DO NOT ALWAYS LISTEN TO GOOGLE MAPS

I love Google Maps.  Maybe Waze too, if I take the trouble to use it.  The Google universe is just too hard to resist.  I often wonder how we got around in the past without these GPS-enabled digital assistants.  However, there are times when you don't necessarily need to listen to Google Maps and such.

I recently had to be somewhere near Prospect Park, where there's a station for the Q train.  I live near the D train and can switch to the Q at the Coney Island terminal.  Alternatively, I can also catch the Q if I go the other way, but I'll have to go further for the transfer.  Google told me to go to Coney Island but I knew better.  It was early morning, like 5:30 AM or so.  There was hardly anyone going toward Coney Island but there were many people going to work, or whatever, toward Manhattan.  So I took a Manhattan-bound train and felt safer with many more people on the train.  Sure, it took longer to get to the Q later on but safety first.

Occasionally, I have the need to go from the area of Bayshore, NY to Kings Plaza Mall in Brooklyn.  The straightforward route is to take the Southern State Parkway to the Belt Parkway.  And fight traffic near Wantagh and Meadowbrook Parkways.  Normally I opt to take the Robert Moses Causeway to Ocean Parkway (the one on Jones Beach Island that runs parallel to the Southern State, not the tree-lined boulevard in Brooklyn that is the route of the NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon).  I still have to hit the Meadowbrook in the end but it is a lot more relaxing.  It adds some distance to the trip and may not save any time, even with the smooth ride, but for me it's worthwhile.

Similarly, I usually avoid the Belt Parkway section near the JFK Airport by taking 133rd Avenue.  Or use Avenue J to avoid a section of Flatlands Avenue.  Or a combination of northbound roads to avoid the Cross Island Parkway.

The town of Leonia, NJ recently appeared in the news for their attempt to control traffic that flood their neighborhood during rush hours because of people using Waze and such.  With the new local rule in effect, drivers can be fined $200 for using streets that are now available only to local residents.  Great solution for the town but it sucks to be those drivers going through.  In general, drivers and arseholes who don't yield to anyone, so there were reports of people not even able to get out of their driveway because of the constant flow of traffic.  In the ideal world, some combination of state and town traffic agents would help control traffic flow.  I am sure money is a problem, who will pay for what.  Whatever, now we have some local rules that effectively ban the alternative routes and drivers will just have to suffer on the highway.

My First Leisurely Visit To Prospect Park

Today was a dreary, cold day that would be best spent curled up with a few movie DVDs. Instead of that, I cycled along Ocean Parkway to Prospect Park, went along the loop from the southern end (Fort Hamilton Parkway) to the northern end (Grand Army Plaza) then back along the same route, for a total of 20 kilometers. The ride along Ocean Parkway was not enjoyable at all. The long stretches between the Avenues were great, but at each end of the stretches were cars waiting to get to the other side, cars turning from Ocean Parkway, and most of them were your typical NYC drivers who do not yield to pedestrians and cyclists. There were some good exceptions though. One guy, upon realizing that he blocked the cyclist path, waved apologetically and actually backed off. One lady, turning into the crossroad from the service road, actually let me pass and missed her green light. Prospect Park made it worth the trip, though.

It was not my first visit to Prospect Park, per se. I drove to the iceskating rink before, but of course to me driving is never fun. There was just too many things out there to pay attention to. Some crazy drivers, some careless pedestrian or cyclist, and of course, all the rules and regulations. I went there once with my son on a school trip to the Audubon Nature Center. Again, I was busy watching my own kid and the other kids, sort of helping the teachers with crowd control. No fun there. Only today, even with the less-than-ideal weather, did I have a chance to leisurely go through the park. I stopped at some plaque marking the spot as part of the Battle of Brooklyn. There were some statues that I never noticed before. I also noticed for the first time some hilltops, with steps to make the trip easier, as well as some nature trails through the woods. The ride back toward the Fort Hamilton junction was mostly downhill, with the wind rushing through my hair, it was wonderful. I had a camera on me but with the cloudy/rainy weather I didn't feel like taking any pictures. My sister publication over at http://top-of-the-arch.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-york-is-on-my-mind-cherry-blossom.html does have some nice photos of Prospect Park during the Cherry Blossom Festival.

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.

Footbridge

Besides the idea of recycling, my other reason to like the High Line Park is that it is basically a footbridge. One can walk on the High Line from around 14th Street up to 20th Street totally unobstructed by traffic lights and vehicles. Footbridges are perfect for separating pedestrians and vehicular traffic. You go your way, drivers, and I will just go right over you. The above photograph is from my trip to Hong Kong in 2007. On a small island like Hong Kong, it is necessary to have footbridges otherwise traffic would be even worse. What I love about the Hong Kong footbridges is that they do not just cross over highways and roads, but connects to pedestrian plazas that extend from the buildings. You can walk a long distance on these pedestrian plazas, going from building to building and not having no chance of being run over by a car. The closest I see to these footbridge and ped plaza combo was the Winter Garden in Battery Park City and the former World Trade Center Plaza. The footbridge in that case would be the bridge crossing over the West Side Highway. With the bad traffic condition that New York City has, I think we can use many more footbridges, even pedestrian plazas, too.