Manager at Richlyn Bike and Fitness (1993-96). Small family shop on the outside, with a warehouse of two hundred or so bicycles in the back, run by National Bicycle Dealers Association president Rich Cohen. A great little shop selling Raleigh, Giant, Bianchi and Schwinn –> with a terrific, pro-IBD owner!

Service Department Manager at Cycle Craft (1993). One summer season as service department manager at one of Cannondale’s largest dealers at the time. We had a stand alone, service location separate from the retail store and I managed about five mechanics during the height of the season.

Mechanic / Manager at Ramapo Valley Cycle (1990-93). Worked with Ramapo Valley Cycle’s owner Bob Holderith when the shop, club and team were at it’s peak.  The Ramapo Valley Cycle Club (RVCC) promoted races through out the region and was responsible for bringing mountain biking’s National Championship Series and World Cup to Hunter Mountain in NY’s Catskill Mountains.  I also raced pro mountain biking for RVCC for a number of years sponsored by Fuji, Mavic, Campagnolo, Shimano, Pedro’s and others… I was one of two featured instructors for the King of the Mountain skills camp held near Rosendale, NY organized by Bob…

Service Department Manager at Ridgewood Cycle Shop (1987-90). Completed all functions necessary to keep a large repair shop functioning – scheduling, inventory and quality control, allocation of work load, pro bike assembly, pricing. Department completed approximately 1,300 repairs between April and October. Assembled 120 bicycles for Christmas season. This was during the period Ridgewood was a ‘pro shop’ selling DeRosa, Giordana, Grandis, Kestrel and Lemond (Ten Speed Drive). To ‘prove’ we knew what we were doing, we attended numerous bicycle mechanics seminars… including Mavic, New England Cycling Academy, Diadora and others.

Service Tech at Ridgewood Cycle Shop (1986-87). Fixing and assembling bicycles and general silliness. Ridgewood was one of Schwinn’s largest dealers during the 70’s and we also sold a good number of Fuji, Specialized, Fisher and Cannondale bikes. I spent a few days at the United Cycling Federation HQ taking their Mechanics course so I could get my Mechanics license and work with USCF racing teams…

Customer Relations and Warranty Control at Cycles Peugeot USA (1985-86). This wasn’t a retail position but is part of this timeline… Direct contact with dealers and consumers to provide product information and resolve warranty issues. Assembled bicycles for promotional purposes. Here’s a link to a letter from a very satisfied Peugeot consumer I helped…

Sales Person at Campmor (1984-85). Sleeping bags, backpacks and boots – oh my! Put my outdoor experiences – hiking, canoeing, backpacking, cross country skiing, climbing, cycling and camping – to work for Campmor helping customers find the gear they needed to complete their own adventures! This was in the time before Campmor was selling bicycles and just as they started with canoes and kayaks.

Sales and Stock Person in the Sporting Goods Department at K-Mart (1983-84). Blue light special! Sporting goods did not sell bicycles (they were in the toy department) but we had our own register and needed to handle some of our own sales transactions. Respect the department – we  also sold guns and ammunition.

Mechanic at Towne Cycle (1983-84). Too many positron cables replaced, too many front freewheeling bikes assembled…. This was a few years before current owner Mike Hoek purchased the shop (with partner Rich Cohen of Richyln Bike & Fitness above). A few years later, Mike bought out Rich and now is sole proprietor.

Bringing it full circle in a way you might find me around my local shop (now called Town Cycle – Mike lost the “e” in Towne somewhere), fixing one of my or my kids bikes, or helping Mike when he’s buried in bicycles deep in the heat of the season.

In the past, I’ve taken the dirt access road from Stephen’s Road via foot or bike (and have never hiked via the Highlands Trail). As a child, one of my birthday parties was a hike up this very road. On 9/11, I rode my mountain bike to this spot and saw the smoke plume from downtown smeared across the sky…. On a brigher note, my son’s first Scouting experience was a hike up this very road – on my birthday no less!

I think this hike (or bike) and many others like it has had a profound influence on my life — and I hope the people (scouts, childhood friends, adults) I have been with on this mountain top in the Highlands of New Jersey have fond memories of Bearfort.

Needless to say, I am familiar with the fire tower and this area – but today’s hike shed new light on a familiar place.

Hiking up from Union Valley, I crossed some ridges and exposed rock areas I hadn’t seen before and traversed long, grassy ridgelines with nice views. (wonder what it looks like hiking in from the Clinton Road side??)

From Union Valley Road, the Fire Tower is less than two miles up and well worth the visit. In a little over an hour, I quickly hiked up and back. (Others may take longer/shorter depending on fitness, etc.).

Not sure it’s legal to be up here but, be careful going down…

More pics on Flickr….

I’ve been in this area many times over the years – all on separate occasions, I hiked here with my wife (then girlfriend), my son, my Uncle, my friend Tony and camped out by Suprise Lake with my dad when I was a kid. (I recall a pre-suspension mountain bike ride down the State Line trial – not advised then OR now – with my buddy Jay.)

Starting right on the NY-NJ state line you hike straight up to the top of the ridge for awesome views of Greenwood Lake, Monksville Reservoir in the distance and NYC on the skyline. Then, on through ravines, pitch pines, conglomerate rock ridges and rhododendrons to circle Surprise Lake.

Google Maps shows the many stone ridges in the area as well as the fairly large Surprise Lake up on the mountain top. The Appalachian Trail follows these stone ridges before and after the NY state line.
View Larger Map

Here are some more pics on Flickr.  Now, get out there!

Serious summertime “surprises” are the protected timber rattlers who sun themselves on the rocks here. Today I was a little concerned about finding a hungry, post-hibernation black bear….

I kept my eyes, ears and nose open and banged some rocks together every once in a while. However, the only animals I saw were two turkey vultures soaring overhead.

Rain dumped the other day. Some reports say 7 inches. Add the melting dump of snow we had a few weeks ago and you have flooding.

The photo above is the outlet of Terrace Pond in the Highlands of NJ.

This hike is one of the Baker’s Dozen of sweet little hikes in the area. It was wet and sloppy today but with some careful foot placements on rocks, snow, roots and ice I only stepped in mud a few times.

This is not a great time for hiking – too much damage can be done to the trails – and it will stay yucky until all this water drains or dries  out. I could have gone swimming a few times today – on the trail not in the pond – but luckily avoided any potential hypothermia slips/splashes…

These types of signs always seem funny out of season, out of context.

BUT, when the weather gets warm heed its warning. Someone dies in Terrace Pond almost every year. It is so inviting but don’t swim here, in beautiful, rugged Terrace Pond.

View from the top of West Milford at 1,486 feet.

Here are some more pics on Flickr.

Today’s hike was dampened, literally, by a slight drizzle and clouds. No, good peak-top views but still a great hike with a few rocky scrambles and false summits to keep things interesting.

About 5 miles, the trek lies in the Wanaque Wildlife Management area. It took about 2 hours to cover the distance with slightly snow and iced over areas. MUCHO snow melt run-off makes this an early morning hike for the next few days (mornings will have more firm, slightly frozen walking surface – later will mean more mud and more damage/erosion).

Looking forward to a clear view from the summit in the future – and to bringing someone up here soon to show them what the NY-NJ border has to offer.

More pics on my Flicker.

Lots of great stuff on the NY-NJ border overlooking Greenwood Lake. Just a few hours each day in the woods clears the mind. Been warm outside ever since… Glad I got out when I did!  More pics on Flickr.

In West Milford NJ is the Baker’s Dozen. Thirteen peaks well worth climbing to get great views of the region and across the border to New York State.

Today I snowshoed up Horse Pond Mtn to see said views as well as the U-shaped Monksville Reservoir. A beautiful, sunny day with temps above 40 F.

Only wild life I saw were turkey vultures, a nuthatch, six buffleheads, a few Canada geese and two swans.

I’ve climbed Horse Pond before in the summer and snow covered is definitely worth the extra effort. The bare trees gave an even greater view – if that’s possible!

Yea, it’s possible! If you’re heading out this weekend expect thawing conditions = wet. Wear your woolies!!

Here are more pics on Flickr.

Saturn SL2 sedan – my everyday, 4 door car with roof rack and many miles on it. Tires are a little worn now so I got stuck in a snow bank the other day… Sips oil so I always have a few quarts in the trunk. She’s been with us for many good years – 177,000+ miles so far…

Saturn VUE – former family SUV. Great for loading up the snowboards and a few friends. Many family trips in this baby.

Mercury Marquis with all the bells & whistles – drove home from Columbus OH and now in our stable. A big soft cushion on wheels.

Honda Civic Si, five speed – fun little go cart! I could have gotten into trouble with this one! All weather tires on this made it a little squishy in the turns – now I see (feel) first hand why folks use the low profile tires. Stiff sidewalls.

Nissan Altima – this was a nice car. We rented it to drive to/from Columbus OH. Push button to start car (?), lots of power, nice ride and responsive.

Rusty ole Chevy Blazer – not driven too far because our 1976 Lightning sail boat and trailer were hitched to it, the trailer tires were shot (still are) and there’s no wiring for the lights. Oh, and it wasn’t registered….

Chevy Astro van OR GMC version of the same – drove my mom’s husband around north Jersey to help him out after he had broken his pelvis skiing (unfortunately, early in the season!).

As I think further back, the list (like many other folks, no doubt) grows even longer. Ford F350 dualie crew cab with 30ft goosneck trailer in tow while working with Team Jamis / NJ-Chicago & back a few times, LA to NYC. 4WD Pick Up with a snow plow. 1969 Chevy Nova (my first car!). Several different Toyota Tercels including my all time favorite car, my 1985 Tercel (245,000 miles – original clutch). Saab 95s and 96s (four speed on the column!). Volkswagen Beetle. Team Jamis box truck as well as several rentals for moving. Ford van as well as other rental vans for moving — which brings back to the start of this post.

What’s the point of listing all the different vehicles I’ve driven?

When I was a kid and my dad was teaching me how to drive he wanted me to learn stick shift. His reasoning was that if I was ever offered the opportunity to drive a Jeep or had to move someone’s car for some reason, that I’d be able to do it.

Simple logic. Like knowing how to focus your own camera and set the shutter speed before you grab a point and shoot = makes you a better photographer.

There are a million of people out there that have similar ideas – shifting your bicycle without indexing shifters comes to mind. Web project management people knowing basic code is another.  I’m sure there’s a musician’s version of this same reasoning.

Regardless, point is that knowing how things work fundamentally and how to work them makes you better at using them. You are able to extend that knowledge and apply it – here and elsewhere.

The simple way (automatic transmission, auto focus, etc.) may be easier and get you  similar results but I believe that you are a better driver, photographer, cyclist, musician, project manager IF you know more about how things are done and how to do them.

You don’t need to focus your own camera or code your own widgets but more understanding, more knowledge, more experience makes you more effective.

We had a few surf sessions but at our first, my mentee and I  had some difficulty arriving on time. We had to be at the beach by 9:30am which meant we had to meet around 8:00am and I had to leave home around 6:30am.

We met at a subway platform in Brooklyn. I waited a little bit before he showed up but not bad. I was early because I didn’t know how the bus / train schedule would work out.

Our train ride from Brooklyn to the beach had a bit of misunderstanding.  There was some construction somewhere on the line and it seemed to me that we needed to get off the train and onto a bus to cover this construction span.

Unfortunately, “seem” wasn’t correct.

We got off the subway and got on a bus. We rode for a while, maybe half an hour, then got to the end of the line. We tried to figure out what happened and the Transit Authority person told us to get back on the bus and go back to the train. We didn’t need to be on the bus in the first place!

So we took the bus back. We climbed the stairs to the platform and rushed to get on train – the doors were closing!

In the rush, we didn’t realize the train was headed in the wrong direction – back to Brooklyn – and since neither of us had been on the train in this area before we didn’t realize we were headed back to Brooklyn. We ended up almost back where we had met over an hour ago this morning.

He just laughed. At me? At the situation? I don’t know. Doesn’t really matter. We could have just gone back to Brooklyn and gotten pizza. We could have gone home and given up on the day. We could have thrown up our arms in frustration.

Instead, we persevered. We made the best of a unfavorable situation. We got on the right train and tried again. And, we made it to surf.

And what a GREAT day it was!!