From just below the Brooklyn Bridge, we rode north crossing the East River to Brooklyn on the Williamsburg Bridge and lunched along Myrtle Street, a gritty, sometimes unnerving neighborhood, mixed with some trendy and the distinctively dressed Hasidic Jewish. Lunch at Putnam was great. Then it's was back to Manhattan over the Manhattan Bridge via downtown Brooklyn, through Chinatown and south toward Battery Park, walking whenever the crowds created an impasse. The entire west side shoreline of Manhattan has been developed between it's promenades, marinas, piers and parks, with multi-use pathways north to Central Park and beyond. It was slow going at times but also some of the fastest sections. We eventually found our way to Central Park through quiet stately neighborhoods and joined the large weekend crowds enjoying the park. For safety purposes, cycling in the park is a one-way counter clockwise affair on designated routes only. My misdirection, heavy traffic, and hordes shoppers forced us to walk from 5th Avenue and 59th Street until we found our next bike lane on 2nd Avenue. Our fast ride with the 2nd Avenue traffic took us through our own adopted neighborhood, the East Village, back downtown and along the East River to the end of our tour.
Bike touring is great way to see and experience NYC, and we lived to talk about it. Bicycling is a part of NYC life and growing, but you have to get accustomed to the character of it's traffic. I see bicyclist riding the busiest of streets through the heaviest traffic. I guess you have to be in a New York State of Mind. Below is a link to a few picture in Picasa.
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| From New York City |
1 comment:
Nice, Herb! Looks like you're having a grand time. Let's compare notes when you get back.
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