Sunday, July 28, 2013

Adventures in Urban Cycling


The Queensboro Bridge. I'll be running over it in just 98 days.
The plan for June and July was simple: 10-12 mile run on Saturday, then long bike ride (50+ miles) on Sunday. Add a few short workouts during the week and I’d be all set—ready to ride 190 miles in the PMC and start my long marathon training runs in August. The problem with the plan: I didn’t realize how exhausting 7 weeks of back-to-back intense workouts would be.

The problem with this schedule, I realized, is that I never got a chance to sleep in. Every single morning for 7 weeks, I had to get up and be somewhere, either work or a work out. Many of these workouts occurred on mornings after I had been traveling or at an event and I didn’t necessarily get 8 hours of sleep. After an abnormally hot weather long run and a hilly 80-mile ride last weekend, I was dying for a morning to lay in my bed, sip my coffee leisurely, and just relax.

So I cancelled my 50 mile ride today in Northern Jersey today and decided instead for an afternoon “tourist ride.” Though there are bike paths along the entire circumference of Manhattan, I’ve never actually ridden the loop. The paths are relatively flat, and you can’t go very fast due to the number of casual riders and runners on them. It would be a perfect route for a relaxing pre-PMC ride.

The Freedom Tower.
It started off well. I entered the West Side Highway bike path around 91st street and headed south. On the west side, the lanes are wide and well marked. The weather was cloudy and a bit rainy at times, which made the crowds slightly thinner. As I headed into Lower Manhattan, I got a nice view of the new Freedom Tower, which I had never seen in its full glory previously.

Battery Park was a mess—construction meant that I had to ride in the road, which was rather congested. I followed a rider with a bell through the traffic and soon found myself on the East River path. This was not so pleasant. The path is narrow in many parts and a bit ugly (some stretches are under overpasses). It stops completely at 37th street because the UN building is in its path, and one has to ride streets up to 63rd.  Somewhere in the 80s, it stops completely again, and one has to climb a staircase to the overpass where it continues. Throughout lower Harlem, the “path” is made of tiles, which make for a rather bumpy ride on a road bike.

Though the path is named the “Manhattan Waterfront Greenway,” it actually leaves the waterfront at 120th street and one has to head inland across Harlem to catch it again. I enjoyed seeing the beautiful old brownstones of Harlem for a bit, but when I got to upper Harlem, I couldn’t find the entrance to the trail. The bike path signs pointed down a hill, and a bike lane went down the hill a few blocks and then just stopped at an entrance ramp to the Harlem River Parkway.. I stared at the fork for a good 5 minutes and finally realized that there was a small break in a cement barrier that lead to a sidewalk. I followed that and it put me back on the trail.

Bottom of the GW bridge.
I had to take another street detour when the trail ended at Dyckman Street. Again I had an issue with a lack of signage to where the trail picked up again on the Hudson River at the GW bridge, but I found my way fairly quickly. The upper part of the Hudson was beautiful—lush greenery, wide lanes, and lovely views of the river. I enjoyed seeing how many people actually use the green space, and in particular, smelling delicious bbq they were cooking.  I quickly made my way south back to my starting point and headed home.

It was just the workout I needed for today—time in the bike seat without being too physically challenging. Though it wasn’t the nicest ride ever from a serious rider perspective, it’s pretty awesome when you think about how much green space Manhattan has given the number of people and the value of that space.  This space is used by an amazingly diverse set of people for a number of purposes, and it made me feel good about NYC to be a part of that.

With this, I will declare my PMC training officially done and take it easy this week. Next stop: Sturbridge!  

1 comment:

  1. bbq is always tough to smell during a ride, i usually come home craving a burger!! sounds like just the ride you needed :)

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