Citi Bike Spin in NYC

Way back in 1998 I did the Five Borough Bike Ride.  It's a huge event with thousands of cyclists riding through all five boroughs which make up New York City.  The most memorable parts of that were the unendurable segments of walking/queuing, zipping along FDR Drive, the rain soaked pierogies at the finish (no, really, they were fantastic), and the abject terror I felt cycling back to a friend's car from Battery Park after the ride.  

Cycling in the city was really frightening.  In the past 25 years there have been a few changes.  There are lots of bike lanes, some protected.  There's an amazing plethora of cyclists on the roads.  All of the food delivery folks are on ebikes.  More bikes means more drivers are more likely to look out for non-car shaped objects on the road.  

In Greenwich Village by Stonewall

Times Square in an e-rickshaw taking tourists for a ride

I've been back to NYC any number of times, but this past weekend I had the time to do a little solo ride on a Citi Bike.  Citi Bike is NYC's bikeshare system, similar to Montreal's Bixi and Boston's Hubway.  $5 for 30 minutes, $0.23 for every minute thereafter.  Great for short trips, less so for a ride-ride.

Amusingly & memorably for me, the closest bike station to me was at 53rd & 3rd, you know, like the Ramones song.  Once I got the app and payments squared away undocking the bike was easy.  Just scan the QR code on the bike.

Off I went down 3rd Avenue.  Which did not have a bike lane, but it was the weekend and really traffic wasn't bad.  Unlike 1998, no one was actively trying to kill me.  It was already an improvement.  Now, had I done the slightest bit of research, I could have found out which cross streets have bike lanes on them.  Since I hadn't and I didn't notice the protected lane on 55th, I ended up taking 57th.  I wanted to ride up and over to get down to the bike path along the Hudson River.

Protected bike lane as seen from above

Riding down 57th was surprisingly mellow.  I kind of got used to the weird motorcycle shifting on the bike.  Forward for easy/hill climb/start, back for PUTTING THE HAMMER DOWN.  I'm kidding about going fast.  While there are e-assist Citi Bikes, I opted for an "acoustic" traditional bike.  These things do not go fast.  You kind of urge them forward.  In spots I did have to do some typical riding in the street negotiation with drivers (uh, gotta take the lane here, there's a double parked car/construction/what have you).  Again, unlike in 1998, the drivers took it in stride.  It was comparable to Boston riding.  Maybe slightly more mellow.  For an inexperienced cyclist, either way I'd recommend doing some research ahead of time to get on one of those excellent separated bike lanes.

I got to the Hudson, rode along a bit until I found an access point, and boom, I was on a wonderfully paved scenic wide bike path.  There was a separate path for runners most of the time.

Yeah, I couldn't find a shop selling helmets, so I went without a skid lid.  Just because it worked out doesn't mean it was the right decision.  I would have preferred to ride with a helmet.  Don't do what Donny Don't Does, ok, kids?

I just had a great time riding along.  I went down far enough to start to get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty in the distance.  It was a warm spring day and I ended up putting my jacket & hat in the bungee cord secured basket.  Finally I stopped and bought a bottle of water from a vendor.  There's lots of little parks, museums like the Intrepid, etc. along the path.  I had my family to get back to plus a Broadway show to go to, so I had to cut it short.  Note: anything less than 60 miles is cutting it short!  :-)  I was just happy to get my ya-ya's out on the bike.

Snacks & water on the bike path. Vendor & cart in the background.

There was also a memorial White Bike in this spot.  Something to keep in mind and push for more and better cycling infrastructure.

Anyway, I flipped the record on the ride and rode back the way I came.  This time I followed a sign and got onto a protected bike lane that took me all the way across the island to 3rd Ave.  Yeah, it was blocked by cars in a couple places, but riding around them wasn't a big deal.  Of course, it's never a big deal until it is.  

You may be tempted, but don't give cars blocking the bike lane the Beyoncé treatment. As Queen she gets special dispensation to deal with parking scofflaws.

Entry to the protected bike lane from the Hudson side.

A negative was walking through this construction. The positive was it stopped cars from going down the same street.  Could be a portent of the future?  Block car traffic from specific avenues & streets entirely?  Why not?

I ended up riding for 90 minutes, so the whole thing cost me $20.  Citi Bike does sell a day pass with unlimited unlocking & 30 minute rides.  For more general tourist purposes, that could be an excellent way to get around town.  

Anyway, I had a great time and was glad to see Manhattan's marked improvement over the past 25 years.  Hope to see more space dedicated to cycling in NYC -- and the rest of the country.  Thanks for reading & keep the rubber side down.

Look ma, no cars.

2023 Midnight Marathon Ride

 This year's Midnight Marathon ride was fantastic.  The weather turned out to be fine.  There had been a bit of a scare earlier in the week when the forecast looked like rain.  Instead, it held off.  It was a warmish evening (52F/11C) with some fog that turned into a heavy mist.

The scene at the finish line

In the run up to the ride I reached out to a bunch of friends to see if anyone was interested in doing some or all of it with me.  My friend Richard agreed to join me when I got to Hopkinton to ride back to Boston (I do the out & back for a nice 52 mile ride).

I left my place around 8:30 PM.  Earlier in the evening I saw the outbound group that left from The Common at 6 PM (I was the goofy guy in the car with the roof rack yelling "see you later", folks).

Unlike previous years I decided to ride out on exactly the marathon course instead of Beacon Street.  The advantage of Beacon that it's slightly less distance to Route 16 and definitely a heck of a lot quieter car wise.  Taking Chestnut Hill to Commonwealth (aka Comm Ave) meant it was far more likely to encounter a group of outbound cyclists I could ride with.  Sure enough, that's what ended up happening.

Chestnut Hill Ave

I started out wearing most of my winter cycling kit.  And it was way too much.  I stopped by BC to take off my fleece helmet liner & gaiter.  Bunches of cyclists passed me in both directions with attendant yelling & ringing of bike bells.  As I rode out Comm Ave I caught up with a group of 8-10 young women.  They said it was OK for me to tag along with them.  There was definitely a double take from one of them when I mentioned how long I'd lived in Brookline.  It was likely about as long as she's been alive.  

I stuck with them through all of Newton only splitting off when they stopped to decide about how many of them might be doubling back.  The Midnight Marathon Ride really is a do it your way kind of thing.  Do as much or as little as you like, when you like.

The Midnight Marathon: As I said to Dolores Montenegro in "Calling All Quakers!",
Have it your way, baby.

From the Newton/Wellesley line I pretty much rode on my own the rest of the way to Hopkinton.  I did stop in Natick to roll up my winter jacket and put it in my trunk bag.  A long overdue move as I was really overheating.

People zooming by all night

Just outside of Natick Center I saw two women enjoying a fire and watching all the people going by.  There is so much activity on the marathon route the night before.  There were people on one wheeled Segway type things looking like members of Daft Punk, roller bladers, runners, and of course the main attraction of Marathon Monday, the cyclists.  ;-)

They kindly offered me a beverage!

At the Ashland town line there's always a huge bonfire and a loud sound system.  They were playing George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" when I passed.  A favorite of mine.

Ashland: the original starting point of the marathon!

Riding up through Ashland and climbing up to Hopkinton you could hear the loud calls of all the peepers (frogs).  The street lights are infrequent enough that you really rely on your headlight in this section.  I had been texting my friend Richard and as it turned out we timed our respective arrival in Hopkinton perfectly.  He got a lift (along with his bike) to Hopkinton with a largish group that included another friend from my synagogue, Andy.

Also in Hopkinton I got to see my friend, Tyler and meet his girlfriend Marsha.  Tyler comes out every year just to bring me some snacks and refills on my water bottles.  I hadn't eaten anything since I left my house (uh, that's a bad move) even though I had plenty of food on me.  Anyway, I ate a couple Kind bars and filled my bottles.

Tyler was hanging out in the gazebo with a very large group of rollerbladers.

As I pulled into Hopkinton groups of cyclists were heading out onto the course.

While I was hanging out with Tyler, Richard and Andy appeared with their bikes.  While Andy is a longtime experienced cyclist, Richard is kind of new to the sport.  He also has a new gravel bike that he's enjoying the heck out of.

Just a bit past 11 PM it was time to head out.  I zipped up my jacket for the high speed descent from Hopkinton and turned my headlight onto its high setting.  It was a big foggy and getting progressively more misty too.  It made for a very chilly downhill.  But, like they say, first person to hit their brakes on a descent loses.  And like a jackass that kind of meant that I dropped Andy and Richard.  We gradually regrouped on the road.

It was amazing seeing the numbers of cyclists heading west along the route as we rode back through Ashland and Framingham.  Lots of people had all kinds of lights & reflectors, bluetooth speakers, and bells.  It's just like a rolling block party all night long.

Framingham has a couple sets of train tracks we had to cross and I made sure to give Andy & Richard plenty of heads up about them.  After Framingham car traffic dramatically tapered off to near zero.  The roads aren't closed, but it's bedtime in Natick, Wellesley, and Newton.

It was foggy and I felt the same.

Lots of roller bladers out there too

Approaching Heartbreak Hill

The route is exceedingly simple.  135 becomes 16.  So you follow that road straight.  The first turn of the night happens more than halfway through the ride, a right turn onto Comm Ave.  This brings you to a series of hills which culminate in Heartbreak Hill.  How tough that is for a cyclist depends on your experience/fitness.  It's nothing like running it, no matter how you slice it.  Still, the randomness of the songs playing quietly on my little bluetooth speaker served up something appropriate and kind of funny for this section.  And then something motivating.

First we got the theme from the movie "Chariots of Fire".  Which I thought was funny and of course appropriate for cycling over one of the most storied sections of the Boston Marathon route.  And then we got "Sweet Jane" by The Velvet Underground.  Which is not just a great song, it's a kick ass cycling song.  For long distance rides you need motivation, but not something that's going to make you redline your heart rate.  You got that, all you protest kids?

Along here I pulled up next to a roller blader & tried the usual pep talk "looking strong, you got this", but damn, she looked like she was in her own private hell.  Heartbreak Hill is tougher on roller blades than on a bike.

It was amazing to see the long line of rear facing red bike lights going into the distance in the hills in Newton.  The misty fog really made it cinematic.

One iffy call I made was to depart from the marathon route & hook around the reservoir to have a cleaner approach to the T tracks in Cleveland Circle.  In retrospect, instead of adding this distance, we could just have gone down Chestnut Hill Ave and then swung right to make the left turn over the tracks at a sharp angle.  For what it's worth, I did hear of at least two tumbles on the tracks that resulted in hospital visits.

It's very tough to bike past your house and continue to the finish line.  I live less than half a mile from the route.  Going past your warm bed so late at night to continue to the finish is a challenge.  Andy elected to bail at this point.

The Jewish Vegetarian Cyclist Club. It pays to belong.

Richard and I stayed the course and zipped through Brookline.  Beacon at 1:30 AM is fairly quiet.  

In Kenmore Square we were joined by a coworker of mine, Peter.  We chatted on the scant mile or so left in the ride.  And then we were there.  At the finish.  The Boston Police even let us cross the finish line -- something that hasn't happened with much regularity.

Richard, who has also run Boston in the past

Peter all smiles, though he had a good 12 mile ride home.

After finishing up our photo op, Richard and I had a nice mellow spin back to Brookline.  I discovered my bike computer was on the fritz, which is kind of a bummer.  

The Midnight Marathon Ride really is a fascinating and evolving local Boston tradition.  You really have to give a tip of the helmet to Greg Hum for kicking this thing off.  This year was a good ride for me and I'm looking forward to another spring and summer of long distance bike rides.