debated whether that meant they were Union for some type of cancer or they were non-union in an ironic move. Another group I saw had recycling on the brain as their helmets came adorned with recycle bins. People were riding around with still and video cameras on their helmets, some were riding with the intent of raising money for charities like breast cancer, and there was representation from virtually every state and every nation you can imagine. Riders had state and nation flags taped around the frames of their bicycle, others wore flag as capes.

The real beneficiary of this event this year are the residents of New York City. TD Bank takes on the title but Bike New York are the ones putting this whole event together. With partners TD and REI as well as others like “Bicycle Magazine,” Bike and Roll, Bloomberg L.P., Con Edison, The New York Times, and many more Bike New York is going to take the proceeds from this event to put it back into education for New Yorkers about the benefits of bicycling. 

A city with a plan in place for some 900 miles of bike lanes and so many bike lanes already in play, the concept of cycling can really make riding a viable alternative. For short to medium length trips where taking the train or bus would be common, riding a bicycle can actually be faster than paying for public transit. The simple equation of taking the train to the gym and taking the train to work and taking the train home versus riding a bicycle to and from work makes getting your fitness in as part of your everyday. When you think of it like that, “Ride for Life” makes perfect sense.



The TD 5 Boro Bike Tour was pretty intense. One of the coolest things for me was actually taking over the FDR as cyclists rode in the southbound lanes with no cars at all on site. I have driven on that east side road many times; conquering it on a bicycle was incredibly liberating.

It was also a pretty amazing feeling to finally crest to an apex at the Verrazano Bridge and begin coasting my way down onto Staten Island at the races end. There was a sign where the incline began and ended and I swear it must’ve been 3 or 4 miles of subtle, gradual incline; the type to make even the most experienced cycler wail in agony.

I’d also like to tip my hat to the NYPD and to all of the volunteers who were on hand to help out. Things have been a little tight with what happened at the Boston Marathon recently but the NYPD was at literally every intersection we passed through and they kept things moving very smoothly. The volunteers who stood there for hours repeating the same few words into a megaphone were still as charming as you can imagine. For every bit of rote instruction from them came an encouraging word, a meaningful smile, and a clap and cheer.



Elation met the pain in my buckled knees and just like that my first ever event of this kind was over. The TD 5 Boro Bike Tour won’t be back again until next May but if you have the opportunity and really want to see a side of New York City that few others ever get to see and you want to do it all in 5 Boro’s in one day, then you should get connected to what this event is all about! The first Sunday in May is when the streets go dark of headlights and horns as helmets and bells lead the way.

Will I see you at the TD 5 Boro Bike Tour next year?