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bike ride A-1:
home to prospect park - this ride was the first time i rode from home to prospect park. i followed the nyc bike map and got there pretty much in an hour.
i met up with brent at his apartment on the west side of the park, and we rode two and a half revolutions around the inner path of the park, stopping to go "off road" or as off road as you can go with a road bike. it was a good ride.
bike ride A-2:
riding around brooklyn - brooklyn is large. it's like when people say they live in oakland; it doesn't mean anything. it's huge and so multifaceted.
this ride however was from my apartment around the neighborhood, down to hipster central near bedford to have some reflectors fitted on my bike.
bike ride A-3:
home to chinatown - the first time riding across the williamsburg bridge is going to always be a great reminder of how husky i feel. it was a great beautiful hot sunny spring day, the sky was clouded but clear and bright, and the traffic wasn't that hefty for being the early afternoon on a thursday.
i checked out the bike lanes that need tending to, the old men who gather in groups to play some sort of checkers/go game, and got som sweet treats from the thai restaurant. manhattan is still going to be a city area that is scary to ride around in, but as long as you remain alert and keep your shit/pothole eye on task, you'll be fine.
bike ride A-4:
home to union square - i wanted to check out the A/P/A annual asian-american awareness fair i manhattan, so i crossed the bridge again and strode through down delancy and up through the lower manhattan city streets. i forgot how freeing bike riding in a city was. everything is instantaneously more alive and interesting.
the fair itself wasn't really conducive to having a bicycle under tow, but i did manage to meander around for an hour or so before heading home of course with complimentary fortune cookies.
bike ride A-5:
home to prospect park - this time it was old hat. if it wasn't for the hassidic neighborhood school buses and tanker trucks, i swear i could've gotten there in 45 minutes. it took 55, but in all fairness, i was doing pretty good for riding in my usual meandery manner.
it's interesting to note that even though there haven't been that many bike rides so far, or that in fact i can categorize individual rides as events rather than just riding every day... i'm doing pretty good for exercise. i met up with brent. we ate burritos, cause bike riding makes you crazy hungry.
bike ride A-6:
home to prospect park - brent, dylan, and i planned a bike ride around the park, but right when i got to brent's house, it started to thunder storm. the clouds rolled in and the sky got gloomy and dark; the weight of water was painted across the looming heavy clouds.
i had to leave my bike at brent's house, because i didn't want to get it wet. is that weird?
bike ride A-7:
unexpected bike ride - i was planning all week for this ride. i planned to go to prospect park and get some revolutions out. but alas, brent had gotten an emergency money-making temp job (on a sunday?) and he had to subway the bike over to me. since the G was all wonky, he actually rode my bike some of the way, which was funny, because he is taller than i and he made my bike look all wee.
i forgot to tell him that he also was riding on near flat tires. of course i scoffed at him for splashing dirty water on the bike hurrying over and riding through rainwater puddles, but then i remembered that i was being anal about the look of it all, and decided to go on an extended adventure ride instead.
i rode from the bedford stop over the w'burg bridge into the city, then up the greenway path up to 37th street where it dead-ends. continued up to 59th st. then over west a few blocks, took the tramway to roosevelt island, and then rested.
it was so beautiful today, i was surprised that it turned out so sunny and lovely instead of the scheduled thunderstorms.
after a slow roundabout on the island, i took the tramway back and bulleted through manhattan down 2nd ave until i reached the greenway and cooled down back over the bridge and into brooklyn. so fun!
i went to check out the status of my ride at nycbikes and of course the wheel needed to be adjusted, the tires needed to be pumped, and i remembered that going from riding a bmx to a road bike is still going to take some time. the funnier moment was when i also realized that i am completely unsure of knowing how to function a bike pump (all innertube spigot thingies are not the same).
after getting home today, i was filled with that whole body tiredness that is the opposite of feeling of laziness. it's that good ache, the welcoming ache...and of course like all wonderful bike ride stories, this one ended with me going to eat a burger.
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tonight's homework:
ride a bike! it's fun, and you'll feel better about whatever is making you make that face that is all lemony and frustrated. true!!
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