As I sit in this little cafe I notice the birds chirping and the green leafs of the boulevard, and the people reading their magazines and surfing their internets, living their lives as we all do. But do they know there's a man who once also lived and went on some of the most marvelous adventures? He is now old, and the years and adventures have taken their toll. People must hardly notice him. There's a bit of sadness to all this, I must admit, but mostly pride and appreciation. Let them think I am just an old man! I know full well the grand journeys I went on.
For instance, many years ago, it was a bright June day. The brightness volume had been turned all the way up, and the quality of the sky's blue was brilliant. Along the Hudson rode a young man on his trusty steed Gerard, a Specialize Allez road bike. How he rode! Of course that young man was me, and the thrill of that day I will never forget. The sun had started its slow descent yet was still strong, and the sky and air took on that special quality that only exists in the early evening of a long summer's day, when it almost seems as if night will never come. I had ridden the streets of New York countless times, but this city never ceases to reveal new secrets, and that evening I found a thrilling northbound bike lane I never knew of. As Gerard and I flew through the streets up the straight of Manhattan I never felt more alive. Later I enjoyed some pizza from Artichoke and a Peanut Buster Parfait from the new (at the time) Dairy Queen.
As I sit here all these years later I know, in a way, days like those will live forever, even though I will not.