ECG DAY 3: A Bite of the Big Apple

Note: This journal entry is for Thursday, September 9.

We woke to a blanket of sullen gray clouds and the steady patter of rain. A couple of stifled expletives puffed from the both of us, but no use complaining - just the business of donning weather gear and getting ready to jump in the pool. It’s not that bad, really, once you’re in it. After a few miles you don’t even much notice, and the drivers seem extra polite, no doubt thinking “look at these poor schmucks.”

Fortunately, today’s ride called for a relatively short 44 miles through northern Jersey, across Staten Island and Manhattan, and into Brooklyn to camp on the hardwood floor of my son's, Ben's, unfurnished, graduate-student, up-six-flights-of-stairs apartment.

I’m happy to say, the day went pretty much as planned.  The Jersey leg was mostly wandering through pleasant neighborhoods; Staten Island was gritty and industrial. The ride over Goethals bridge onto the island afforded airplane-like views of shipping lanes and all the industry that abuts them. I convinced Bill to stop so I could get photos, then had to convince him a second time when I realized that I had forgotten to remove the phone from its ziploc plastic bag. “Wow, it’s really foggy up here,” I was thinking as I tried to see through the plastic.

We clanked our way over a second bridge - and let me tell you, these are like climbing a small mountain - into Jersey city. Some questionable dodging of police barriers (I was prepared to claim “tourist!”, and/or blame Bill) brought us onto a deserted promenade, where we had fabulous views of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the famous prison on Rikers Island.  “That’s Rikers?” Bill wondered aloud. “It looks nice... I thought it was a resort.”  I was just sure that at any moment the parks police, NYPD, FBI, and some random security guy on a mission for glory would come swooping down on us simultaneously,  but apparently we were okay being there.

A quick and efficient ferry ride - with bike racks no less - dropped us off at Battery Park on Manhattan.  We toured randomly around the southern tip for a bit, but all I remember, honestly, is just trying not to bowl over any of my fellow gawking tourists. Quite a busy place.

New York City is as bike-friendly as they come in the States, with well-marked bike lanes traversing every which way you’d want to go. Car traffic is not an issue, as long as you’re willing to adapt the native ways and push your way right into the awesome, noisy, bustling chaos of the city. It’s your fellow bikers who are the challenge. Bill and I stopped at red lights, for example - which is patently not one of their native ways - while delivery drivers on ebikes and hipsters on fixies blew by us from every which way.  But it wasn’t long before we reached the Brooklyn Bridge, cruising right past City Hall and the Courthouse on the way.

Just the other side of the bridge is where my phone gave out (presumably from all the rain), and with it our digital maps and navigation.  We were only a mile from Ben's apartment, but we might as well have been on the moon. I had no idea how to get there. Not even a guess.  “What are we gonna do?” Bill wondered, a tad nervously. “Does your phone work?” I asked. “Can you fire up Google Maps and get us there?”  A look of panic crossed his face.  “I can’t see my phone when we ride,” he said, shaking his head. “What about the cue sheets... do you have those handy?” I asked (cue sheets are step-by-step printed directions).  Bill fished around in his frame bag, eventually digging out a couple of sopping wet pieces of paper. “They’re a little hard to read,” he said, apologetically, as the water and ink dripped off his fingers. As luck would have it, I had a back-up copy of the sheets, and they were still legible, so between the two of us, we were able to make our way in fits and starts toward our destination.

Brooklyn has a large Hasidic community, and they were seemingly all out on the streets as we passed through (I believe Rosh Hashanah  is being observed this week). There was so much activity we could just get through the neighborhood by pushing our bikes, scooter-like, with one leg.  No matter, and no rush - it was great to see all the people out and about. Finished the day at Ben’s by ordering enough chicken and lamb and rice from the local halal takeout to feed an army, but it was sooo good... wow.

Today's shout out goes to Ben, for doing most of the heavy lifting to get us up those six flights of stairs, and for all his hospitality.














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