Squid on Wheels: Circling Manhattan ... Counter clockwise

In the past, when we have chosen to circumnavigate Manhattan, we've done so in a clockwise direction, starting on the west side and riding north.

Today, however, three out of four squid refused to ride clockwise, citing the hill at the G.W. Bridge (aka the Little Red Lighthouse hill) as the main point of contention. Let me just state now, and for the record, that there are other hills, almost as bad, elsewhere on the ride and you find them regardless of the direction of the ride. What goes up must come down and visa versa ...

Oh, and we also decided to leave lower Manhattan, with its throngs of tourists, out of the ride, a move that cut about 8 miles and well over an hour, off the total.

First stop, the U.N. where we got a good view of the statute of St. George slaying the missile-dragon and where a kind passerby agreed to take a family photo. (First, however, a not-so-kind passerby refused to take our photo. Well, this is New York.)

Four Squid, Four Bike Fridays

Next stop, Hells Gate. The Hells Gate bridge is the arch-shaped one in the background. The really long one is the Tri-boro. (Or the RFK Bridge if you have a newer map or GPS ... but it will always be the Tri-boro to us real New Yorkers.)
Then a nice view of the Highbridge water tower ...
and on into Inwood Park.

Following Inwood Park, we headed back south, stopping to pick up a new rearview mirror for my glasses and continuing down to Fairway where we saw these people.
And then saw them in the river.

They were headed on a 2-3 mile swim uptown. The finish line (cove) was just south of the Little Red lighthouse.

After they headed uptown, we headed downtown to cool drinks and showers.