My training for the two Week-a-Year rides is slowly kicking into gear. Sunday I got on the train early to join the East Coast Greenway’s 5-Island bike ride. And what a ride! What a crowd! We’ve never had this many people on one of the New York one-day rides.
Here’s just some of the group at the northern tip of Roosevelt Island:
Yes, Roosevelt is one of the five islands we hit. Can you guess the other four?
OK — here’s the answer; Manhattan, Randalls and Ward islands and Queens. Plus we were in the Bronx, entering via the High Bridge and passing within a block of Yankee Stadium before reaching Randalls Island via the new Randalls Island connector. I have to say the High Bridge is nicely done and sorely needed by area residents, but it’s not exactly offering one of those beautiful vistas — unless looking down on lots of railroad tracks is your thing. In other words, I still want to get to the Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie.
For those who do the crazy full 5-Borough Bike Ride, we saw more of the Bronx than you did.
The big crowd (and red lights) slowed us down. It got chilly. It even rained a bit. Some people got impatient. Others found it hard going as the miles mounted. But Roosevelt Island was worth the wait — especially because of this, the crazy squirrel. This one had clearly learned that humans = food, and he knew how to beg. And he also did something I have never seen a squirrel do: jump onto a bike:
Exploring by bicycle 