ex-cyclist takes on manhattan

well atlantic city was pretty fun, but today was the “big” day.  i didn’t have a bike to take with me on the train, and thank god! the train system in new jersey/new york is very crowded. i don’t know how i would have brought one with me if i had it.  just as well, i was pretty over whelmed just getting on the right train.

i was pretty excited entering new york, i took a bunch of photos of seemingly nothing.

inside penn station.

first look out.

my first order of business was to find a bike shop, so i could rent a bike.  i had a list of about 20 bike shops in manhattan, with addresses and phone numbers.  the streets are very well numbered and square [unlike jersey] so it is pretty easy to tell how far away things are.

i walked about a mile to the first one on the list.  when i get there it was closed, despite their claim of being open on sundays. wtf?  i’m gonna get pretty tired if this keeps happening.   i decided to call the next one on the list.  ahhh, they were open, “buy the way…do you have any bikes for rent?”,  good thing i asked that one, because they were all out.  next one on the list, 1.5 miles away [i guess], they had plenty of bikes.  i walked over there and tried to get some money out of an atm along the way.  nothing real different than atms around colorado, except that you have to use your card to get into the atm room.  the first one i went into, i had a couple of people piggy back me as i went in. that was kind of disturbing… i felt like asking, them to kindly wait outside becasue i didn’t feel comfortable with them in the room. but i did not.

so the bike shop was so cool. really small and cluttered, with spiderwebs and dust, and bike stuff i had never seen.  i ended up renting this old cannondale, with the seat height set for a person 5 feet tall.  i tried to rent a lock as well, but they didn’t rent them. they only sold them for 150 dollars!! can you beleive that?  150 dollars for a bike lock!  after he told me the price, he said, “you are completely responsible for the bike”….. that kind of scared me but, i pushed it to the back of my mind so i wouldn’t spoil my trip.   then as i left the shop, a thought occured to me, what if i get a flat? what if the chain breaks? i have no tools….. again, i suppressed those thoughts as well.  woo hoo! off to the hudson river.

as you can see from the photo, they have very nice bike paths.  i rode this north for a while then headed inland to central park.  note: since i didn’t have a bike lock, i couldn’t go into a restaurant to get some food. i had not eaten all day and it was already close to 3pm.  i pressed on…

this was some really cool graffiti along the way.  the street artist are so good over here.  this wasn’t even the best one i’ve seen, but still better than anything i’ve seen in co.

i liked this one, because it speaks the truth…..”robots will kill” and they are killing me!

i found some food, and i must say, this was the best fucken hot dog i’ve ever eaten! i ordered a “hot sausage” which i thought was going to be like a brat or something… but it turned out to be a hogdog with hot spices in it.  oh my god it was perfect! i don’t even like hot dogs that much. i was going to order a bunch more, but i decided to try something else later.  as i write this i am still thinking about this hot dog…….sigh.  note: there could have been other factors contributing to my love for this hot dog, like i was starving…and i was outside [camping effect]. also note: i remember saying something similar about a taco bell burrito once.

so one of my dreams as a an adult, has been to ride a bike through new york.  at first i was just sticking to the sidewalks, and paths, but then they became too crowded and i move out to the street.  it was like a shot of adrenalin as i jumped out to the street, passing taxis and buses.  it was more of a rush than any mountain bike ride i’ve ever been on.  i think all the people around helped for the rush.  i rode through time square!

if i look unhappy, that is because i the sun was in my eyes.

when i was trying to return my bike, i was riding really fast through the city, so my rental time would not be so high. as i was looking for the shop, i went down the wrong street.  i stopped to look at the piece of paper with the shop’s address on it and the while i was stopped, there were a few people near by and one was this old hispanic looking guy.  he looked at me with a smile and said, “today jor first day?” i just kind of laughed and said, “just one street off”.

check out my album for more photos.