Indeed this was a splendid 4th of July weekend. Lovely weather (for Summer) and no rain! Well, except Friday afternoon ...
Friday i left work around 1pm ... totally drained. I took the sub to Brooklyn and met up with Mike. He had my bike ready to go. We biked over to his girlfriend's (Alanna) place where i will be staying from July 15th to Aug 15th. We headed back to his place and i took my bike up to Inwood ... via the sub. I would have been very tempted to ride it back if not for the rain.
Saturday i met Mike at Herald Square and we biked over to the east side. I bought a Kryptonite New York chain and lock ($80), a Kryptonite pocket lock ($40), and helmet ($40). We biked on down to Washington Square for some Ethiopian food and then off to the WTC site and to the PATH train to Jersey City to watch the World Bike Messenger championship events. Great bunch of people, let me tell ya!
We took the PATH train back and biked to Chinatown for some Thai, and then up to Sophie's and the Ace bar in the East Village for beers -- $2 Brooklyn Lagers baby!! Scott came by but disappeared really quickly. Don't know what to think about that -- guess it just wasn't his kinda crowd. *shrug* I biked by msyelf over to 8th and took the A train home. This time when it skipped my stop, i didn't care -- i had a bike.
A quite message on biking in NYC --- don't. It is about as dangerous as it gets. And no, i don't like to practice what i preach.
Sunday was more of the same. I met Mike over on West End Ave and 63rd at another bike shop. We biked around and found another cool Thai restaurant around Lincoln Center. Then we biked all the way down to the WTC Site again. PATH train to Jersey City. Watch more events -- damn, those bike messengers are GOOD! 400+ feet front wheel skids baby! One footed no handed track stands! Too much to get into here.
Instead of taking the PATH train back, we all (about 500 of us) took a group ride up the Jersey side to the GW Bridge (around 180th), across the bridge, and down Manhattan to Riverside Park (103th) to eat cheeep burgers and beer and watch the Messenger's Film Festival. I finally got to see The Warriors race, where different teams signed up to race a Warriors (the movie) Themed event. Mike wanted me to sign up and race in the (illegal) Alley Cat race that night, but i decided i wanted to live (and let Krang finish me off with a slow painful death instead).
I biked myself home that night. What a rush.
Yesterday i stayed at home and rested. Last night i watched "War of the Worlds" ... eh. I've seen worse. The fireworks in my neighborhood went on till about 1 in the morning. I loved hearing these gigantic BOOMs in the night followed by car alarms and mucho cheers! Gotta love Inwood.
god i hate krang ... :/
Do it! One is nearly ten times as likely to die as a pedestrian in New York than one is as pedalcyclist: FARS data.
Check out Transit Alternatives for great maps and other useful cycling information (including city riding safety tips).
Plus, it's really fun
Re:Bicycling in New York
jeffa on 2005-07-06T13:49:05
Sweet! Thanks for the links.:) Re:Bicycling in New York
vsergu on 2005-07-07T16:50:18
Nearly ten times as many pedestrians die as pedalcyclists. Your claim would be true only if the were the same number of pedestrians as pedalcyclists, and I assume that in reality pedestrians are many times more common. Still, bicycling does seem less dangerous than some people think.Re:Bicycling in New York
dug on 2005-07-07T17:09:55
Your claim would be true only if the were the same number of pedestrians as pedalcyclists, and I assume that in reality pedestrians are many times more common.Well, the claim is supported by the damned lies that I linked to. Just because I didn't mention that you are probably more likely to die riding a bike in Manhattan than walking down the street doesn't make my claim less true [grin].
Still, bicycling does seem less dangerous than some people think.Exactly.
-- Douglas
