Mountain Bike, September, 1996
by Dan Koeppel
There's a mugger for everyone in New York, tourist and local alike.Central Park is famous for them. Muggings are something of an entertainmenthere all part of the service.
But not all muggers wear stocking masks and carry knives. Some of themlook just like civil servants.
The scene was a publicity event: the Trek off-road racing team challengedon pavement a group of the city’s fastest bike messengers. The race wasat Tavern on the Green, a bad restaurant on the park's west side that hasa great view of many trees, a meadow, a bridle path.
An official from the City Parks Department launched the festivitiesby thanking Trek for a generous donation. I don't think Trek knew it, butthat’s where the crime was committed.
This wasn't the first theft I'd witnessed in Central Park. I saw a bikerider get pushed off at the North End. While he lay on the ground, a coupleof thugs made off with his Colnago. It probably sold for 50 bucks a fewblocks later.
When I was eight, I was standing near the Bethesda fountain when a strange-lookingman in a clown suit approached me. I am Pegasus, he said. He was carryingtambourines and a bunch of balloons, shaping them into forms possessedof an amusing anthropomorphism.
Two twists. Here's a duck! Another twist. Here’s a frog.
Then he leaned closer to me: Give me your money, kid. I reached intomy pocket and handed him 35 cents. He smirked and walked away, I thoughtI was just paying for the entertainment; it took my dad to tell me I'dbeen robbed.
For the Trek riders, the whole thing was innocent and fun. Travis Brown,Jeff Bicknell and Daryl Price were positively giddy. They were lodged inDonald Trump’s Plaza hotel. ( I think the Marriott’s nicer," saidPrice, who has good taste.).
The messenger team was a little more savvy, though awestruck. One worebike shorts over his jeans, which were held up with a thick leather beltand a brassy Marlboro buckle. A few stared at the Trek riders nervously.If the competition were a serious one (which thankfully, it wasn't), they'dbe sitting ducks.
We're just really excited to be hanging out with these guys, said BeltBuckle.
The race? It was a kind of relay/slalom: Each team sent out a riderwho maneuvered around cardboard figurines and three shining Volkswagenautomobiles to a table to pick up a package, and then back, The Trek guystook an early lead. One messenger crashed, and Price remained a good sportwhile a mock reception desk guard hassled him until the downed messengercould unpretzel his wheel. In the end, the Trek team won by a hair. Itwas pretty cool, and everybody had a great time.
So where's the dark side? If you live in New York, you can experienceit yourself. Ride to Tavern on the Green and position yourself on thatfabled start line. Imagine you're Travis or Daryl, listening to the inspiredtones of the Parks Department official, thanking your sponsor for generouspatronage. Look toward a wooded area a bit north of you. There’s a dirtpath there.
There are about 30 miles of such paths in Central Park the only trailsleft on this island that houses two million people.
Horses are allowed. Mountain bikers? Forget about it.
It’s kind of funny, Belt Buckle told me. Here we are, competing againstthe best dirt riders in the world, and we're not allowed. If you even puta wheel on the trails here, you'll be ticketed, harassed and maybe haveyour bike confiscated.
We're not talking the park’s wooded singletracks here. We're talkingabout groomed paths, bought and maintained . with public money in an urbanpark, Some illegal trials riding goes on, but mostly, a few well-heeledequestrians have a lock on that precious dirt. Makes me wonder what theratio of bike shops to bridle shops is in Manhattan.
A spokesperson at the Parks Department says there are no plans to changeexisting mountain bike policy."
It’s nice of Trek to donate money to the Parks Department. There areplenty of things the department can do with the cash maintain horse paths,refurbish the dilapidated children’s zoo, pay for VIP trips to AtlanticCity. Too bad that none of it will be used to mountain bikers.
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at messvilleto@yahoo.com