Friday, April 25, 2008

Squid on Wheels -- Lost in Yonkers

Well, not really lost. We had a GPS and a decent sense of where we were going since we'd been there many times before in the car.

It was a lovely day and we had promised to go visit a sick friend. Since they live only about 15 miles away, we decided to get there under our own power and enjoy the great outdoors.

Our route started as many of our rides with a trip up the Manhattan Greenway to its northern end. Today, for the first time, Squidette managed to ride up the hill leading from the base of the George Washington Bridge. The elevation change is 129 feet over about half a mile. Steep barely describes it. The last bit is practically vertical. O.k., I exaggerate a little but keep in mind that it is so steep that I refuse to ride down it. Yes, I can ride up it, but not down it. Go ahead, make fun of me. Everyone else does.

Continuing uptown we entered the Bronx via the Broadway Bridge -- which, technically, actually begins and ends in Manhattan. Marble Hill, the neighborhood on the "mainland" side is a part of Manhattan. Yes, there is a small piece of Manhattan on the U.S. mainland. Read the link to get the full story. It is rather interesting.
Riding through the Bronx was quite nice. Until we hit Riverdale Avenue with its 200 foot ascent over 1.3 miles. Fortunately, the lesser angle allowed all of us to ride up it but it was not easy.
At the top, we found this monument. From across the street we could see the words "Sputyen Duyvil" but didn't cross to find out what it was. Next time.
And here it is, Yonkers! Click the picture to make it bigger and look at the sign hanging in the background.

We spent two lovely hours with our friends and then headed home, this time avoiding Riverdale Avenue in favor of Broadway. This is what much of lower Broadway looked like.
This actually looks much nicer then the reality of broken concrete, single lane traffic and trains rumbling overhead. Next time I think I will push for Riverdale Avenue instead.
Crossing the Broadway Bridge you get a lovely view of Spuyten Duyvil -- the channel that connects the Harlem and Hudson Rivers.
A pause half-way down the hill by the George Washington Bridge gave us this view of a half sunken boat.

And finally, the cherry blossoms which perfumed much of the last few miles of our journey.
31.2 miles. Not a bad ride.




4 comments:

Sarah said...

It is fun to go along on your ride virtually! Over 30 miles is awesome! Do you have some long event rides planned for this season like 50 or even 100 miles?

Kristen said...

The miles are really adding up! You had a nice week for hiking and biking and are lucky to have such interesting sights to see. And I am the last person to make fun of your fear of riding down steep hills - heck, sometimes I don't even want to drive down them.

Susan said...

30 miles! Egads...I read that last night and had to go rest :-) I do love it, that you can do that so I can see the sights without dealing with complete exhaustion!

Ina said...

I know that climb. I bow to anyone who can pedal all the way - I never have. Congratulations to mighty Squidette!