GALFROMDOWNUNDER UPOVER

The Rinsten Spring on a Bike Friday   Pros: Simple device, fits on any bike Accommodates riders up to 150 kg (330 lbs) Appears to work, good on small wheeled bikes Minimalist aesthetic Relatively Inexpensive Considerations: You can’t as easily carry your bike upstairs on your shoulder Gets in the way of your toolbag You may need to cut down your seatpost to make it the right height Some may not like the “oscillating” sensation Adds 392g (0.85 lb) VIDEO: A glimpse from the road I WAS recently contacted by a mysterious person on LinkedIn, asking if I’d test a new bicycle shock absorber. The contact had a rather long, rather foreign-looking name, and I confess my first reaction was to dismiss it as a scammer from Russia along with the zillions of emails I get from factories in China asking if I want to order some traffic cones (yes, I’m the inventor of the Traffic Cone Bag ).  But since I was heading out of the New York tundra and int...

A lamp post installation by PHIL, with a contribution by Stikman (inside). It's been a while since I've blogged, but I broke the drought with a fascinating tour of street art in the Manhattan neighborhood of West Chelsea - led by a real street artist, Patrick Waldo aka Moustache Man . Read about it over on my ChelseaGallerista blog: http://chelseagallerista.blogspot.com/2016/11/street-art-in-west-chelsea-alive-and.html Mural by Brazilian brothers Os Gemeos 

The key to the city ... for 45 mins at a time I caved. I have officially joined the Citibike program recently introduced in New York City. Now why on earth would a die-hard foldie with two perfectly good, fast and fancy folders in her closet do something like that? What, no helmet? At least my Traffic Cone Bag will help keep me alive Convenience with a "C" First, there are times when you are across town on foot, and you want to get back quickly without resorting to the expense of a cab, the lethargy of a bus or the claustrophobic cram of the subway. Second, it saves my own bikes from wear and tear, especially when it's a bit damp out there.  Grit and road grime are the enemy of tiny New York apartment spaces where your bed and kitchen and living area are often one and the same. On that note, lucky the few who have dedicated downstairs bike storage in Manhattan ... Third, it's a great workout. Think of a pedal powered Leopard tank. Ev...

The Handsomest Man in Cuba is now available as a Google e-book .  UPDATE: The rights for the Handsomest Man in Cuba have been reverted back to me. That means the e-book has been decommissioned. You can still easily get hold of copies on Amazon for next to zip, lucky you! Watch this space for talking book (in my alarming Aussie accent) and a new kind of e-book with input from YOU, dear reader!  +++ If you want it for your e-reader, it looks like you can read 50 pages for free, and then there's a link to it in my lemonade stand . I'm not sure if the color photos are included. But now, you can save a tree (well at least, a fully-formed one). If you're an American, you can read it without the cover arousing suspicion! You can also read 3 chapters on my handsomest webpage on Cuba www.handsomestmanincuba.com Thank you in advance for purchasing it and supporting people who write things - careful, you might encourage us to write some more! My friend Lynn souve...

[VIDEO] Galfromdownunder interviewed by the New York Post   [STORY] Sandy survivor's letter from Manhattan  my op-ed piece for DelawareOnline.com. Thank you to the original editor of my book, The Handsomest Man in Cuba ,  Barney Collier, for making that happen. Full text below. [VIDEO] My video of Sandy approaching the Hudson shore on Facebook 38 people lost their lives  in one of the biggest hurricanes ever to hit the east coast of the USA. I lost all power, water, heat internet and a bunch of stuff in the freezer for a week - I was one of the lucky ones. Below is my image chronicle of a week in the life of a New York hurricane, as seen from the Chelsea neighborhood (Zone 1/2) - neither severely endangered nor unaffected, but somewhere in between. Below that, the text of my op-ed piece for DelawareOnline.com Sat 10/27: This is the view of the sky in Connecticut, about an hour north of NYC, the day before Sandy hit the east coast. Sun 10/28:...