Right now it is freezing outside and I am looking at my bike while the weather channel is talking about a snow storm coming. All I can think about is springtime and getting on the bike and exploring new places in the city. Last year after I got the bike tuned up I explored parts of Manhattan that I never knew existed.

This year I want to explore Brooklyn and other places that I haven’t been to yet. I want to explore Brooklyn Bridge Park but I am not sure if bike riding is allowed there. I will have to look into that. I want to ride along the belt parkway near the Verrazano bridge. I haven’t been down there in years. Probably the last time I was down there was in 2003 when I did the 5 boro bike tour.  If you haven’t done that ride I suggest you add it to your bucket list.

I want some help from my readers as I am looking to find some cool places to ride in Brooklyn. Can you help me out?

My New Fuji Allegro

So for the past couple of weeks I have been harping on getting a bike. I wanted so bad to have the bike that I use to ride steadily that I decided to find one and get one just like I use to have.

This bike is a Fuji Allegro and it took a few weeks but I finally got one. A bonus is that it is the same color as the one I use to have.

After a few weeks of searching Craigslist and almost pulling the trigger on a couple of EBay auctions that were either too big for me or they needed work I finally bought one.  I noticed that these bikes were being listed on EBay every few days so I decided to wait for the exact one I had and that is what I won. It cost me $180 and that is about what they were going for on EBay anyway. I am happy about that.

I am pretty excited to have a bike that I loved so much and use to ride all the time. I am going to change the brakes on the bike as I like the ones that go across the base of the handlebars. Odds are I will change the rear sprocket sometime down the road like I use to have.

I am looking for a good bike shop in Brooklyn or Manhattan to get the bike tuned up. I use to hang out at a bike shop and do tune ups and stuff I just don’t feel like doing it this time.  If you know of a good bike shop leave the url in the comments section.

The bike should be here in a few days as it is being shipped from Boston and I look forward to adding a few miles everyday to my workouts.

If you have not been keeping up you can read about my weight loss plan here.

I was in downtown Brooklyn on Saturday and took some pictures of the new Brooklyn Nets Arena being built. The Barclay Center will be done in time for the 2012 season.

Brooklyn Nets Arena

Building the Brooklyn Nets Arena

This was taken from in front of the Guitar Center entrance to the Atlantic ave mall. The mall is going to be really busy during games.

Atlantic Avenue MallBrooklyn Nets Arena Construction

Downtown Brooklyn Arena

bus in my shot

Well that was my little trip to downtown Brooklyn. I can’t imagine what it will look like before a game or a concert. The traffic is going to be nuts and the best thing is to take the train. The New Nets arena can be reached by the 2,3,4,5,N,R,B,D,Q, LIRR and only a few shorts blocks from the C train or the G train.

For years my site and blog focused on giving you planning tips for when you come to the city. It occurred to me the other day that there will be some users on the site that will be looking for information about Brooklyn that may never make it here.

In the next few post I am going to keep that in mind as I find some wonderful things about Brooklyn that can be shared without ever having to come to Brooklyn. I must have thousands of pictures like this one below of a subway sign from probably the 1950′s that is on the Jay Street Metrotech stop on the A line.

Old Subway Sign at Jay Street in Brooklyn

I am going to change what I have been doing and posting more random pictures of Brooklyn for all to see.

As Debbie and I were wandering around Brooklyn one day it occurred to us that we should have a podcast about Brooklyn. There are so many great places to see that taking the time and writing about everyone would be very time consuming. We visit all the parks and visit many of the restaurants and having a podcast can really help tourist and locals learn all about Brooklyn.

Our first podcast is a about some of the best restaurants in Brooklyn. We have two favorite places where we like to eat. One is in Park Slope and the other is at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge.

The restaurant in park Slope is called Magnolias and I really love the place. Besides being a nice place to sit down and just have a great meal the decor of the restaurant is amazing. We visit there whenever we go to Prospect Park. You can visit their website Magnolias and look at the menu and the place. You will fall in love with it just like we have. Connect with Roger the owner on Twitter at @MagnoliaRest

Our second place is Petes Dowtown. This place has amazing views as it is right under the Brooklyn Bridge. Their meals are amazing and their prices are very reasonable. The staff are very friendly. Connect with them on Twitter @Petesdowntown.

Yesterday we went down to the Brooklyn Botanic garden to look at the roses and stumbled upon a red-tailed hawk. I had to stop taking pictures of the roses and focus on the hawk which was way too high to get a good shot of him.

It is always a nice surprise when you see something that is unexpected. Although I found out later that the hawks are quite common it took me by surprise. Below is a small video I took of the hawk flying around. I am sorry it really isn’t good but it was the best I could do.

Here are some videos that I took during my trip to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It is an amazing place and you really forget you are in Brooklyn. This was shot in late April and there is really something to see here no matter what time of year you go.

Here is a Robin taking a bath in a waterfall. Yes it is in Brooklyn lol

Turtles all lined up in the Japanese Pond.

Yellow Daffodils

Japanese Pond : Water animals and beauty

Shakespeare Garden : Herbs and flowers mixed

Pretty Flowers : They are all over the place as you can imagine.

Brooklyn Conservatory : There was a wedding going on inside. Probably one of the best places to get married in Brooklyn.

That is enough for today. If you are going to the gardens they are free on Tuesday. You can take the Franklin shuttle train to the Botanic garden stop or take the B or Q and get off at Prospect park. Walk towards the Wendys and enter the gardens there.

Met these nice people last year when they paddled up to my summer home near the Rockaways. They had about 15 kayaks and they went and got pizza for lunch.

Who knew that Brooklyn had such a club.

Just started listing some homemade jewelry and key chains on Etsy. You can see my shop here. Brooklyn Etsy Shop.

Bookmark the page as it will soon be loaded with some cool Brooklyn themed items.

Today I am standing on a subway platform in downtown Brooklyn, A Japanese guy with only a duffle bag ask me how to get to the airport. As I am giving him directions I ask him where he is flying to and he tells me Japan. I say you don’t have much luggage for such a far away destination he says he flew in this morning from Japan to see the place where Mr Matsui plays before they tear it down.

The guy had a subway map detailed with exactly how long it would take to go stop for stop on the train all the way to the Bronx. He came all the way from Japan to see Yankee Stadium. He didn’t even stay for tonight’s Yankee game. Fly in and fly home and that is it.

He says to me that he was amazed that there was not a big statue of Mr Matsui outside of Yankee Stadium. I just chuckled under my breath. I don’t think there is even a statue of Babe Ruth at the stadium and this guy was expecting a Matsui statue.

I made sure he got on a Far Rockaway bound “A” train that will take him to the Howard Beach station for connection with the Airtrain to JFK Airport. After such a long trip I wanted to make sure he got home ok.