yesterday's big adventure

it started off with the prospect of a community festival in the Bronx. My boss suggested that I "RIDE MY BIKE TO WORK". What a hoot, I thought. This man is clearly crazy. As I live in Brooklyn, about 30 minutes north of Coney Island by subway, and work at THE LAST stop of the aforementioned subway line. But after he whipped out a map of nyc specifically for bike riders and showed me a route . . . well . . . what better way to make someone else's community festival tolerable (see, my bad attitude is seeping out) than to have an adventure getting there . . . (my boss probably reading my mind at this point in our "relationship").

Sooooooo, off I went. I took my bike on the subway to central park, Columbus circle (that, in and of itself, a series of mishaps and run ins with very nice other subway people ~~ the ride back even more awkward, standing room only on the train, but with the most accommodating people i have ever encountered on the subway. truly. lovely people). And I've never come out of the subway station at that point. It is just a beautiful testament to the city. I highly recommend it. And rode my bike through Central Park. When I emerged out of the park, I hit Malcolm X Blvd. Harlem. Where people stared at me, and I probably stared back as i zoomed past on my rusty, dusty just my size girl's mountain bike that has been resting, unused in my basement for the past year ~~ SCORE!. Rode to 3rd Ave, then hit the 3rd Ave Bridge. Haha! As the police officers who were guarding a junior high football team practicing said when I asked directions, "That's it. Right there. And, honey, just where are you from? Uh-huh. And you're going to the Bronx? Uh-huh. Well. You be careful" as they shook their heads and pointed at a bridge that was so big that I missed it. Know what i mean? Crossing that was not a lark, what with on-coming traffic and all (but at least there was a chain link fence separating me and the cars). Had an interesting "how are we going to manueaver this?" moment at the apex with a bag man pushing his shopping cart, but we got through it with mutual smiles. When I got to the end of the bridge, the "sidewalk" was out (!?!?!) with bolsters, cement blocks and police tape, and there was nowhere to go but back! Omigod. At that moment, I did notice a flight of stairs off to the side. So, feeling a bit like a hobbit, and with the options of going back home, riding aimlessly trying to find a subway station, or going down those flights of stairs (which were nuthin' after the subway) I happily took them, wondering how the bag man and his glorious smile with the shopping cart made it up . . .

Once i got down, I was in a strangely silent, very complicated, yet clean underpass that made me nervous until I spotted Dmitri's "nyc's largest yard and garden store" in one corner, and Bruckner's "Up and coming Mott-Haven's respite for hipsters and artists" according to the Zagat's signage in the other corner. The Clocktower in the distance apparently home to those hipsters and artists, I could see a photo shoot occurring on that roof. The folks at Dmitri's were wonderful, and while they wouldn't sell me a t-shirt (my back clearly getting sunburned due to my forgetting, once again, to put sunblock on in the city), they gave me a cold, cold bottle of water, some shade to sit in among beautiful greenery and flowers and let me use their facilities. I love those people. And i wasn't biking naked, i just had on a strappy it's the hottest day of the summer top. (and somehow decided that THIS was the best day to ride my bike to work)

But, let me tell you, SoBro (South Bronx) ain't so pretty. Dilapidated buildings and rough looking people, but such a vibrancy of life when there were pockets of shade. I rode thru quickly, but where there were women and shade, life was happening, clothing and food were being distributed in one form or fashion, and where there were sun and groups of men, there seemed to be a sense of propriety and maintaining order/territory, and i wouldn't have wanted to be someone that might be construed as threatening to that territory. There was a particular corner where several of "us" (a wide variety of misplaced bikers) were circling, trying to figure out where we were and where we were going (as Morris Ave was very elusive). All of us so obviously different from one another (one guy in a speed bike all dressed up in those tight clothes, one couple who seemed to be touring as they had one bike outfitted to carry lots and lots of gear, a couple of latino guys that seemed to know there way around, and some do-rag wearing, bright red from LACK OF SUNSCREEN chick on a very loud bike (i got lots of attention when i put the brakes on) that we didn't even bother to communicate, in fact, eying each other suspiciously (what a missed opportunity!). But, we all eventually found our various ways out (here's to hoping, although i have to say that at one point or another, i saw each and every one of them head of in a direction very purposefully) and up I went to the Grand Concourse, past Yankee Stadium and up to NoBro (North Bx), though most of us in NoBro are uncomfortable with that terminology. Harlem and SoBro had similar demographics from what I could tell . . . poor black people, as you got closer to NoBro, it was mostly latino, probably dominican. and got VERY CROWDED and very loud with lots of musica and boisterous and more similar to the area that I work in. So .. . I rode on to work (actually, petering out a few subway stops before and taking the train into work) and commenced to "tabling" at the Bx Community Festival!!!!

It was so much fun, and I'll probably do it again in SEpt. when I have to be at work for various parks activities on a Sat. afternoon. I was exhausted when I got home, slept for 14 hours. When I checked my route today to see how long it was . . . 8 friggin miles.

anyway. that was yesterday's big adventure . . .

1 year anniversary

whooooppeeeee!!!