"Around and Over the Hudson"

Yesterday was the 5BBC Sunday ride "Around and Over the Hudson". We took the Staten Island Ferry, rode to the Bayonne Bridge and over into NJ where we rode up along the river. A stop at the old Lackwanna RR terminal was interesting. We rode up the river through Hoboken. It was nice to see Stevens Tech again, I haven't been back since I took the qualifying exam for the PhD over 2 years ago. While Ed DeFreitas and a couple others bought hot dogs at the ball field and watched a little league game the rest of us went 2 blocks over to Washington St. for real resturants. There's nothing kosher in Hoboken except Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and I hadn''t brought lunch for some reason which escapes me so I had a dish of Cherry Garcia and sat outside and chatted with another rider who had also opted for dessert in lieu of lunch. Then it was off along the river and up the big hill to the bridge, across and then down the greenway where I split off to go home when we got to 86th st.

I made new acquaintances, we'll see if any of them get in touch to ride together. A really nice day for a ride, not too hot with little wind and puffy white clouds in a nice blue summer sky.

June catch-up

Its been a busy month. beyond the bicycle commuting, I have managed to get in a few Sunday rides.

I rode with the 5BBC to Hackensack, NJ to the WWII Submarine museum. That was an interesting destination and many of us went on the tour. The ride back was of course hilly as we climbed Ft. Lee road and came at the GWB from the south.

The next Sunday ride was with hazon.org for their Bike to the Beach. I joined their "advanced" group and rode with Sammy Zack and others from Team One Family as well as the ebullient leader from Hazon, Tobi. The route included the entire length of the Brooklyn shore greenway. I'd only seen this view on the 5-boro bike tour as we zoomed by on the BQE. This was betwee the BQE and the water, very nice with nice cool breezes. Not too crowded but with plenty of folks using it, I was able to get up to an 18mph pace.

Tour De Brooklyn today

Today's the Transportation Alternatives / Brooklyn Boro President's "Tour de Brooklyn". I volunteered as a riding marshal, we'll see how that goes but I've got to get moving this morning as I'm supposed to check in at 7:50 AM at the Grand Army Plaza entrance to Prospect Park.

I rode to work a few times this week, after taking off the week after the Montauk Century. Minor bicycle repairs, I had to do a serious amount of chain lubrication with help from Eddie at Eddie's Bicycle shop, who adjusted my rear brakes as well. I recommend him highly. Eddie's a real nice fellow with over 40 years in the business; he's the owner and chief mechanic and when you need a repair you talk to him directly.

odometer: 69:36:15 1826 total miles 796.23 this season 11.4 mph average