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| Thursday, 1-Sep-2005 00:00 |
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my roomate is leaving
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Edyta and Paola
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all good things come to the end & so Paola found a new place to live 
"asta luego, hermana"
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| Sunday, 28-Aug-2005 00:00 |
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another summer weekend in Killington
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New Pics - Viola's b-day in Killington, VT !
This time, it was Iwona's birthday ("evona" for those non-Polish speaking earthlings  ). Saturday seamed to start great - the sun was just blasting, but then ... we couldn't get any bikes, 'cause all of them were rented out. But after bit of persuasion, we found a place 10 miles of the mountain that did have bikes available. So I was able to pack 3 bikes into my new station wagon  & of we went.
Girls had a hard time adjusting to the mountain biking thing at first & then ... "Maciek!, Maciek!" - i heard Evona's scream ... surely Viola has wiped out & it did look scary at first, 'cause she wasn't moving. But then slowly she got up ... and she was a bit scratched and bruised. Well, we helped her walk down, took her to the First Aid & "mild concussion" was the verdict.
So, I dropped the girls home & went back on the mountain for some more punishment ... literally - it might have been Harry's influence, but for some reason i picked like the fucken, hardest trail on the mountain (not intentionally - got lost ...), 30 deg. steep, in the woods .... tree root caught me & i felt once ... i'm ok, kept on going & then i see this big puddle of mud ... with no way around it - i can do it ... bum! i'm knee high into the mud! but got up with a smile on my face ... my sneakers and pants all wet & my face black of mud. i kept on falling (no injuries) all the way down & ... i knew i must have been a bit dirty 'cause i was getting strange looks from people i was passing . but then went up again for some more!
ps: on the way back tested my beemma & it goes nice at 110 ... almost got caught by the cop, but he was too far behind me & i've noticed him getting closer in the traffic behind me ... all he could do is follow me for couple of minutes ... ufff 
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| Thursday, 18-Aug-2005 00:00 |
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so i've decided to grow up and get a car ...
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... i've been trying to avoid this step in life for the past 5 - 6 years & i've been so bad lucky with vehicles in New York (2 cars & 3 bikes stolen so far) ... that it took me a bit to come to this decition. but ... once i found this baby ... for the price ... sports wagon, stick shift ... and BMW ... couldn't resist . so i got my 1st dream car ... and yes it drives like a dream - as close to the motorcycle as car can get!
now, i just need to come up with some james bond, license plate hide mechanizm for when i run from the cops
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| Saturday, 13-Aug-2005 00:00 |
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Viola's b-day in Killington, VT
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we've decided to take Viola away this weekend for her, big 21-st birthday to Killington. of course we didn't do the mountain biking on saturday, thinking "we'll do it sunday", but ... it rained on sunday ... so we did alpine sliding with some more minor injuries on my part 
one of the highlights was Evona's name ... well, American's don't get (the real spelling is Iwona). So when boys were trying to "get it" after couple of drinks, Kasia got fed up & said "look, her name sounds just like I-Wana" ... boy that was the wrong choice of words ... boys immdiately picked up on the famous character from Austin Powers - "Iwana Humpalott" ... - let's just say that's what we all end up calling evona for the rest of the weekend
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| Sunday, 7-Aug-2005 00:00 |
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poker brings joy
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bit posed
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all natural
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priceless
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one of many "lessons in life" i've learned recently, is to appreciate ... laughter, especially when provoked by innocent game of poker
it felt good, to finnaly see a smile on Violla's face.
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| Monday, 25-Jul-2005 00:00 |
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race in peace, partners ...
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3:40 phone call (through my sleep, i'm thinking, "who the fuck is calling me at this time ?!")
5:40 phone call
6:13 ... I finally wake up to see who's calling me ... and I saw all of those calls are from a friend of mine, who rides with us. for some reason, I immediately knew that something happened to Derick ...
"what's up Ron" - "Magic ... i have some bad news ... Derick is no longer with us"
although i only knew my Guyanese "parners" (as I called him) for little over a year, my heart skipped a beat when i heard those words over the phone ... but for some reason it didn't really clicked in my head ... i felt anger, but i was calm at that moment, because i knew i had to be strong for someone else ... Violla, he's girlfriend, who didn't know yet and I was the one who had to make the phone call, to let her know ...
it was her hysterical scream over the phone that made me realize for the first time that this is not a dream ... my dear friend has died and i will not hear his voice or see his smile ever again.
it is ironic how i just wrote here 2 weeks ago about me seeing Brian going down, right in front of me and reflecting on the dangerous passion of ours ...
just on sunday, Edyta took me skydiving. there, before you jump you have to sign your life away and every other word on the form is "death" ... but at the time it was just an empty, meaningless word. nothing can prepare you for a sudden loss of a friend. you just simply have no fucken clue of what that word means ...
i probably realize a it a bit more now; after a day spent with his family and friends ... after seeing dozen of people cry and break down ... after seeing the place of the accident, the place where Derick has passed away, the puddle of blood where his head laid right before he went to the better place ...
i also have to thank all of the New York Motorcycle Teams (LOD, Lost Boys, Ghost Riders, Lunatics, etc) for showing up on Monday night ... there were about 200 motorcycles, paying their respect to our brother.
it is hard and it is devastating, frustrating to understand why this, young 32 old man, who was loved by almost everyone is no longer with us .... "easy partners"
my last photo of Derick
"rainy" day turned into a nice Sunday ride
trip to Bear Mountain z Wariatkami
bohemia beer garder in Astoria
riding with friends frorm Poland (the nite when Violla met Derick)
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| Wednesday, 20-Jul-2005 00:00 |
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more 42nd street chronicals
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previous 42nd street chronicals post
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| Tuesday, 19-Jul-2005 00:00 |
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mishou
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So Edyta invited me for her newest gig to play at Knitting Factory with a Haitian singer - Mishou. What a show! I'd say a combination of Wy Clef John and Macy Gray (without the raspy voice ).
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| Wednesday, 13-Jul-2005 00:00 |
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boat basin - b-day cellebration x2 ;)
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u know how we do ... 1 b-day party is not enough & since Marcelo is my fellow cancer ... we got to do it all over again!
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| Tuesday, 12-Jul-2005 00:00 |
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living the fine line between life and death
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motorcycles are the biggest passion of my life ... but most dangerous one as well. last night a friend of mine went down (felt) right in front of me & it just reminded me again how dangerous this passion is ...
he felt due to a combination of stupid "coincidences": weather, the way we were riding, new bike he was getting used to ...
all of the sudden I saw him hit the ground right in front of me, started sliding on the pavement, as if he was trying to break dance & then he started rolling to lesser the "road rash" (nasty burn marks on your skin when your skin hits the asphalt at 40 mph +). i'm breaking and i see his motorcycle (as if it was in slow motion) slowly sliding across the highway (sparks flying), right in front of me. then i see another friend of mine, almost running him over. we stop the traffic on the highway, pick up his bike, get him to a safe place .... he's ok, just shocked - could have been much worst if a car would get involved in this mess.
i had few close calls ("almost crashes") myself & it just makes you think when it happens - a "wake up call" from above:
- 2 weeks ago, after hitting a nasty bump at 140mph on a turn, my bike tank slapped me (when the handle bar starts to wiggle back and forth) and all i could do is straight the bike up and break as hard as i could. i heard my brand new tires (thank u Michelin!) screeching on top of their longs and saw a car in front of me getting closer and closer ... last minute, i was able to swerve and avoid hitting it ... it was very close ....
- last nite, it rained a bit & against my better judgment i brought the bike up to 140 on the BQE only to be caught by stop dead traffic & as i started breaking ... i feel my front tire sliding (yes, i believe it was the Michelin tires again, that saved my life) ... i let go of the front break, tried rear, front again and swerved to the side to avoid hitting a big truck that was stopped in my way ...
i must say that i have been very lucky so far ... i thank who ever is watching over me and yes ... this was a wake up call and it did wake me up a bit, not that i want to stop riding, but my eyes are wide open again.
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