New York City

From New York City

If you have ever been to New York you know it's one of the coolest cities in the world. It's a five hour bus ride from our little city on the south coast of Massachusetts. A bit longer than driving it yourself but the bus is not a bad way to travel.

Off and on heavy rains greeted us on Thursday and lasted throughout the day. Friday turned out very nice and allowed us to do some great walking activities. One of my favorites is the walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Another is Times Square, which by the way is close to vehicle traffic. That was a really good decision by the leaders of the city. There were lots of complaints before the closing that were pretty much exclusively traffic related. That falls on deaf ears to those of us in the bicycle community.


The food. Again. The food. Everyone braggs about the style of cooking where they live. The southerners are very good at making the "food of the south" sound like it's the best in the world. Every tried it? It's good, but by no means do we us a capital G in good southern food. A place as big as NYC you are bound to find Good Food. We found this Mexican restaurant on the corner of 50th and Lexinton in Manhattan. They advertise the best guacamole you will ever taste. So far, they are right. It's the best I have ever had.


Dos Caminos on 50th and Lexinton. Put it on your list


A walk through Central Park is also one of the more interesting things to do in the city. All the fields were being used, mostly for softball this day. The usual banter could be heard at these venues. However there was a different tone coming from the fields up the hill. Lots of good natured cheering and geering. It was kick ball games. Not your usuall playground matches either. The thing that struck me was the pitching. They rolled that ball as fast as they could with lots of spin. Needless to say, "bunting" was the most common play. Thats when the fun started.

These were all twenty something players who took the game very seriously but managed to keep things upbeat and fun. The kind of thing you can only pull off in New York, and something you really have to witness to appreciate. There was a lot of in your face talk, but it was back and forth. And when one player struck a cord he would get a finger pointed at him and a head nod by his adversary with a "ok, you got me" look.




There were tons of bikes riding the streets of Manhattan, and you really have to be ready to get a photo. They appear and ride by very quickly. It's always said that if your in a hurry, you don't belong on a bike. Well in Manhattan, a bike is without a doubt the fastest way to get somewhere.

Hundreds of these around, but some of the drivers seemed very shady. Especially in Central Park. A good thing going bad.

We also spent some time in Brooklyn at the Botanical Garden. Later we wanted to have pizza at a place right under the bridge but the line of people waiting to get in made that impossible with our time limit. Waiting for the 3 train in Brooklyn

From New York City

Dead Heads at the Brooklyn Museum

From New York City

Upper East Side (I think) from Central Park

From New York City

Made in Manhattan

Steve and I met Margie, our Canadian riding partner at the Staten Island Hotel. After a quick check in, we were on the 44 bus to the Mahattan ferry. We met our friend and guide for the day "Ticktack", in Battery Park. All of us were hungry and decided on a $14 burger at Fraunces Tavern on Broad St. in Manhattan. Mike who likes to ride his bike across the country, had to back out to finish his thesis. Those of us who decided to imbibe, celebrated cinco de mayo in fine fashion with some fruity French wine.



I mentioned that I would love to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge if it was close enough. It was, we did. That is a very sweet experience. A lane for walking and a lane for biking and no one violated the others space, so the flow stays smooth. It's also nice to look down on the cars.

"Most were bursting with rage. The road is packed with bat black cars, one person in each, going nowhere. Doubled up wherer there's only one lane, honking, fuming, stagnating and stupid". samuelkb

Also there were probably five times more people on the walkway as cars on the roads, but the road was were all the problems were. Nice.





We were closer to the starting line than I was last year, but we did not push to move ahead. I had previously been warned not to get stuck in the "family" secion as it is called, near the back of the pack.
Here is my gift to anyone who asks. "Don't get stuck in the family secion. Work hard to pass as many people as possible during the first 6 or 8 miles. Your ride will be much better.



By being stuck in the back section, we walked most of Central Park. We walked the 59th St. bridge and any little hill that happened our way. Last year I finished the ride around 1PM and got back to my car around 3. Home by 7:30. This year, because of our positioning. We finished the ride around 3. Walked out of the festival around 4:15 and got back to the car around five.

If I go back next year, I will be staying in Brooklyn. Meet the ride in Central Park after riding over the bridge, and leave the ride back in Brooklyn.


Crys heard that pizza in Toronto is not as good as in America. How about a Brooklyn style pizza? There were NYC police on every street for traffic contol in Brooklyn. We stopped and asked, and were sent to Russ Pizza, on Manhattan Ave in Brooklyn. It was the best I ever had by a long shot.

We hung around Manhattan on Saturday and did some sightseeing.