I've been wanting to do a Coney Island ride for several weeks now and so, this week, I set my mind to do it. Saturday was the perfect summer day, relatively cool, clear blue skies, no wind ... but I had a very tired kid due to a camp overnight. So Saturday was relegated to running some local errands and doing laundry. I also did some spinning ...
Bamboo Silk top that Susan sent me about a year ago. The one on the left is actually a pale blue and is what I was spinning (and not all of it, just the last few grams). The green has been spun up for a month or so.
Sunday "dawned" with a bang -- rather a clap, of thunder -- and it poured until shortly before the kids woke up. I was determined, however, to get out for a ride, no matter what the weather people said. I listened to all of the reports and decided to believe the one that said "no more storms until late afternoon."
And off we rode. Coney Island was out, because even I am not that stupid, and instead we did a basic breakfast ride to the Red Hook Fairway's and did a spot of geocaching a pier over.
Then, out to Ikea for chocolate and cinnamon buns, and then we started home.
First we encountered a motorist who felt that we should not be taking up a lane of traffic with our bikes, "you (explicative deleted) have two children with you!" he shouted at us. Please note two things: one, we are entitled to an entire lane, by law, and were only taking the right hand side of it, except when dodging potholes, and two, the squidlings are, as you know, quite accomplished and savvy in the ways of city cycling. Mike yelled back a bit and we continued on our way.
At the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, Mike asked us to "pick a bridge and a way to get there." I picked the Williamsburg Bridge and took out the map to figure out how to get there.
Please note, we were at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge which meant that it's bike entrance was only a few blocks away, as was the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge path. The Willamsburg Bridge ... we that was a mile or so away ... Yes, I was trying to stretch the ride and make it more interesting.
Interesting it was as we wended our way through Williamsburg ...
Nice quite streets.
And then the thunder started. Actually it started while we were still at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. I was still in denial and the rest of the family was willing to buy into my delusion.
As we passed under the Manhattan Bridge, it started to drizzle. As we continued North, it became a steady rain. Finally, in desperation -- the water kept blinding me -- we pulled over into the shelter of a gas station until it let up. Pedaled another mile or so, sheltered under a highway and then finally got to and crossed the Williamsburg Bridge without another drop.
20 miles. Not bad for a rainy day.
Bamboo Silk top that Susan sent me about a year ago. The one on the left is actually a pale blue and is what I was spinning (and not all of it, just the last few grams). The green has been spun up for a month or so.
Sunday "dawned" with a bang -- rather a clap, of thunder -- and it poured until shortly before the kids woke up. I was determined, however, to get out for a ride, no matter what the weather people said. I listened to all of the reports and decided to believe the one that said "no more storms until late afternoon."
And off we rode. Coney Island was out, because even I am not that stupid, and instead we did a basic breakfast ride to the Red Hook Fairway's and did a spot of geocaching a pier over.
Then, out to Ikea for chocolate and cinnamon buns, and then we started home.First we encountered a motorist who felt that we should not be taking up a lane of traffic with our bikes, "you (explicative deleted) have two children with you!" he shouted at us. Please note two things: one, we are entitled to an entire lane, by law, and were only taking the right hand side of it, except when dodging potholes, and two, the squidlings are, as you know, quite accomplished and savvy in the ways of city cycling. Mike yelled back a bit and we continued on our way.
At the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, Mike asked us to "pick a bridge and a way to get there." I picked the Williamsburg Bridge and took out the map to figure out how to get there.
Please note, we were at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge which meant that it's bike entrance was only a few blocks away, as was the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge path. The Willamsburg Bridge ... we that was a mile or so away ... Yes, I was trying to stretch the ride and make it more interesting.
Interesting it was as we wended our way through Williamsburg ...
Nice quite streets.
And then the thunder started. Actually it started while we were still at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. I was still in denial and the rest of the family was willing to buy into my delusion.As we passed under the Manhattan Bridge, it started to drizzle. As we continued North, it became a steady rain. Finally, in desperation -- the water kept blinding me -- we pulled over into the shelter of a gas station until it let up. Pedaled another mile or so, sheltered under a highway and then finally got to and crossed the Williamsburg Bridge without another drop.
20 miles. Not bad for a rainy day.
4 comments:
You were daring! I got 0 miles in yesterday. We had periodic drenching rain and thunderstorms all day. Did get a lot of knitting in though.
The nerve of that bigmouth motorist.
Okay --- so this guy assumes you don't KNOW you have two children. I think I would have said, "I know. I was there when they were born!"
Geez -- some people! Of course, down here they don't yell at you. They just run you flat over.
Riding a bike ANYWHERE is scary business in Orlando. You'd think you'd see a lot more bikes considering how close (less than a mile) I am from a MAJOR state university. But, I think people realize it's just not practical.
Good for you riding despite the weather! Sounds like a great adventure! The weather was a little too scary here yesterday, as Kristen said, with storms throughout the day. I haven't been riding much, though I did have a lovely ride Saturday and have plans to ride with a friend this week. I will ride more when it is less hot and sunny as the heat can be hard for me.
Ohh I somehow trashed my comment. It was indeed a good ride and just think, you were a part of nature :-) Hope you enjoyed the spinning!
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