Went on a bike ride today to try to answer 3 burning questions: 1) Could I ride across every bikeable bridge in Manhattan while Im here? 2) Can I bike all the way around the perimeter of the island of Manhatttan? and 3) Can I go on a long enough bike ride so that I actually get tired of riding? And the answers were: yes, not today and not today. But oh, those New York bridges! Earlier this summer I had done the Brooklyn Bridge with Shannon, the George Washington with Michael Kasdan, and the Manhattan Bridge when I went to buy an old rusted Schwinn for $100 from a guy in a black t-shirt on a street corner in the heart of Brooklyn. That left the bridges Williamsburg and the Queensboro. Surely I said to myself, I can just go my regular route along the bike path by the rivers, shoot across the Williamsburg, find my way by instinct to the Queensboro and call it a day? And WOW. That Williamsburg Bridge. A lovely wide path. Trains to the right of you, water to left. And Oh, those girders! Got off the bridge in Williamsburg. And my absolute favorite thing then happened: I got to go down a path I dont know where. There is nothing I like better than that-- going somewhere Ive never been before, forging a new route, not knowing where I am, exactly, just having to figure it out as I go along. I knew sort of kind of that if I headed North along the water and kept the sun over my right shoulder that eventually Id hit the Queensboro Bridge. And sure enough, I ride along, and a bridge shows up. And Im patting myself on the back saying see how easy that was when I realize its the Pulaski Bridge Im about to cross. My internal dialogue went like this Pulaski, Pulaski. Theres no Pulaski Bridge into Manhattan. Who the heck is Pulaski and what have you done with the East River? Turns out, the Pulaski Bridge separates Brooklyn from Queens, so over I go. And suddenly I could see it--the Queensboro Bridge, probably my favorite bridge of all. The whole bike ride Im having flashbacks to a day 2 years ago when I had driven my daughter Allie to Zumba. And were driving home, and I had this awful neck ache and I had been to 2 doctors and twice to the emergency room. And they all told me it was a pinched nerve -- a chiropractor actually showed me the x-ray of my neck and said You have the neck of an old football player. And I pulled the car over that day and I asked Allie to drive because it just hurt so much. And she said Is there anything they can do mom? And I said no, they said the cartilage was gone and they cant even operate. And she just burst into tears. LUCKILY the doctors were all wrong. I may have the neck of an old football player but that wasnt causing the pain. It was undiagnosed spinal meningitis. Oh, THATs what was causing the worst headache of my life! But lucky I was, because it was fixable. And I bring it up because--- there will always be a time in life when everything seems all wrong and nothing seems to work and it seems like things cant be fixed. And certainly, there are things that are not fixable. But if you always welcome going down a path you dont know where at least you can life a life that is relatively free from fear. You know you can find your way through the darkness. After riding over the Queensboro Bridge I rode 1st Avenue to 109th Street. The sun was going down quickly, and I didnt want to make stupid mistakes after having ridden 20 miles. So reluctantly I headed back home, through Central Park at twilight. Lovely ending to a lovely ride. Conquering the complete perimeter of Manhattan can wait another day.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 01:14:01 +0000
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