Kip's NYC Trip Diary
Photo credit: Wikipedia
DAY 1
The flight to New York was one of the more pleasant ones I've had! They had these nifty little TV things in the seats, so Aaron and I played trivia games with other passengers and watched various TV shows. After about two hours, we landed in New York! We found a Taxi pretty easily, and took a traditionally reckless journey to our hotel! The hotel's kinda funny, everything's really small. There are six rooms per floor, and about… 200 square feet maybe? It's a good New York room. Outside, there's the typical dismal, brown, sweatshoppy high-rises. We walked around the fashion district for a bit, and picked up some good street food. One buck for a good slice of pizza, two dollars for a hotdog (Aaron didn't like it so I got two), and some honey roasted peanuts. We poked around the fashion district, and saw pretty much the exact same dinky little shop about 20 times. Seriously, there's this entire row of small shops that have seemingly the exact same dresses and fashions in the windows. We then walked over to times square and poked around the bigger stores there, mostly the sportier ones, myself browsing shoes, and Aaron browsing socks and shirts (he's short on those). We basically just wandered around there, we checked out the big ol' Toys R us megastore thing until we were bored/hungry. For dinner, we went to the Evergreen Café near Times Square. It was a really nice place! Quiet, peaceful, good food for great prices (even for New York!). I had a bacon cheeseburger and tea, and Aaron got baked potato with cheddar and bacon bits, which, realistically, was a huge pile of bacon and cheese garnished with potato. We weren't complaining! We moseyed on back down through the hotel, stopping to admire Times Square during the night. Boy is it cool! All of the neon, and the signs, just spectacular. We headed back to the hotel, where I realized I say "we headed" too much, and we relaxed with basketball games and some auction show.
The flight to New York was one of the more pleasant ones I've had! They had these nifty little TV things in the seats, so Aaron and I played trivia games with other passengers and watched various TV shows. After about two hours, we landed in New York! We found a Taxi pretty easily, and took a traditionally reckless journey to our hotel! The hotel's kinda funny, everything's really small. There are six rooms per floor, and about… 200 square feet maybe? It's a good New York room. Outside, there's the typical dismal, brown, sweatshoppy high-rises. We walked around the fashion district for a bit, and picked up some good street food. One buck for a good slice of pizza, two dollars for a hotdog (Aaron didn't like it so I got two), and some honey roasted peanuts. We poked around the fashion district, and saw pretty much the exact same dinky little shop about 20 times. Seriously, there's this entire row of small shops that have seemingly the exact same dresses and fashions in the windows. We then walked over to times square and poked around the bigger stores there, mostly the sportier ones, myself browsing shoes, and Aaron browsing socks and shirts (he's short on those). We basically just wandered around there, we checked out the big ol' Toys R us megastore thing until we were bored/hungry. For dinner, we went to the Evergreen Café near Times Square. It was a really nice place! Quiet, peaceful, good food for great prices (even for New York!). I had a bacon cheeseburger and tea, and Aaron got baked potato with cheddar and bacon bits, which, realistically, was a huge pile of bacon and cheese garnished with potato. We weren't complaining! We moseyed on back down through the hotel, stopping to admire Times Square during the night. Boy is it cool! All of the neon, and the signs, just spectacular. We headed back to the hotel, where I realized I say "we headed" too much, and we relaxed with basketball games and some auction show.
DAY 2
The first stop for today was the Museum of Natural History. It's in this awesome, awesome victorian chateauey building. It has red stone, with huge columns on the faceade. You walk in, and on the inside there's a gigantic rotunda, with enormous marble pillars propping it up. They have a great array of assembled dinosaur fossils in the middle of the rotunda. Once you get past this, it's kinda disappointing, I thought. First off, the museum is hard to navigate. There aren't many signs, and when there are, they are kind of unclear. There aren't many maps, and when there are, they're tiny and difficult to read. The halls (actually, corridors, that seems more fitting) are kind of jumbled and don't seem to fit a specific pattern, and staircases are far spaced and hard to find. So there's that. That puts a damper on the experience because it's kind of like navigating through a noisy, poorly designed maze for a lot of it. It doesn't help that the building is huge.
The second bit about the poor design was the incoherent sequence of exhibits. There was a showcase of all marine mammals which led to African mammals, which led to American trees, which led to eastern Native Americans! It didn't really make sense. If you didn't want to go through one exhibit to find another, that was difficult, and they all seemed to end up in different, illogical places… So that wasn't great. Also, the conditions of the bathrooms were really bad there. Seriously. It was gross. It was closing in on a bad public school bathroom, and for a public museum, that is unacceptable.
For lunch, we dashed through the wind and the rain to the Shake Shack about two blocks away. I approve! I was not feeling too well, so I didn't end up eating much, But, from what I did have, it was great! I got a strawberry shake, which is unusual for me, but It was very good, and from what Aaron told me, the burgers were great too. We dashed back and saw a planetarium thing, blah blah blah, it was mediocre.
The highlight of the night was seeing How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, with none other than Daniel Radcliffe! It was fantastic!! Everything about it was pretty much perfect. Daniel was good, he put on a good American accent and wasn't half bad at the singing or dancing parts either! The thing that I noticed most was his height. He should've played Dobby! He looked tiny up on stage. The sets were fantastic, they had these art-deco hexagons that had lights in them, and the lights would change color or patterns depending on the situation. The choreography was great, the dancing was both impressive and funny. My personal favorite part was the actors, and mostly the older, more experienced ones: John Larroquette, Rob Bartlett, Michael Park and Ellen Harvey. They were fantastic in every way! I loved 'em. The plot of the play was fun and the play was fun. Go see it, it was excellent!!
The first stop for today was the Museum of Natural History. It's in this awesome, awesome victorian chateauey building. It has red stone, with huge columns on the faceade. You walk in, and on the inside there's a gigantic rotunda, with enormous marble pillars propping it up. They have a great array of assembled dinosaur fossils in the middle of the rotunda. Once you get past this, it's kinda disappointing, I thought. First off, the museum is hard to navigate. There aren't many signs, and when there are, they are kind of unclear. There aren't many maps, and when there are, they're tiny and difficult to read. The halls (actually, corridors, that seems more fitting) are kind of jumbled and don't seem to fit a specific pattern, and staircases are far spaced and hard to find. So there's that. That puts a damper on the experience because it's kind of like navigating through a noisy, poorly designed maze for a lot of it. It doesn't help that the building is huge.
The second bit about the poor design was the incoherent sequence of exhibits. There was a showcase of all marine mammals which led to African mammals, which led to American trees, which led to eastern Native Americans! It didn't really make sense. If you didn't want to go through one exhibit to find another, that was difficult, and they all seemed to end up in different, illogical places… So that wasn't great. Also, the conditions of the bathrooms were really bad there. Seriously. It was gross. It was closing in on a bad public school bathroom, and for a public museum, that is unacceptable.
For lunch, we dashed through the wind and the rain to the Shake Shack about two blocks away. I approve! I was not feeling too well, so I didn't end up eating much, But, from what I did have, it was great! I got a strawberry shake, which is unusual for me, but It was very good, and from what Aaron told me, the burgers were great too. We dashed back and saw a planetarium thing, blah blah blah, it was mediocre.
The highlight of the night was seeing How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, with none other than Daniel Radcliffe! It was fantastic!! Everything about it was pretty much perfect. Daniel was good, he put on a good American accent and wasn't half bad at the singing or dancing parts either! The thing that I noticed most was his height. He should've played Dobby! He looked tiny up on stage. The sets were fantastic, they had these art-deco hexagons that had lights in them, and the lights would change color or patterns depending on the situation. The choreography was great, the dancing was both impressive and funny. My personal favorite part was the actors, and mostly the older, more experienced ones: John Larroquette, Rob Bartlett, Michael Park and Ellen Harvey. They were fantastic in every way! I loved 'em. The plot of the play was fun and the play was fun. Go see it, it was excellent!!
DAY 3
Today we saw the Statue of Liberty. They had a nice museum there. It was pretty good. We didn't go all the way to the top, which was disappointing, but it was good nonetheless.
We then saw Ellis Island. It was cooler than the statue.
We walked aound.
We came back.
Yay!
Today we saw the Statue of Liberty. They had a nice museum there. It was pretty good. We didn't go all the way to the top, which was disappointing, but it was good nonetheless.
We then saw Ellis Island. It was cooler than the statue.
We walked aound.
We came back.
Yay!
DAY 4
Okay! So today we toured the entire U.S.S. Intrepid exhibit, as well as took a great boat tour along the entire island of Manhattan.
Let me first say that I would highly recommend the Intrepid and all surrounding exhibits. Everything is well curated and very interesting. We started by touring the Growler, a Cold War era submarine docked right next to the Intrepid. When it was operational, the Growler would have been stationed about 100 miles off the eastern coast of the Soviet Union, ready to launch missiles in case of an attack on the U.S. At the little kiosk before you entered the Growler, they had a hatch taken out of the Growler, and you had to demonstrate that you could make your way through it before they'd let you on. This was smart, because there was one of those hatches about every ten feet. We got inside the growler, and after a short little introduction and background information spiel given by a worker there, they let us walk through at our own leisure! They had little plaques labeling interesting points in the sub, such as the torpedo rooms, the captains quarters, the mess halls, and the kitchens. They had an extra employee man near the middle of the submarine to answer any questions you might have about the sub. The sub was cool, but really it gave you an impression on how little you wanted to be on a submarine.
After we exited that, we went onto the Intrepid! We started on the top deck and worked our way downward. On the top deck they had a lot of planes and other aircraft resting there. An SR-71 Blackbird, a Huey helicopter, and several other Cold War era jets and fighters. Once you got below decks, the real fun began! They had a great museum detailing all about aircraft carriers and other things like them. They had information about all the planes, the life of the Intrepid, etc. They had some flight simulators, and several short films about aircraft carriers. The coolest exhibit was about the several Kamikaze attacks on the Intrepid. They had several projectors that played vintage film of WWII naval battles, which was surprisingly cool. They had a ton of footage. The coolest part was when they showed the Kamikaze attack. They showed footage of a plane smashing into a carrier and exploding, and sort of simulated an explosion with lights and a fog machine. It was very well done. We went and looked at the gun tubs, the various mess halls, and ate a snack at the restaurant there. The whole thing was pretty cool mostly because of the use of space they had going on there! It was awesome that they fit that much stuff into the place, and they managed to keep it comfortable and museum style without losing the whole aircraft carrier feel. I would definitely recommend going there!
We took a lunch break at P.D. O'Hurley's, right next to the Intrepid. It was pretty good! Nothing super special, we mostly went there for the convenience factor of going straight from the Intrepid to the circle line cruises.
The last part of our day was taken up by a three -hour boat tour around the entire island of Manhattan. Now, three hours may sound like a really long time, but it is definitely worth it. It was funny, we took the circle line tours, and it seemed like all of their staff was super friendly, comparatively. Dunno! Just a thing I noticed. Anyway, they took us around the entire island, and a really kindly old man with a nice voice talked about all of the interesting landmarks you could see. I fell asleep for about a third of it (because I was tired for some reason, not because it was boring), so I might not be the best judge of how good it was, but from what I saw, it was great! I'd highly recommend it. Very informative, pleasant, interesting, and it took you around the entire island! It was pretty cool how much stuff the tour guide knew. It was everything a good boat tour should be!
Okay! So today we toured the entire U.S.S. Intrepid exhibit, as well as took a great boat tour along the entire island of Manhattan.
Let me first say that I would highly recommend the Intrepid and all surrounding exhibits. Everything is well curated and very interesting. We started by touring the Growler, a Cold War era submarine docked right next to the Intrepid. When it was operational, the Growler would have been stationed about 100 miles off the eastern coast of the Soviet Union, ready to launch missiles in case of an attack on the U.S. At the little kiosk before you entered the Growler, they had a hatch taken out of the Growler, and you had to demonstrate that you could make your way through it before they'd let you on. This was smart, because there was one of those hatches about every ten feet. We got inside the growler, and after a short little introduction and background information spiel given by a worker there, they let us walk through at our own leisure! They had little plaques labeling interesting points in the sub, such as the torpedo rooms, the captains quarters, the mess halls, and the kitchens. They had an extra employee man near the middle of the submarine to answer any questions you might have about the sub. The sub was cool, but really it gave you an impression on how little you wanted to be on a submarine.
After we exited that, we went onto the Intrepid! We started on the top deck and worked our way downward. On the top deck they had a lot of planes and other aircraft resting there. An SR-71 Blackbird, a Huey helicopter, and several other Cold War era jets and fighters. Once you got below decks, the real fun began! They had a great museum detailing all about aircraft carriers and other things like them. They had information about all the planes, the life of the Intrepid, etc. They had some flight simulators, and several short films about aircraft carriers. The coolest exhibit was about the several Kamikaze attacks on the Intrepid. They had several projectors that played vintage film of WWII naval battles, which was surprisingly cool. They had a ton of footage. The coolest part was when they showed the Kamikaze attack. They showed footage of a plane smashing into a carrier and exploding, and sort of simulated an explosion with lights and a fog machine. It was very well done. We went and looked at the gun tubs, the various mess halls, and ate a snack at the restaurant there. The whole thing was pretty cool mostly because of the use of space they had going on there! It was awesome that they fit that much stuff into the place, and they managed to keep it comfortable and museum style without losing the whole aircraft carrier feel. I would definitely recommend going there!
We took a lunch break at P.D. O'Hurley's, right next to the Intrepid. It was pretty good! Nothing super special, we mostly went there for the convenience factor of going straight from the Intrepid to the circle line cruises.
The last part of our day was taken up by a three -hour boat tour around the entire island of Manhattan. Now, three hours may sound like a really long time, but it is definitely worth it. It was funny, we took the circle line tours, and it seemed like all of their staff was super friendly, comparatively. Dunno! Just a thing I noticed. Anyway, they took us around the entire island, and a really kindly old man with a nice voice talked about all of the interesting landmarks you could see. I fell asleep for about a third of it (because I was tired for some reason, not because it was boring), so I might not be the best judge of how good it was, but from what I saw, it was great! I'd highly recommend it. Very informative, pleasant, interesting, and it took you around the entire island! It was pretty cool how much stuff the tour guide knew. It was everything a good boat tour should be!
DAY 5
Today was a very churchy day for us!
The first stop was a subway ride and a nice saunter through lovely Fort Tyron Park, to the Cloisters museum of medieval art. It's built in a big, Neo-Medieval chateauy fortressy building upon a hill, overlooking the river. Even though it was opened in 1938, the building feels authentic, and coupled with all of the relics there, the entire thing seems like a nice monastery! They have a suggested donation to get in, but you don't actually need to pay it (we payed it). Inside, they have all sorts of cool doorways, arches, and pillars hauled in from Europe that help complete the look. There's tons of wooden statues of church people, bishops, popes, saints, etc., and several very cool crypt covers of people who had been buried more than 600 years ago. They had holy relic containers, my favorite being a big golden hand that used to contain the arm bones of a saint (creepy). They had a room with some famous tapestries depicting a unicorn hunt and several huge hand-stitched wall hangings with beautiful art of a unicorn hunt. It really made you appreciate how long it must have taken to make that thing. It was a really good museum, and I would totally recommend it!
We then hopped on the subway once again and took it down to Morning Side, where we went into the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. If you have a moment, do yourself and your architectural side a favor and take a gander inside. The cathedral is unfinished, but it is still the most impressive building I have ever seen. It's huge. It's incredible. I was in awe of it the entire time. Seriously, I don't know if I can describe how incredible this building is. The craftsmanship involved, the beauty and detail, the scale of everything, is just stunning. There was a dude there that was playing a Japanese Koto harp, which played well with the acoustics of the church, and was really enjoyable to listen to. I know this paragraph is shorter than the one above it, but I'd really stress that if you have an extra half an hour, go spend it at the Cathedral of St. John the unfinished. You will not regret it.
For lunch, we were really hungry, so we stopped at this joint called Tom's Diner, which had been running since 1940. Jerry Seinfeld and Barack Obama used to be regulars there, and Susanne Vega wrote a song about the restaurant. It was run by a bunch of Greek folks and had a good, hearty New York feel to it. The service was very fast, the prices were… alright, but the food was great. Filling, tasty and homestyle, it was everything we wanted for lunch. I would definitely recommend it!
Today was a very churchy day for us!
The first stop was a subway ride and a nice saunter through lovely Fort Tyron Park, to the Cloisters museum of medieval art. It's built in a big, Neo-Medieval chateauy fortressy building upon a hill, overlooking the river. Even though it was opened in 1938, the building feels authentic, and coupled with all of the relics there, the entire thing seems like a nice monastery! They have a suggested donation to get in, but you don't actually need to pay it (we payed it). Inside, they have all sorts of cool doorways, arches, and pillars hauled in from Europe that help complete the look. There's tons of wooden statues of church people, bishops, popes, saints, etc., and several very cool crypt covers of people who had been buried more than 600 years ago. They had holy relic containers, my favorite being a big golden hand that used to contain the arm bones of a saint (creepy). They had a room with some famous tapestries depicting a unicorn hunt and several huge hand-stitched wall hangings with beautiful art of a unicorn hunt. It really made you appreciate how long it must have taken to make that thing. It was a really good museum, and I would totally recommend it!
We then hopped on the subway once again and took it down to Morning Side, where we went into the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. If you have a moment, do yourself and your architectural side a favor and take a gander inside. The cathedral is unfinished, but it is still the most impressive building I have ever seen. It's huge. It's incredible. I was in awe of it the entire time. Seriously, I don't know if I can describe how incredible this building is. The craftsmanship involved, the beauty and detail, the scale of everything, is just stunning. There was a dude there that was playing a Japanese Koto harp, which played well with the acoustics of the church, and was really enjoyable to listen to. I know this paragraph is shorter than the one above it, but I'd really stress that if you have an extra half an hour, go spend it at the Cathedral of St. John the unfinished. You will not regret it.
For lunch, we were really hungry, so we stopped at this joint called Tom's Diner, which had been running since 1940. Jerry Seinfeld and Barack Obama used to be regulars there, and Susanne Vega wrote a song about the restaurant. It was run by a bunch of Greek folks and had a good, hearty New York feel to it. The service was very fast, the prices were… alright, but the food was great. Filling, tasty and homestyle, it was everything we wanted for lunch. I would definitely recommend it!
DAY 6
Well, today we mostly just visited some friends of ours, so this'll be a short edition.
The first writeup-worthy thing was the Bryant Park Grill! It's a restaurant right off of (you guessed it) Bryant Park. We met up with some of my dad's friends there for brunch. We were going to a different friend's house for more food afterward, so we purposefully didn't eat quite as much as we normally would, in case that skews the review. First off, the restaurant's atmosphere is very pleasant. It has big, sunny windows facing the park, with green ivy overflowing onto the tops of them. The entire restaurant is very well lit, and all of the wood is of a beautiful, shiny cherry.
It was brunch, so I ordered french toast, with "strawberry preserves, and a mixed berry salad", which was like $19. The strawberry preserves turned out to be a small splotch of jam on one of the pieces of toast. It had some melty whipped cream, and the mixed berry salad actually consisted of about five strawberry halves, and a handful of blueberries. So it was a bit disappointing. The french toast itself looked very nice, but it did not taste too good. It was extremely gooey on the inside, almost like some weird batter, which I did not like, and did not quite have the right, sweet enough taste. So, the restaurant was pretty nice, but the french toast was overpriced and not great…
The second noteworthy thing we did was tour the Empire State Building, a New York classic. You walk in and see the well granted, beautifully art deco styled interior. There were brass effigies of the building on the walls, and these great sun-gear patterns dancing all over the ceiling and some of the windows. They had every one of the employees dressed up in the maroon garb of period bellhops, with shiny gold epaulets and matching hats and ties, which I thought was a nice touch. Anyway, you go up a series of escalators, which leads you to a series of elevators, which leads you to the observation deck! The deck has both an indoor an an outdoor section. Indoors, it is quite nice, but the view is not so good. Outdoors, the view is superb, but as you can imagine, it is WINDY! This is not for the extremely light or those who become airborne easily, for some of the gusts are ferocious. It's also pretty cold, so bring an extra warm thing. But, the view is great, so bring your camera too! You can see forever, and especially at night with all the lights, it's great. They have this free audio thing you can utilize, which has a dude with a good New York accent telling you about the city. you press different numbers, and he points out different landmarks and tells a story, or gives you some background information on them. The Empire State Building is a good attraction to see! Even though it isn't the most mind blowingly amazing thing in the city, It's a New York classic, and is totally worth going to.
Well, today we mostly just visited some friends of ours, so this'll be a short edition.
The first writeup-worthy thing was the Bryant Park Grill! It's a restaurant right off of (you guessed it) Bryant Park. We met up with some of my dad's friends there for brunch. We were going to a different friend's house for more food afterward, so we purposefully didn't eat quite as much as we normally would, in case that skews the review. First off, the restaurant's atmosphere is very pleasant. It has big, sunny windows facing the park, with green ivy overflowing onto the tops of them. The entire restaurant is very well lit, and all of the wood is of a beautiful, shiny cherry.
It was brunch, so I ordered french toast, with "strawberry preserves, and a mixed berry salad", which was like $19. The strawberry preserves turned out to be a small splotch of jam on one of the pieces of toast. It had some melty whipped cream, and the mixed berry salad actually consisted of about five strawberry halves, and a handful of blueberries. So it was a bit disappointing. The french toast itself looked very nice, but it did not taste too good. It was extremely gooey on the inside, almost like some weird batter, which I did not like, and did not quite have the right, sweet enough taste. So, the restaurant was pretty nice, but the french toast was overpriced and not great…
The second noteworthy thing we did was tour the Empire State Building, a New York classic. You walk in and see the well granted, beautifully art deco styled interior. There were brass effigies of the building on the walls, and these great sun-gear patterns dancing all over the ceiling and some of the windows. They had every one of the employees dressed up in the maroon garb of period bellhops, with shiny gold epaulets and matching hats and ties, which I thought was a nice touch. Anyway, you go up a series of escalators, which leads you to a series of elevators, which leads you to the observation deck! The deck has both an indoor an an outdoor section. Indoors, it is quite nice, but the view is not so good. Outdoors, the view is superb, but as you can imagine, it is WINDY! This is not for the extremely light or those who become airborne easily, for some of the gusts are ferocious. It's also pretty cold, so bring an extra warm thing. But, the view is great, so bring your camera too! You can see forever, and especially at night with all the lights, it's great. They have this free audio thing you can utilize, which has a dude with a good New York accent telling you about the city. you press different numbers, and he points out different landmarks and tells a story, or gives you some background information on them. The Empire State Building is a good attraction to see! Even though it isn't the most mind blowingly amazing thing in the city, It's a New York classic, and is totally worth going to.
DAY 7
I have noticed Aaron becoming meaner of late, more unnecessarily insulting and rude. I don't like it.
Chinatown was really cool! Mostly it's just trinket shopping, but that's fun in itself. Feel free to bargain here. We bought a lot of presents for friends here. It is also interesting to look at all of the different Chinese shops and eateries. Lots of fish markets, lots of places to eat duck, etc.
Tenement Museum was pretty good, but don't go on the two hour walking tour, there's not much walking, and it's not too interesting. Do the one where you actually go in the tenement, that's cool.
Lombardi's was really good. Good atmosphere, good food.
I have noticed Aaron becoming meaner of late, more unnecessarily insulting and rude. I don't like it.
Chinatown was really cool! Mostly it's just trinket shopping, but that's fun in itself. Feel free to bargain here. We bought a lot of presents for friends here. It is also interesting to look at all of the different Chinese shops and eateries. Lots of fish markets, lots of places to eat duck, etc.
Tenement Museum was pretty good, but don't go on the two hour walking tour, there's not much walking, and it's not too interesting. Do the one where you actually go in the tenement, that's cool.
Lombardi's was really good. Good atmosphere, good food.
DAY 8
Central Park: Great! Very beautiful, it's amazing that that place can exist in New York.
Bike Tours: Very good! A good way to enjoy the park, a little expensive though.
Metropolitan Museum of Art: Awesome! Be sure to reserve an entire day for this, as it is huge, but everything is super cool. The restaurant is kind of expensive and just okay.
Blooms Cafe & Deli: Food that tastes bad. Not recommended.
Toga bikes: If you're doing a waterfront tour, do this! Much more fairly priced, and there are a lot of cool bikes.
Central Park: Great! Very beautiful, it's amazing that that place can exist in New York.
Bike Tours: Very good! A good way to enjoy the park, a little expensive though.
Metropolitan Museum of Art: Awesome! Be sure to reserve an entire day for this, as it is huge, but everything is super cool. The restaurant is kind of expensive and just okay.
Blooms Cafe & Deli: Food that tastes bad. Not recommended.
Toga bikes: If you're doing a waterfront tour, do this! Much more fairly priced, and there are a lot of cool bikes.