SCENES FROM A BIKE RIDE: MIDTOWN TO BARCLAY CENTER VIA THE WILLY B

Bicycling as exercise is the next best thing after running, for me.  It's been a rough winter, the bike paths in my neighborhood were probably not cleared or safe enough to ride on, so I haven't done much cycling lately.  Today I happened to be in Midtown, below 59th Street, where there are many CitiBike stations.  I could have hopped on the D train somewhere and get home in about an hour, but it's been a while since I was in Manhattan so I wanted to walk or ride around a bit, to see what changed.  If there is a CitiBike station near my home I would have rode a bike all the way home, but as it is, I could only go as far as the northern part of Brooklyn, not far from the Manhattan Bridge.  It actually took me three bike trips, just to stay below the 45-minute limit, for annual members. The first trip started around 39th Street and Second Avenue.  I started walking from Madison and 39th, along 38th to the East River, thinking I would eventually hit some CitiBike station but I was wrong.  I briefly mingled with car traffic then quickly got onto the East River waterfront.  I stopped to take a photo of Queens and the Queensboro Bridge, which turned out smaller than what I wished for.  I traveled along the East River, mostly by myself as it was very cold out.  There was a runner here or a walker there, otherwise the path was nice and quiet.  Soon I had to decide which bridge to take to get into Brooklyn.  Brooklyn Bridge was easy to dismiss since I hate the shared bike and pedestrian path.  Sure there's a line separating the lanes, but pedestrians often walk in the bike lanes.  Brooklyn Bridge is just too touristy, I don't even like to run on it, never mind riding.  Manhattan Bridge would be OK but I hate to be in overcrowded Chinatown, so that left the Williamsburg Bridge.  Besides, I never rode over the Willy B before.  I ran over it a few times, time to find out how challenging its climb is.

Just to be safe, before the Willy B, at Clinton and Grand I returned the bike taken from Midtown and took out a different bike.  Another 45 minutes of free ride!  As soon as I got onto the bike/ped path of the Willy B, I pulled to the side and took a photo of the slope that I was about to go up against.  It was around 10:30 in the morning, and cold, so there were few people on the bridge.  I would not want to be run into by some cyclist barreling down the ramp.

The climb up the Willy B was challenging.  A CitiBike is probably not the ideal bike to go uphill, even at Gear 1.  Where the path split up to separate cyclists and pedestrians, I took another photo of the road to come.  Look at the slope in the distance!  On the Brooklyn side, I had to make a U-turn to get to Kent Avenue and its lovely protected bike lane.  I was going to change bike somewhere on Flushing Avenue, on the south side, as I recall, but instead I discovered the rack just inside a gate of the Navy Yard, at Vanderbilt.  Along Vanderbilt I rode all the way to just before Prospect Park.  It would be nice to take a ride in the park but time was running short, I have things to attend to in the afternoon so it was time to head for the subway.  I returned the bike on Fourth Avenue, near Barclay Center and the Pacific Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.  All three times I returned the bike, the green light went on, meaning the station registered that the bike was returned, very encouraging.  The CitiBike app can use some fixing though.  Each time I launched it, it would show my current position along with nearby bike stations, but only briefly then it crashes.  I've been hoping an update would fix the crash issue but so far no updates.

It would be really nice if some day there are CitiBike stations near Coney Island AND a bike lane is created on the Boardwalk.  Cops and sanitation people drive on the Boardwalk regularly, so I think a bike lane isn't that far-fetched.

Queens and Long Island City's many towers.

Man verus Bridge!

Far ahead, the road climbs higher!

RED HOOK RE-VISIT

I first heard of the place called "Red Hook" way back in the late 1980s, at my first job out of college.  The engineering firm I worked at managed a few waste treatment plants.  One such facility was in Red Hook and the one thing I heard from colleagues about the place was that it was not a safe place to visit, that you would hear gunshots in the middle of the day.  I think once or twice I had to go into that field office, one located near the NYC DOT tow pound by the Navy Yard.  Somehow I thought that was Red Hook.  Fast forward to many years later I had some visits to the Ikea store in Red Hook and once got lost in Red Hook when I was on a 20-mile round-trip run to Brooklyn Bridge Park.  The area didn't look too bad, desolate yes, but not necessarily unsafe.  I wanted to explore it better but it is too far to run to and I don't like to drive just for the purpose of exploring an area.  Today on the way back from a Bike New York event, I took a side trip on bike to better see Red Hook, at least the waterfront part that I up to today didn't know about.

Van Brunt Street was the road I mistakenly ran along last year when I was trying to cross the Gowanus Canal, coming back from visiting Brooklyn Bridge Park on foot.  This time on bike I purposely traveled along it until it hit the waterfront.  There was a Fairway Supermarket with a big parking lot.  I went behind the supermarket and was smitten by the sight of an old streetcar.  I recall seeing some tracks on the street and suspect the area was once serviced by streetcars.  It's nice to have one sitting around for viewing.  I followed the waterfront around Fairway and headed back after I hit the street, but I learned later on, per Google Map, that I should have gone further and see Pier 44 Waterfront Garden and Waterfront Museum.  I am pretty sure I didn't see any wide-open welcoming gate when I hit Conover Street, but who knows?

Without Pier 44, assuming it is accessible and I just missed it, it's a short waterfront.  Still nice view though.  I went out to the end of a finger pier and took a few shots, as well as some from near the food court area of Fairway.  A turn here and there and I found myself on Beard Street, with the Ikea building very visible in the distance.  I never actually explored the entire waterfront area behind Ikea, so today was the day.  It was a little longer than Fairway's, but still short, at least when explored on bike.  Or is it?  Google Maps shows a Columbia Street Esplanade, but when I hit Columbia Street the place looks so desolate.  Maybe I'll find this esplanade next time when I travel in a group.  What I also wish I got to see today is the site of the Red Hook Criterium.  It's an unsanctioned bike race at night.  Sounds cool and dangerous, but for an old guy like me who prefers safety it's not cool enough to explore on the day of the event.  Or the night of the event rather.  "Unsanctioned" to me sounds like midway through the event the police would come in with riot gears and kick everyone out.  Just now I learn that the site is really out of the way, that even though I was not far from it I would have to make proper turns here and there to get to it.  Another place to visit in a group.

Old rusting streetcar with the back of Fairway Supermarket on the right.

Old streetcar behind Fairway.  On the far left is Fairway's food court.

The Statue of Liberty in the distance.

View from the end of a finger pier - from left to right, Statue of Liberty, Goldman Sachs tower in Jersey City, Freedom Tower in Lower Manhattan, Fairway and the streetcars.

MY OWN TOUR DE BROOKLYN

Many events were on my calendar yesterday.  Transportation Alternatives had its Tour de Queens while Bike New York had a Learn To Ride class for kids at Brooklyn Bridge Park.  So many choices!  I volunteered at Tour de Brooklyn before and thought about also helping out at Tour de Queens, but I didn't feel like making the long trip to Queens.  So I rode my bike to Pier 5 of Brooklyn Bridge Park for the kiddie bike class.  I had my own tour of Brooklyn, even though most of the trip was along Ocean Parkway, a route that I have become very familiar with these days that I ride the bike a lot.  It was more like tour de South Brooklyn.

I was worried that my help wouldn't be accepted since I didn't attend some orientation class for trainers.  I had a conflict that day, July 1, when I helped a club member move.  It turned out the training could be done on the spot.  Let the trainee learn to balance first then the actual pedaling can come later.  I recall how my back ached when my young niece learned to bike, because she used a kiddie bike so I had to bend down as I pushed her and the bike.  No need with that using the Bike New York method.  The technique sure worked as by the end of the day we had 100% success rate.  Happy biking, kiddos!

Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn's own Superfund site, polluted from years of abuse by nearby industries.  Not nice to look at, but worthwhile to know.

Pop-up pool in Brooklyn Bridge Park, perfect for the hot days!

Basketball, au naturel.

AT&T StreetCharge, free solar-powered charging station, with connections for iPhone 4/5, USB, and micro-USB.

MY SON IS A CYCLIST!

I started teaching my son how to ride the bike as early as 2007.  Wow, six years ago!  He is too afraid and didn't become a cyclist back then.  I think a few years ago I had a day or two trying to get him into it but again no luck.  With the most recent attempts, the promise is that I will get him a certain Nerf product.  Maybe that did the trick.  It also helped that as someone who is not gainfully employed, I have the time to take him to the park on weekdays, as opposed to having the time only on weekends, since I usually get home late during the week when I was working.

This time around it took four sessions, according to my son.  I think it was three sessions, but it's his child-brain versus my aging brain, I'll trust his memory.  It was frustrating, as with all things new.  It was like he never learned at all.  At first, he would not even pedal.  Then he did, but only moved a few meters.  Next he moved, but with me holding the seat and the rightmost tip of the handlebar, he would lean into me.  Maybe it's because my son and the nephew and nieces are all older, most just a few inches shorter than me, training them wasn't too physically demanding.  I was able to physically support them without feeling too drained.  It was a little more energy-draining with my son since he's overweight, but I managed.

Little by little, he got better.  I started with letting go of the handlebar and he was able to move along briefly before going wild with the steering.  He's tall enough to just put his feet down to stop.  He wasn't moving too fast so braking was not absolutely needed.  I made sure he knew about braking nevertheless.  He thought he would need a few more days to learn how to start off on his own, but I noticed a few times he just automatically put his feet on the pedals and continue moving.

It was such a joyous moment when I finally let go of both the back and the handlebar and jog along with him!  Some day he and I can go brunning, or biking and running.  Even better would be both of us running, but I take things one item at a time.  He still had trouble turning and was going in circle, clockwise because he didn't know how to turn left.  Then for a while he would only go counter-clockwise.  In the end, he got it, even if he was still a bit shaky.  Then he had a crash, maybe because he got overconfident and was going too fast to chase his cousin LZ, who just became a cyclist last week.  Only a scraped left knee and barely a scratch on the right elbow.  I think my bike got it worse, with a out-of-whack basket and even the bike head got twisted.  He's cool about it all and is eager to resume tomorrow.  I so look forward to some quality time with my son on the few bike paths we have in the area!

TOUR DE FLATBUSH

Some weeks ago I read in the news, probably from this New York Times article (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/a-stores-building-stands-out/?_r=0 ) that a Sears store in Brooklyn was granted landmark status.  I just then visited the area on foot, just to see Erasmus Hall High School and the Kings Theater.  I don't know too much about architecture but I like classical or historic buildings.  Had I know about the Sears building I would have visited it that same week.

Today I had a need to be in the area, or rather further past the area, so I got there by bike.  Good thing I did because it got really hot by the return trip.  I got to visit Gil Hodges' final resting place in Holy Cross Cemetery, a local food market with dubious initials, and the landmark Art Deco Sears store in Flatbush.

Sears Roebuck and Co., corner of Beverley and Bedford.

The 10-story tower of the Sears store.

Entrance to Holy Cross Cemetery at Tilden and Brooklyn Avenues.

Gil Hodges grave.  I am no baseball fan and only know Mr. Hodges after that bridge connecting Brooklyn to the Rockaways.  If the cemetery's literature didn't say so, I wouldn't know that's the Gil Hodges who was a first baseman for the Dodgers and a manager for the Mets.

NSA Foodmarkets, they know everything about you beyond your fridge, from your phone conversations to your web-surfing habit.

NYC, IT IS EASY TO BE GREEN

Contrary to Kermit's claim, it is easy to be green, especially if you live in New York City.  There are many good news in recent months and weeks.  Some weeks ago my brother took some old electronics to an e-recycling event hosted by Tekserve and he got a coupon in return.  He had no plan to buy anything from Tekserve but thought I would so he gave it to me.  And so I did, a stylus that works on the iPad and other iDevices.  Sure Steve Job would turn in his grave but hey it does work.  The coupon lopped $10 off the cost of the stylus, I ended up paying only $5.  Next we have the long-awaited bike share program that despite some noises is used by many people.  There's even talks of paying for the program to expand quickly into parts of Brooklyn and Queens that won't have subway services for weeks because of scheduled repairs to fix problems brought about by Hurricane Sandy.

This week it was announced that NYC may soon get food scrap recycling.  Food waste takes up to 35% of the waste stream.  The City pays by the ton to get the garbage trucked elsewhere for dumping, so cutting the size by 35% will save us some money.  The latest green good news is that there are now some Street Charge stations, for people to charge their electronic devices, from solar-powered connections, for free.  Of course one would have to have common sense and not just leave their devices unattended and invite others to steal them.  Hey, we do have ATMs on the street, people can withdraw hundreds of dollars, so having one's iDevices out in the open is not that crazy of an idea.

I followed some URL and found out that there was supposed to be a Street Charge station in my nabe, over on 21st Street or thereabout and Surf Avenue.  I made it part of my afternoon run but alas it wasn't there.  I found out later on that it's scheduled for a July 2 installation.  So while I didn't get a photo of the Street Charge station, earlier in the run I found this nice public sculpture.  Let's say Nemo was found and it was not good news.

NEMO!

In other unrelated news, I helped PPTC out at the third race of the Al Goldstein Summer Series.  I started at the New Registration table then when the race was under way, I ran with the back-of-the-pack runners.  I took some time out to use the restroom of the nearby Central Library, then again to try to contact the owner of a cell phone a friend found.  It was a guy visiting from Haiti and my three years of high school was not too useful, but I managed to find the settings to change the language to English then things got better.  I both met the guy and caught up with the last runner, now a speed-walker, not the stroller woman any more.  When I got back to the finish line, look who's helping with the award ceremony - Mr. Al Goldstein himself!  I did see him walk earlier without the use of the cane, too.

You can call me Al.

GOOD TIME TO BE A NEW YORK CYCLIST

It is a good time to be cyclist in New York City.  We will finally have a bike share program, the CitiBike.  I cannot recall when I first heard about it, but I recall hearing from my distant niece in Paris.  Hop on a bike, go to a different part of the city to return, done.  No worry about carrying an extra key for the bike lock, no need to lug the bike around.  Of course, the bike stations may not be close to where you want to be, but I am sure it works in many scenarios.  Even though there are any bike stations near where I live, I ponied up the money for an annual membership just to show my support for the program.  I don't know where my next job will put me so I don't know if I will ever bike to work, but there are some scenarios I can make use of a bike without having to keep it after I'm done biking.  Suppose some day I'm on the subway and the train stopped running for whatever reason.  I can just hop out of the subway, grab a CitiBike and get closer to home then transfer to a working train line.  Ideally I can bike all the way home, or at least close enough to walk home after returning the bike, but just being able to get closer to home is a plus.  A less useful scenario would be for me to satisfy my fancy about doing a triathlon.  I would take the subway to a swimming pool, do some hundreds of meters, then hop on a CitiBike for some distance, and finally run.  If I were to try that now, I would have to lug my own bike along, lock it somewhere during the swim and the run, then hope it will still be there when my personal triathlon is done.

Today I went to get a free bike helmet from the city.  I've been cycling more often lately and my helmet is pretty banged-up.  I know about the city's program and erroneously thought that I could just call 311 and be connected to someone who would take my mailing address and the helmet would arrive in the mail some days later.  No, you have to go to these Free Bike and Fitting Events, where they measure your head and make sure the helmet fits you fine.  You have to sign a waiver, too.  Go to http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.e2d70d4cd03b6dd1d3e3711042289da0 , click Select Category, choose Bike Helmet Fittings, then click Show Events.  I don't know why they don't just call it Helmet Giveaway.  Bike Helmet Fittings sound like you have to bring your own helmet for them to help you adjust.  I went to the event at the Central Library of the Brooklyn Public Library. The line was longish and it moved slowly, but the weather was beautiful and I had a paperback book with me so the wait was not so bad.  Eventually I got my helmet, a blue one, red and grey being the other two color choices.  While I was at the library, I also picked up a few audiobooks.  Ah, free is good.  Thank you, New York City!

Bike rack on Warren Street near City Hall.

PURPLE STRIDE 5K AND MINI MIGHTY MAN TRI

It has been a busy weekend.  It all started on Saturday with working for NYCRuns in support of the Purple Stride NYC 2013 To Fight Pancreatic Cancer, in Riverside Park.  There was a 5K run then a 2K walk.  The event was the first NYCRuns gig after the bombing at the Boston Marathon, so security was tighter.  Bag checks actually involved checking the bags for anything suspicious.  In addition to two NYCRuns staff doing the checks, the Purple Stride people also had two private security guards standing nearby.  Then there were a few NYPD scooters in the area.  The runners and walkers were cooperative.  The only complaint I heard, not addressed to me but to a policeman nearby, came from a dog-walker who had to carry his pet's output in a bag in search of a trash-holder to dispose of.  New Parks regulation forbid garbage containers for the event.  Something else, which I would not label as a complaint, was that some walkers were surprised that the walking course was shorter than last year.  I don't know what the course was last year, but this year it was just north to 116th Street, up the hill to the highest path below street level, then back down to the tree mall level at around 103rd Street or thereabout, for about 2 km.

It was my second visit to Riverside Park and I got to explore the park a little more.  I actually traveled the entire 5K race course, not in one shot but at different times.  Some day I need to go north from 96th Street to see where the path no longer runs along the water.  For Saturday, after a long wait to make sure the trash got taken out, I went south on my bike along the Hudson waterfront.  Weather was perfect for riding, a bit cool but not too cold.  At around 72nd Street, cyclists were required to dismount and walk the bike.  I was going to keep walking the bike along the waterfront until wherever it's okay to ride again, but then I discovered that just not too far inland was a bike path.  It went below the elevated Henry Hudson Parkway all the way to 59th Street.  Not waterfront, but you still get glimpses of the water.  Lovely!  Cyclists, we don't ask for much, just enough room for two bikes in each direction, at worse one in each direction, enough room for passing.

The next day I found myself at the Nassau County Aquatic Center to volunteer for the Mini Mighty Man Triathlon.  A few months ago I discovered that NYRR will not hold the sprint triathlon in Flushing Meadows this year, perhaps never again, for whatever reason.  There went my hope for a sprint tri!  Luckily, through the power of social media, I discovered that the Mini Mighty Man just outside of NYC in Nassau County is similar to the NYRR event.  Pool swim followed by actual bike race and foot race.  There are sprint tris that involve stationary bikes and treadmills but I am not interested in those at all.

The ride to Nassau in 5 AM was wonderful.  There was plenty of parking when I got there.  After getting out of Meadowbrooks Parkway, I almost missed the left turn on Merrick Boulevard because the street sign was so small.  Luckily, a car ahead of me had a bike sticking out the trunk so I correctly assumed that it was a tri participant.  I followed that car and got to the place without any lost time.

I was assigned to Body Marking, Swim In, and Run In.  Armed with a marker, I wrote the triathletes' number on the left upper arm and on the left calf, then the age on the right calf.  It was a cold April morning so many people had many layers to remove to get the upper arm part done, but everyone was cooperative and nice.  The athletes came in all shapes and ages.  One little girl was only seven, then at the other end I think there was a 62-year-old woman.  Many people were fit and trim, but some people were a round at the middle, so it makes me feel more confident to give the tri a shot some day.

Eventually there were few people left to have body marking done so I went inside to help with the Swim In.  I came in just in time to pause for the national anthem, followed by a moment of silence, which I am sure was for Boston even though I didn't quite catch what the announcer said.  There were about 400 people total but because there is only so much room in a pool lane, the line moved very slowly.  We had to make sure people get registered as they walked across the timing mat, then that they only jump in with enough distance between swimmers.  Many people appeared to be veteran triathletes but there were some first-timers who were nervous.  Everyone got to start somewhere someday.  I ended up getting drafted for Swim Out as well, to make sure the pool was empty of event participants.  As someone who is out of breath after a 50-meter swim, these slow swimmers are still better than me.  Slowly they covered the entire 400 meters, even if they have to stop once or more times at the end of the lanes to rest.

By the time I got outside many runners were already finishing.  The bike transition area looked crowded with bikes so I suppose the bike race was over.  I came mainly to see the swim portion, as I saw one too many foot races already, so I decided to skip out.  I stayed out for a long time yesterday so it would be better to be home earlier today.

One day, perhaps before I turn 50, I will participate in a sprint triathlon.  I just need to improve a lot with swimming and get a better bike.  In the mean time, some time this year when NYC's bike-share program, CitiBike, finally gets implemented, I will definitely have my own little triathlon.  Hop on a subway to some pool, do 400 meters then jump on a CitiBike for some miles, return the bike then go for a run, finally take the subway home.  Anyone thought of that already?  A small benefit of living in a big city.

Greetings from Nassau County.

Step right up and get your body marks, triathletes!

Random finishers.