I'm a hustler, baby. I want you to know. Here's my latest grand plan: a bike cruising strip, or maybe just a cruise. Something like the vibe on the Halloween Critical Mass ride, but more leisurly and on quieter Brooklyn streets. I think it would be a sexy hit and local merchants could prosper. It might do something to bring people together; kind of like a street fair. Of course, in my fantasies it would be kind of like New Orleans on bikes. Well, put that idea aside for a while. See if it still makes sense in a realistic frame of mind.

Anyway, what prompted this was getting real good and high and going trucking off around North Brooklyn for some manly urban cycling, the thrill of speed and all that jazz. I was kind of tapped out, because this was after going to the gym, cardio included. But I got a little itchy in my feet. Had to get out and run.

The streets are allright out here. Not as loose as I remember them being when I was a younger man, but still bustling. There was a real live hipster tuesday night street scene on South Bedford -- people just hanging out on the sidewalks. And there are Polish teenagers playing two on two soccer under a streetlisht at the end of Franklin St. Things are alive. See, it's the first really nice evening after a solid spring day. There have been a few decent afternoons, but this is the first time I can recall it feeling like this (temperature wise) after dark. If it holds through the weekend, lookout!

I outran a few people, sprinted through a few lights, dawdled in the places I like and buzzed through the stretches in between. It was a nice mix of sightseeing and power-cycling. I would have gone longer if I hadn't started getting dehydrated after about 20 minutes.

Usually these city rides help me clear my head, or at least dig around in it for something. Didn't come up with much this time -- other than that Bike Cruise idea, but I think that was actually just a remembered idea from a few days ago, not even original -- but I did burn off some steam and scrub a little grime off the doors of my perception.

What if we turned "vagabender" into a platform for the people we meet to express themselves? Like pick up feeds if they have them, or give them their own civicspace blogs. Maybe a few of them would post something once a month or so. It could be exciting.