ON MANHATTAN BRIDGE, CYCLISTS BELONG ON THE NORTH SIDE

We New Yorkers like to complain a lot and here's my current beef.  After work yesterday, I walked from Brooklyn to Manhattan via the Manhattan Bridge.  The Brooklyn Bridge was closer for me but I didn't want to mingle with the many tourists there.  Besides, there isn't anything to separate the cyclists from the pedestrians.  It amazes me that accidents between cyclists and pedestrians don't happen everyday on the Brooklyn Bridge.  On the Manhattan Bridge, cyclists have their path on the north side of the bridge, while pedestrians are to walk on the south side.  It's a perfect arrangement, isn't it?  I do my walking here, you do your riding there, separated by a few subway tracks and lanes of vehicular traffic.  Or so I thought.

During my walk I witnessed at least five bicycles on the pedestrian lane.  There was a guy rollerblading too, although I am not sure which lane he belongs.  I think since he traveled at speed higher than most walkers, he should be in the bike lane, too. Back to our two-wheeled annoyances, are those cyclists ignorant of the two separate paths?  Or they are just too lazy to enter the bridge at the proper places?  Human nature usually disappoints me, I'll assume the worst that people just do whatever convenient for them, rules be damned.  But just in case there are those out there who somehow don't know the rules and come across this post, and then start to ride on the proper lane, then my job is done.  For now anyway.

THINGS I NOTICED IN D.C.

In my family, I am not The Traveler, that is the one family member who travels all over the world, to all the fun or interesting places, for leisure.  However, with my current job, I did get to travel to a few places to work.  Work is, well, work, with the 9-to-5 or something along that line, but usually in the evening I get to enjoy the city/town a little bit.  On occasions, I stay over the weekend and get to appreciate local culture in a more leisurely way.  I started to work-travel back in August and meant to blog about the experience but life got in the way.  Without much further ado, here are the Things I Noticed in Washington D.C., with no research whatsoever on the topics:

• There are road-runners in all times of day, I love it!  I do work about 9 hours during the day, but on those occasions I went out for lunch, or walk back to or from the hotel, or early in the morning when I myself go for a run, I would see runners.  Good for ya, D.C.!
• Bike-share is alive in D.C.  $7 gets you a day pass that include free 30-minute rides.  I haven't tried it yet but I worry that it's like NYC, where at certain time it's impossible to find an empty dock to return the bike, or every bike taken out.  During an evening rush, I did notice a few stations with available bikes, so maybe it's not as bad.
• Cycling is popular!  In the Metro Center area that I frequent, I don't see that many bike lanes, definitely no protected lanes, where the lane is between sidewalk and a parking lane, so cycling is not as well supported as in New York City, but it sure is popular.  I noticed bike racks outside many building, people riding bikes home during evening rush hour.
• The bike-share map shows certain areas in Downtown as off-limit to sidewalk-riding.  What?  Does that mean riding on the sidewalk is allowed elsewhere?  That seems to be the case, as I saw many people riding on the sidewalk.  Most sidewalks are wide so it's not a problem, but it's something I shudder, as I'm a law-abiding cyclist when it comes to sidewalk-riding, as prohibited in NYC.
• Like many big cities, there are homeless people on the street in many places.  I arrived in D.C. at night, during the taxi ride to the hotel I couldn't help seeing people sleeping in bus shelter and in public parks.  Sad.
•  It's a given that there are museums everywhere in D.C., but I also noticed that associations and groups are all over too.  I suppose chances are your groups need to convince the politicians to support your cause by passing laws so might well be in physical proximity to the legislators.
• I didn't like the non-rectangular streets of Boston and incorrectly thought D.C. would be worse.  While there are those diagonal avenues, there is some kind of a grid with the numbered streets and the lettered streets, at least in the northwest area that I stay at.
• The motorists I crossed paths the past few days are pretty nice compared to others I know.  They yield to pedestrians!  I haven't heard any angry honking either.  Maybe I just need to walk in rush-hour traffic more?  I do obey traffic signals for pedestrians, so maybe that helped.

I have a few more days, maybe all this will change, maybe I will share more observations, definitely some photos is in order.

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!

SCENE FROM A RIDE: VERRAZANO!

My son is finally into cycling.  In recent days, he actually asked me when we would be going cycling.  Today, after tutoring class and lunch, instead of a walk in Forest Park, we rushed home to get ready for cycling.  Something else came up and I was not sure if I would be needed elsewhere but it all turned out in my favor and we did go cycling.

On a recent ride, I realized that in my neighborhood we actually have very few bike lanes.  When we made a big loop of the Coney Island Rail Yard, it was only on Neptune Avenue that we finally found a bike lane.  The rest of the way we just had to share the road with cars.  Luckily there was plenty of room for the cars to pass our short bike-train of three (me, son, and nephew).  To really enjoy cycling without the fear of being hit by cars, we would need to be on the waterfront by the Belt Parkway, or on the Riegelmann Boardwalk (aka Coney Island Boardwalk) between 5 AM and 10 AM, or start from Plum Beach toward Queens and the Fuhgeddaboutit sign.  Today, we checked the Belt Parkway waterfront off our to-do list.  We didn't go all the way to Owl's Head but instead turned around shortly after passing under the Verrazano Bridge.  It was a beautiful day, even if we sweated a bit.  I brought along a bag of Chips Ahoy cookies and two bottles of water.  We stopped for photo-op near the bridge, but the sun was not in our favor so we took better photos on the way back.  Along the way, I pointed out to son and nephew telltale signs of parked cars that might suddenly swerve into traffic (tail-light on), anglers who arch back to swing their baits out into the water, yapping cyclists traveling side-by-side, reckless children (isn't that an oxymoron?), accompanied by parents or not.  While not as bothersome as driving, cycling is still full of hassles.  Nevertheless, we enjoyed the ride.  On the way back, near home, I pointed out the triangular playground that mere weeks ago son and nephew were newbie cyclists limited within the fence of that very playground.  I am so happy.

Earlier in the day, I took a stroll in the Corona-Elmhurst area.  Years ago, the reason we moved from the Bronx to Elmhurst, Queens was partly because of my father's job at some box factory.  During a subway strike, he had to stay at a friend's apartment to be able to get to work.  Ironically, shortly after we moved to Elmhurst, he got laid off from the job.  Over the years, I am curious where this factory was.  I have a vague idea of where it was and today made the trip to find it.  Unfortunately, over the years things changed and I think the building now is some public school, namely Elmhurst Educational Campus.  The word "Campus" makes me think about schools, like Newtown High School nearby, that received failing grades year after year.  After unsuccessfully shutting down the school, the City tried to rename the schools and replace a big chunk of the personnel, coupled with renaming of the school.  Supposedly, the change qualifies as making the schools all-new again and qualified for federal money.  One of the shot below even has Newtown's tower.  The stairs are for traveling over some LIRR rails.  For a few years, each morning I would go straight from Denman Street to get to the footbridge and cross over to catch the B58 to get to school at JHS 73 in Maspeth.  The area was desolate back then.  Today it is well-developed, possibly with much manufacturing replaced by residential buildings.

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!

PERSONAL TRI-BORO BIKE TOUR, PART TWO

Before moving to Brooklyn in late 1990s, I spent almost ten years living in Long Island City, Queens.  Many times I would drive along 11th Street to get to the Pulaski Bridge, to eventually get on the BQE near McGuinness Boulevard.  On my way to the Queensboro Bridge a few days ago, I thought I still knew my way around the area on the Queens side of the Pulaski.  How hard can it be to travel the area on bicycle?  How different can it be compared to driving?  A lot, especially if you want to obey traffic rules.

After crossing the Pulaski, I saw a bike lane going toward the river and took it.  I thought it could not go wrong to follow the waterfront, which was on the left.  At some point though, I saw that the Queensboro Bridge was on my left instead of being in front or to the right.  Something had to be wrong, I must have made a wrong turn somewhere!  Luckily, not long ago I visited Gantry State Park and knew that Vernon Boulevard runs all the way north, under the Queensboro.  Once I found Vernon, I was on track again.  When I got under the Queensboro, I should have turn right immediately but instead I went straight.  Maybe I did that because I knew from a visit to Sunnyside some years ago that the ped/bike lane of the Queensboro was on the north side of the lower level of the bridge.  Unfortunately, there were no other right turn to take because of the buildings of Queensbridge housing project.  I ended up having to go the extra distance to 41st Avenue.  Eventually I found the bike ramp for the bridge.  Cyclists are supposed to use the left lane while the right lane is for pedestrians.  There were not that many people and the walkers, and the occasional runners, were all over in either lane.  As I slowly made my way up the ramp, it occurred to me how is it possible that I saw land below the bridge, but I was not done with the ascend?  In other words, if the Queensboro Bridge connects Queens and Manhattan, as soon as I see land under the bridge, as opposed to water, should I not be descending the bridge already?  Then it dawned on me.  I was mistaken, for the land I saw was not Manhattan, but Roosevelt Island, the very place I will be running the NYC Runs Hot Chocolate 10K on.

When I finally made the descend, I saw the sign to indicate a steep descend and slowed my progress by braking slowly.  It was a good thing I did because the path took a nasty U-turn at the end of the ramp.  If I was coasting downward I am pretty sure I would not navigate the U-turn in time to avoid a crash.  Maybe I missed some sign that warned "Sharp U-turn ahead!"

Off the Queensboro Bridge, I was already at First Avenue and 60th Street.  I should probably just walk the bike over to Third Avenue and whatever 60ish Street but I rode anyway.  Right away, I didn't like it.  Just a block north there was a truck blocking the bike lane.  As I stopped to look to behind me before passing the truck, some cyclist zoomed by.  Not close enough to hit me or anything, but it got me shaking my head.  Maybe the cyclist already looked behind and saw that the coast was clear.  The short trip across the avenues and the few streets were slow and at times I did walk the bike.  I was glad to find one of those CityRack but then I couldn't find The Running Company.  It turned out my memory failed me and I was off by just one block.  Got the bib and souvenir mug (instead of T-shirt), for myself and another PPTC 10K runner, and off I went.  I would love to ride back to Brooklyn but the trip to the store already took about two hours.  I was needed elsewhere so I had to take the subway back.  Bike trips are great as long as you are not in a hurry.  Or the distance too great.  Or the weather is not too nasty.

I definitely need to re-visit Kent Avenue and the Pulaski Bridge to take some photos.  I also totally passed by East River State Park.  I think I often saw it from across the river in East River Promenade under the Williamsburg Bridge.  It looked like a nice place to take a stroll or just to relax.

PERSONAL TRI-BORO BIKE TOUR

This morning I traveled by bike to The Running Company on Third Avenue between 62 and 63 Streets in Manhattan to pick up my bib and swag for the NYCRUNS Hot Chocolate race on Sunday.  While the location is not as convenient for me as, say Jack Rabbit Sports in Park Slope, it was a good chance to explore northern Brooklyn and southern Queens on two wheels.  Originally, I thought about entering Manhattan via the Manhattan Bridge then go north along the West Side bike lane.  On second thought, since the store is on the east side of Manhattan and just a few blocks north of the Queensboro Bridge, the Queensboro would be the better choice.  So my goal was to go over the Pulaski Bridge to get into Queens, then the Queensboro to get into Manhattan.

As usual, I started out by heading to Ocean Parkway and traveled most of its length northward, into Prospect Park and went with traffic flow, counterclockwise, to get to Grand Army Plaza.  I hoped I would bump into some PPTC members running in the park but none was found, at least no one I know, that is.  After PP, I went along Vanderbilt to get to past the elevated BQE.  Vanderbilt south of Atlantic Avenue is bike-friendly, but north of Atlantic Avenue it is a shared road.  Good thing there were two other cyclists in front of me, so I just quietly followed them.  I also thought of Transportation Alternatives' bike train, whereby veteran cyclists lead novice ones on rides through the city.  What a great idea!

I don't know the Williamsburg area well enough but enough to know that I had to avoid being south of the BQE.  From the few times I drive through the area, I know that it's somewhat commercialized and can be busy and crowded at many places.  The BQE being dipped below street level does not help either.  As soon as I hit the BQE, I went under it and got to Flushing Avenue and the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  I probably passed through the area before while riding in the Bike New York Tour, but have no recollection of the scenery.  Again, some cyclist happened to go to my right, which I was sure that I should turn right too, so I followed him.  Just past some gate into the Navy Yard, on the opposite site of the street was a protected bike lane, with the protection in the form of cement barricades.  Sweet!  Even better, after a turn into Kent Avenue, there was a sign that tell cyclists to use the sidewalk!  I love Kent Avenue!  Though the sidewalk bike lane ended at some point, the bike lane became protected, with the parking lane being the protection this time.  At many corners cyclists are supposed to watch out for cars turning left, but with the East River on the left, most of the times the left turn would lead to a dead-end, so few cars actually made the left turn.  Or maybe it was too early in the day.  I aimed to get to the store by 10 AM and left home around 8.

I left Kent Avenue for North 14th Street, thinking that I would hit McGuinness Blvd. eventually.  Unfortunately, there was no bike lane on McGuinness and with the calming median and the parked cars, there was just enough room for two cars to go side by side, not an ideal situation for a bike to squeeze into.  I went toward the Pulaski Bridge via Newel Street, but at Greenpoint Blvd. it ended.  Back on McGuinness, the Pulaski was just three blocks away but again I don't want to fight with the motorists.  So I walked the bike the three blocks.  Not just a cyclist, I'm also a runner and walker, when the time comes, I can easily walk.  At the foot of the Pulaski, I discovered that Eagle Street would be the better choice over N. 14th St.  Live and learn!  That's what I love about actually going out there to discover what works and what does not.

I was worried that the Pulaski bike lane would be like the Marine Parkway, i.e. that the bike should be walked, at least according to some signs I saw some time ago.  Luckily, it's a ped/bike shared path and that bikes should go slow.  They sure should, as the lane is pretty narrow, just enough for two people or bike to squeeze past each other.  I traveled over the Pulaski Bridge many time by car and once by bike, on the vehicular road, during Bike New York's tour.  For today's first-time trip over the bike lane, I discovered that in addition to the ramp, there are stairs, with many steps I am sure, to get to the bridge, on both the Brooklyn and the Queens sides.

I made it into Queens!  Just a few more kilometers and I should be at the Queensboro Bridge.  Once I cross into Manhattan, my target would be just a few blocks away.  Before moving to Brooklyn in 1997, I lived in Long Island City for about ten years, so I know the area near the Pulaski Bridge pretty well.  Or so I thought.

BOO TO BIKE BAN ON BRIDGE!

I recently went out to the Rockaway to do some volunteer house-cleaning work.  Muck-out is the term they use.  The houses got flooded during the storm, especially the basement, everything is ruined and needs to be thrown out.  It was sad to see boxes of stuff containing memories precious to the owners being tossed to the curb.  Or a whole room with bookcases tipped over, content from the shelves spilled haphazardly all over the floor.  For a pack rat like me, it was quite a horror.

One thing I love about running and cycling is to know the amount of time it takes to go to a specific place.  I admire people who can look out at the horizon and roughly estimate the distance to a place.  I have to personally travel over the distance with some measuring device, or measuring the distance afterward on a map.  With my regular running, I now know how long it would take me to run to a certain point in my neighborhood.  I am still relatively new to cycling and often wonder how long it would take to go to the Rockaway.  Years ago I went as far as Breezy Point gate or some other street on the east side of the peninsula, but I don't remember now how long it took me, or how far the distance.  For this week's trip, the distance from my home to Beach 129ish and the main road was about 16 km (10 miles).  It took me about an hour and 15 minutes.  I am happy to report that there was no sign on either approach to the Gil Hodge Memorial Bridge reminding cyclists to dismount and walk their bikes.  Maybe the signs were knocked down by Hurricane Sandy and the government hasn't gotten around to re-erecting the new ones.  All the times I used the bridge, only once did I see someone walking the bridge, I don't see the point of not letting cyclists ride on it.  Supposedly in the summer fishermen use the bridge but then cyclists can just common sense to walk the bikes past these guys, no?

The trip back took a little longer, both because I strolled on Plum Beach's newly reclaimed beach and because of heavier traffic.  Not long ago, beach erosion has encroached so much of Plum Beach, where the bike path enters the parking lot, that sandbags had to be placed to temporarily to hold back the water.  A few weeks ago, before Hurricane Sandy, I noticed that the sand went much further out into the water.  It's good to see that the beach was reclaimed but too bad the bike path is still under lots of sand.  Perhaps that's one effect of Sandy, doh!

I headed home during the evening rush hours so once I got off the bike path near Knapp Street, there seemed to be no way of avoiding vehicular traffic.  Emmons Avenue is bike-unfriendly, so was Avenues Z and Y.  How I wish the Boardwalk is open to bike traffic outside of 5 AM to 10 AM.

Two things I like:  large solar panel and my bicycle.

Star of Hope reads: Courage is every virtue at its testing point. (Yes, I took the liberty to correct the wrong use of "it's".  I also removed the contact info for the electrician, don't want to give them free advertisement.)

Group photo, with the house owner, after a day of mucking.  Who cares?  New York Cares!

Plum Beach with a few tons of sand recently dumped on it to reclaim the beach from erosion.  Not that far ago, mere meters from the highway was where the water has approached.

Sandbags to salvage the beach.

OCEAN PARKWAY NIGHT

Ocean Parkway night

Cyclist - bright lights, front and back

Walker - dim, texting

I am getting the hang of being a cycling commuter.  In recent days, I biked to destinations in lower Manhattan and Park Slope.  Last week I had to return some materials to the New York Public Library and didn't want to spend the money with the subway and definitely did not want to drive.  Running was feasible but at my pace would take too long, so cycling was the next best choice.  Going to Manhattan via the western edge of Brooklyn, i.e. Verrazano Promenade, Second Avenue, Third Avenue, etc. was a pain.  So much competition with vehicular traffic and few bike lanes.  Things got worse as I passed through MetroTech, at which point I just walked the bike.  Around Jay Street and Willoughby, I saw some woman got pulled over by some cop in an undercover car.  As usual I took the Manhattan Bridge into Manhattan to avoid all the tourists and pedestrians on the Brooklyn Bridge.  On the way back, I went through Red Hook to Prospect Park then Ocean Parkway, a much nicer route, even if it was a bit out of the way.  I discovered that at Park Circle, where Coney Island Avenue meets Prospect Park, there's a protected bike path to quickly connect back to Ocean Parkway.  No need to go over the Prospect Expressway or use Fort Hamilton Parkway!

Last night, I went to the general meeting of the Prospect Park Track Club in Park Slope by bike.  The night really fell around 5 PM.  One moment it was still bright outside, the next moment it was all dark.  Nightfall!  I traveled mostly along Ocean Parkway then Prospect Park.  Ocean Parkway is nice but I sure wish the pedestrians would pay more attention when they use the bike path.  There is a separate pedestrian path but few people seem to want to use it, for whatever reason.  It's bad enough that they walk on the bike path, but in some cases there would be two people walking side by side, taking up half the bike path.  Then when you try to swerve around them, there would be some other cyclist coming from the other side.  In one extreme case, I saw one fellow walking with his eyes glued onto his cell phone, in the dark!  It is a small joy to get around the city on bike, but some pedestrians, along with the typical car drivers, chip away at it.

HAVE BIKE, WILL TRAVEL

Even though I support what Transportation Alternatives does, i.e. finding alternatives to automobiles as the mean to travel or transport bodies and objects, mostly via bicycles,  I myself haven't been much of a cyclist.  My jobs were never close enough to home and cycling would be more expensive both in terms of time and money.  I was already taking public transportation to work so at least I was not contributing to the problem of air pollution etc.  When I ride the bicycle, it was mostly for cross-training to complement my running.

For the past two days, I have volunteer work close enough to home so I took the chance to bike to work.  Yesterday the work was at Jack Rabbit Sports in Park Slope, to help the Prospect Park Track Club with bib distribution for the popular Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving.  It was three days since Brooklyn Marathon and while I could have run the 7+ miles to get to Jack Rabbit, I would be all smelly for the next few hours unless I could somehow find a place to shower.  Not socially acceptable.  Cycling was the next best option, other than subway, which costs $2.25 each way and involves little exercising.

The bulk of the commute from my home to Jack Rabbit was on Ocean Parkway, a tree-lined boulevard with lanes for cars, bikes, and pedestrians.  The last time I rode on Ocean Parkway I was cut off by some car so it was not pleasant.  This time I left very early to take a really slow ride for the 12pm-6pm shift.  At Church Avenue I got off the Parkway, on the west side, and looked for Dahill Road, which I once ran along from near home to the other end at Greenwood Cemetery.  I easily found Dahill and connected to McDonald Avenue, which was not a great move, as there was no bike lane.  The reason I went on McDonald was that I can stop by the side of Prospect Expressway to take a photo of this foot-bridge over the Expressway.  I just love foot-bridges and this one in particular is elegant and beautiful.  Interestingly, all these times I did not know that Bishop Ford High School existed, until this past Monday at the bib distribution at Jack Rabbit near Union Square, that the school was a co-sponsor for the Turkey Trot.  Just by chance, after taking photo of the foot-bridge, I noticed that the high school was right across the street.

Foot-bridge near Bishop Ford High School.

Bishop Ford High School.

From the foot-bridge, I traveled mostly along Eighth Avenue to get to President Street and Seventh Avenue, which turned out to be a block or two past Jack Rabbit.  I was able to find a bike rack to lock the bike and went to work, not smelling too much from the lesser sweating.

When I left Jack Rabbit, it was a little past six and it was already dark.  I went to Prospect Park West and enjoyed a safe ride on the protected lane.  At 15th Street, I should have gone into the park but unwittingly turned into Prospect Park Southwest, which had no bike lane, just a wider parking lane.  It was a little scary, so at some point I turned right and got a little bit lost.  I found my way to go over Prospect Expressway but in looking for Ocean Parkway I overshot it and almost got to Coney Island Avenue.  Once I found Church Avenue again, I walked the bike to the start of the bike lane on Ocean Parkway and resumed my bike trip.  It was dark and cold, the lane was bumpy in places, so I couldn't go fast.  When the traffic light was against me, I stopped and dismounted to wait for the light to change.    I'm still getting used to prolonged sitting on the hard bicycle seat and welcome the occasional dismounts.

Today, I helped setup the finish chute and surrounding area for the Turkey Trot.  I had to be at the Oriental Pavilion in Prospect Park by 6 AM.  Left home at 5ish and again traveled along Ocean Parkway.  It was still dark but there was little vehicular traffic, so peaceful and quiet along the Parkway.  It was easier to get to Prospect Park once the bike lane on the Parkway ended.  I got to the Pavilion just as the organizers caravan of van and cars came to a stop.  Over the next few hours, I helped erect the finish chute, the finish arch and banner, time mat, crowd-control, and photographing.  There are over 200 photos at

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151310341481335.525837.679001334&type=1&l=199c25264b

Even though I mostly photographed runners wearing PPTC clothes, or costumed runners, I might have captured you if you ran in the race.

I started to head home around 11.  I went through Center Drive to get to West Drive and exited the park at its southwest corner.  I discovered the bike path that ran along the bridge to get to Fort Hamilton Parkway.  Last night I actually went up the pedestrian ramp and had to walk the bike along the bridge.  In daylight, it was easier to see what's where, and since I still remember my mistake from last night, I was able to get to Ocean Parkway quickly.

Each of the bike trip took between 45 minutes to an hour.  Sharing the road with cars was not as good as running on foot along some waterfront inaccessible to cars, but cycling got me where I needed to be faster without being smelly afterward.  It is a bit of a hassle to get the bike out of the shack in the backyard, make sure there's enough air in the tires, adjust the helmet-mounted rear-view mirror, lock the bike, unlock the bike, etc.  For today and yesterday, I saved a little money while burning lots of calories covering the 20 or so kilometers.  I can get used to commuting by bike, as long as it's time- and money-efficient.

Let The Bike Tour Begin!

After what felt like hours, it was finally time for me and the mass of people and bikes to move. We traveled up Church Avenue, which then turned into Sixth Avenue, all the way up to Central Park. Maybe because there still were too many cyclists bunched together so that we had to watch out for the riders in front of us, instead of taking in the scenery. It was not until around 23rd Street (Chelsea) that I started to look around at the surrounding. I missed the Barnes & Noble in the area. Before there was MacHeist, with its amazing Mac software bundle, I would occasionally pick up a copy of Macworld UK or MacFormat just to get the software that came with the magazine, not necessarily from this particular B&N. The software was never the latest version but they worked fine. Further up north I saw for the first time the pedestrian mall at the intersection of 34th Street and Broadway. I used to have time after work to go around to see what changed but nowadays it's just commute to work then head back home.

In Central Park we had to dismount to walk our bike. Years ago I used to do volunteer work for the Central Park Conservancy and knew the park well. It has been so long I didn't recognize the area that we passed through, although I'm pretty we went along the western bank of the Harlem Meer. Like the NYC Marathon, to make the event 5-boro, a small part of the Bronx was included. A reversal of the Marathon, we crossed into the Bronx via Madison Bridge and re-entered Manhattan via the Third Avenue Bridge. At long last, the bike route entered a highway - the FDR Drive South. No vehicular traffic, just us cyclists. I took my first break to have some food and get my water bottle re-filled. It was great that instead of passing out water in paper cups, or worse yet, plastic cups, the volunteers poured water from 1-gallon jugs into our bottles. Just a bunch of big jugs to recycle afterward, less garbage to pick up.

Alas, the ride along the FDR was short as we soon hit the exit for the Queensboro Bridge (or 59th Street Bridge for those Manhattan-centric people, no thanks to Simon & Garfunkel). Again, it was time to dismount and walk the bikes slowly off the FDR, wait for traffic on York Avenue to clear before we can get onto the bridge. So long, Manhattan, the next time we were back in Manhattan it would be at the end of the Tour.

A short stay in the Bronx. Hurry up and wait for vehicular traffic to clear. The Third Avenue Bridge is in the distance.

FDR Drive South is clear of cars, from around 100ish Street down to 60-something Street.

Waiting to get off the FDR to traverse the Queensboro Bridge, seen here in the distance.

This Is How I Roll

As the new year (2010) rolled in, I decided to adjust my workout schedule. The right foot was in frequent pain from the regular jogging so it was time to do something different. I could only think of cycling so cycling it was. Whether I came to know about the New York Bike Tour through one of those smart-aleck Google contextual ads I cannot remember, but today I found myself completing the 42-mile (67.7-km, I do have some fellow S.I. fans out there, do I?) tour. Note that it's called a tour, not a race, and that's what it really is. Not the entire route is closed to other traffics for the cyclists to really run at top speeds to see who finishes first.

The night before the event, just as I feared, I had some envelope-stuffing business to take care of that tied me up until almost 2 A.M. Someone I know rode in the tour before and told me that as long as I had the vest, via mail, that was all I needed. There won't be any registration on the day and there will be so many cyclists chances are the start time of 8 AM can be safely ignored. It was my first ride, so against better judgement I still got up at 6 AM and got to the start line, or actually, about half a mile from the starting line, around 7:30 AM. Sure enough, I wasted about an hour just milling about.

I don't know what motivating speech Cousin Brucie gave the cyclists but by the time I got to the stage on Church Avenue, a few blocks south of Canal Street, there was no one left on the stage. There was a handful of cheerleaders somewhere on Church Avenue. I spent a great deal of time in front of Syms - "An educated consumer is our best customer", that Syms - and there was nothing entertaining around me. Many group cyclists had cute or recognizable helmet accessories, like BMW hood ornaments, flowers, or tin-foil antennas. Someone tried a wave once and it didn't last too long. There was no one from the Tour around to make us stretch or chant silly songs, just something to while away the time.

The one entertainment we got was from a PoleRider. It is a combination of pole dancing and cycling, or pedicab cycling, to be exact. Say you are good at pole dancing but want to be known outside of your house. Have someone pedal the bicycle while you dance away on the pole, on whatever streets the bicycle goes. Kinda weird for my taste, but it was entertaining while we waited. At first, from far away, I thought it was just some girl bored with the long wait and decided to use one of the traffic poles on the street to show off her skill. When we started to inch forward, I noticed that the pole also moved slowly with the flow. Close-up, I learned that the pole was on a pedicab of sort. Definitely the right place to advertise the merchandise!

Back To Jogging, Simplified

After three months of cycling as exercise, I decided to resume jogging, at least as the main form of workout. My goal with exercising is to shed some kilograms and cycling has not helped. I started cycling on New Year's Day and three months later, I am still just a few kilos below 90 kilos. I weigh myself every week, perhaps I should not, like how a watched kettle does not boil.

The reason I started cycling was that after a few months of regular jogging my right foot started to hurt. There was the usual aches and sores elsewhere but the right foot had it worst. Just lightly jabbing the center of the right sole would produce a sharp pain. Maybe it was because I was using an old pair of sneakers. The bottoms of the shoes were not even, so some parts of the foot probably took a greater impact. Since quitting jogging late last year, I got a new pair of sneakers. I actually resumed jogging last week. Ran twice then and three times this week. So far the old right foot has no complaint. As long as my right foot can take it, I will continue to jog and use cycling as secondary. On days that I have time, I will put in a few KMs on foot then ride a few more KMs on the bike. The distance covered by each form of exercise does not justify it, but I still like to refer to the combined workout as a biathlon. Only if I have one of those endless pools, I can even do a triathlon.

Up to this week I always jog in a closed path, e.g. round and round a park. What's annoying with that was that I sometimes lose count of the laps. I play music on my cell phone while jogging, starting a new song or restarting one as needed, so that each lap is matched to a song. The Recently Played playlist would keep track of my progress. Alas, the playlist only knows the last ten songs so by lap number eleven or twelve I would be on my own. Worse yet sometimes the cell phone's battery would die midway through the session.

Starting this week I jog in a straight path. From my cycling trips, I know how far from my house is 3K. Go that far out and back then I will have 6K covered. I have to deal with cars on the road but it's not too bad at 5:30 A.M. Perhaps on the weekend I can go 4K out. Linear triumphs over circular, Keep It Simple, Sir!

Manhattan Beach Re-Visited

New York City has five boroughs - Manhattan, Queens, Kings (better known as Brooklyn), the Bronx, and Richmond (aka Staten Island). So where in New York City would you find a place called Manhattan Beach? In Brooklyn, of course! Why? Fuhgeddaboutit, that's just the way it is. Maybe Wikipedia has some background on the name...

Manhattan Beach is a small public beach that would be connected to Coney Island's beach, at the eastern end of the Boardwalk, had it not for some private property in the way. I lived in the area for a while before I made a trip, on bicycle with my nephews, there one day. I returned a second time with my son. He had some fun playing in the sand and then in the playground. It is a small quaint area, quiet and clean, far from the maddening crowd. At least based on the occasions I visited it, which I am sure were not peak season.

I recently re-visited the place, again on bike, as I had a little extra time after reaching the eastern end of the Coney Island Boardwalk.

There is a beach house, I suppose for people to change clothes and take a shower to wash off all the saltwater.

Last time I came the beach was wide open. This time there were this structure I suppose to protect erosion or what not.

There is a barbecue area right off the beach, although there was a sign warning partying people to stay x feet away from the fence.
If you are not into swimming or getting sands in your shoes, relax on the benches or throw some basketballs in the court.

Pat Parlato Playground did not look any different. Some water fountain is still there, plus the typical playground structures. I once told my son, perhaps jokingly, that I would take him to playgrounds wherever we go. He may not care much what I said, but nowadays whenever we visit a playground I would take a photo of the place, especially with its name. I should put together some Google map of the photos I have. Perhaps I'll call it Every Child Needs A Playground.

The biggest difference I know upon my third visit to Manhattan Beach is the bike lane. I remember well the second time I came, perhaps in the afternoon, I parked the minivan right outside the park, on the street, on Oriental Boulevard. Now there is a bike lane and then a buffer zone. I am sure some motorists complain about the loss of convenient parking but as a cycling enthusiast, I welcome the change very much.

Law-Abiding Cyclists?

Yesterday I made the trip from home to the Brooklyn Bridge, AND back. It was not the first time I rode to the Bridge, but it was a first to get there and back both by cycling. The trip took over four hours but it was not because I was a slacker. Along the Belt Parkway waterfront it was nice and free of traffic but beyond that I had to slow down to watch out for traffic. Even when part of the trip was along Second Avenue, which was quiet for a weekend day. Once I crossed the Gowanus Canal, it was all slow-going. Some streets still had bike lanes but the streets were narrower, too. Some street had no room at all for a bike and a car to share the road and I had to hurry up to get through it. Somewhere along the line I even had to ride on the sidewalk. That's the case with New York City. It is simply not possible to obey the law 100% of the time. You are on a bike lane then all of a sudden it ends and you are faced with a narrow street or a busy one with lots of traffic. You either ride on the sidewalk, go against traffic, or bite the bullet and go with the flow.

On the way back, I faced a similar scenario at the intersection of Third Avenue and Prospect Avenue. I could risk going with the car through the narrow passage below the Prospect Expressway, or go the wrong way on Third Avenue, on the sidewalk.

I hope whoever planning the roads for NYC take cyclists into considerations. On that note, it seems Bike New York is a good organization to promote cycling. I will start getting involved with it through its Bike New York Tour, a 42-mile trek through the five boroughs of New York City, then follow up later with other activities.

The Down Side of Cycling

It has been over 3 weeks since I last went jogging. The right foot still hurts even though I have been doing bicycling only. No impact there but then again it does not hurt as much as before. I probably have to go see a podiatrist.

Substituting jogging with bicycling allows me to go farther from the house and explore the destination's neighboring areas. On foot, I would never visit the Fuhgeddaboutit sign on the border of Brooklyn and Queens on the Belt Parkway. Sure I could drive there but then I would have to find some place to park and walk some distance to the site to take a picture of it. A waste of gasoline, fuhgeddaboutit!

The down side of cycling is that to get to the bike trail I have to go on the road, along side with motorists. In my mind, most motorists are jerks, to put it lightly. A perfectly nice person outside the car can easily turn into a monster behind the steering wheel. Motorists' general attitude is "get out of my way or I'll ram you." I drive a minivan mostly on weekends and the experience usually leaves me exhausted. Being on a bike only makes it worse. I have to be extra alerted about cars traveling parallel to me that are about to turn right into my path. Assuming people use turn signals, that is.

When I drive, I have the radio on or listen to podcasts on the iPod, but not loud enough to drown out the sounds from outside. I need to focus on the road and be aware of the surrounding. When cycling, I don't listen to anything at all while sharing the road with motorists. I cannot afford to. Even with the helmet mirror and the mirror in the handlebar, I still need to turn around when shifting lane or going through intersection. Cars mirrors have blind spots and those on the bike cannot be any better. Once I get to the bike trail, where there are only pedestrians and cyclists, then I can relax with the iPod, but before that, 100% alert!

I used to hate the "new" bike lanes in Manhattan, such as those along Grand Street in Chinatown. The older lanes run along the left side of the parking lane. The newer ones take place of the parking lane and usually reduce the street to just one lane as the parking lane is pushed further into the street. Tough luck for the motorists with the narrower streets but it is great for cyclists. With the old bike lanes, there is a good chance some careless driver, after parking, opening the driver-side door straight into the path of a cyclist. There is also the not-too-unfounded fear of being fatally squeezed between a car on the road and a parked car. Lastly, with the new lane it is impossible to double-park so cyclists do not have to put up with double-parkers. One moment a cyclist can be happily moving along an old bike lane, the next moment he would have to shift into traffic to go around a double-parking car. I love the new bike lanes and hope to someday make use of them if they come to my area.