Day 16
Today we rode through Brooklyn and Queens, but first we had to take a ferry across the Hudson River from Jersey City to Manhattan, then ride our bikes over the Brooklyn Bridge. What a thrill!
Once in Brooklyn and based on Bethany's recommendation, we successfully avoided the Brooklyn ghetto and Ozone Park. We rerouted to busier roads to keep out of the neighborhoods and off Pitkin Ave. Instead we were mostly on Myrtle and Merrick Blvd for the first 20 miles. We did manage to ride on a great street named Willoughby (I instantly though of all you Jane Austin fans) for a short while. This street was populated with such fabulous brownstone apartment buildings. So basically, we did 20 miles of city riding. It was slow riding; lots of traffic lights and lots of black cars with tinted windows. Surprisingly, I thought the Brooklyn drivers were very considerate all things considered. The key to riding in the city, Steve and I thought, is to ride aggressively otherwise drivers would take advantage of delays on our part. We owe this lesson to Jen and Ben really. This is how they rode their bikes in Philly; we simply modeled after them!
The further we rode East on the Island (Long Island) the nicer it got. Lots of beautiful houses, quaint towns, and fewer traffic lights. The final 32 miles were on just great riding roads. We really moved on these roads and made up a lot of time. We finally rolled into Bay Shore at about 6:30. It would have been earlier, but I accidentally set the route end point (basically the Hotel) to 501 West Main Street and it should have been 501 East Main Street. It took us about 2 miles in the wrong direction; basically adding about 4 miles. Thank goodness we felt great at that point and easily could take the added miles; probably because the roads were pretty flat the whole way; no hills to tire us out.
Sadly I am having difficulty posting pictures because the internet is very slow tonight. I'll have to post pictures tomorrow. I have this really great picture of Steve on the Brooklyn Bridge to post!
So tomorrow may be our first day of rain to ride in. At least the forecast says so. They've been wrong before. We'll keep you posted!
Once in Brooklyn and based on Bethany's recommendation, we successfully avoided the Brooklyn ghetto and Ozone Park. We rerouted to busier roads to keep out of the neighborhoods and off Pitkin Ave. Instead we were mostly on Myrtle and Merrick Blvd for the first 20 miles. We did manage to ride on a great street named Willoughby (I instantly though of all you Jane Austin fans) for a short while. This street was populated with such fabulous brownstone apartment buildings. So basically, we did 20 miles of city riding. It was slow riding; lots of traffic lights and lots of black cars with tinted windows. Surprisingly, I thought the Brooklyn drivers were very considerate all things considered. The key to riding in the city, Steve and I thought, is to ride aggressively otherwise drivers would take advantage of delays on our part. We owe this lesson to Jen and Ben really. This is how they rode their bikes in Philly; we simply modeled after them!
The further we rode East on the Island (Long Island) the nicer it got. Lots of beautiful houses, quaint towns, and fewer traffic lights. The final 32 miles were on just great riding roads. We really moved on these roads and made up a lot of time. We finally rolled into Bay Shore at about 6:30. It would have been earlier, but I accidentally set the route end point (basically the Hotel) to 501 West Main Street and it should have been 501 East Main Street. It took us about 2 miles in the wrong direction; basically adding about 4 miles. Thank goodness we felt great at that point and easily could take the added miles; probably because the roads were pretty flat the whole way; no hills to tire us out.
Sadly I am having difficulty posting pictures because the internet is very slow tonight. I'll have to post pictures tomorrow. I have this really great picture of Steve on the Brooklyn Bridge to post!
So tomorrow may be our first day of rain to ride in. At least the forecast says so. They've been wrong before. We'll keep you posted!
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