There was a wonderful trail along the Hudson to ride for my whole time in Manhattan. The only trick was getting on it. Now the first thing that I went and did today, and I mean right off the bat, was have an accident. I hit the side of an ambulance. See, there was a garbage truck blocking the lane, and I saw a cyclist turn around it in front of me, and thought, well, if he is, I will follow. I was a moment behind him, but neglected to signal to other cars or check my mirror properly. And next thing, I'm in a low speed collision with an ambulance who had come up behind me, brushing my elbow and pannier against it. I pulled off onto the sidewalk, and the driver stopped and made doubly sure the bike and I were okay. Everything was fine, nothing but superficial scratches to the ortlieb, that I can say came from an ambulance in New York. My friend Thomas joked that the response time would have been amazing had I actually been injured. It was a mistake I will be more careful about in the future, and all in all, luckily, no harm done.
Not a great start to the day, especially when I then had more trouble figuring out quite how to get onto the trail. But once that was solved, everything was golden. The trail is great, incredibly scenic views, the ability to see many of the important buildings, full of people, generally in decent condition. I really enjoyed it. I was having so much fun that I biked right past Columbia, and had to turn around so that I could navigate my way back to get off the trail for a bit and see the campus, since I'm apparently hitting all the Ivy Leagues. I went from there to see Saint John's Cathedral (because churches are obviously my other thing I go for), and then hightailed it back to the trail. I detoured once more to head down to Battery Park and take in all the cool sights there, from a living statue, to a vague view of the Statue of Liberty, to various monuments, to beautiful gardens. Not to mention getting myself a giant, salt covered soft pretzel. By the time I was done and had made it back to where the ferry was to Jersey, it was already noon, my whole morning spent in Manhattan.
The ferry made me nauseous, but I held tight to Bree the whole time and we made it across. I was expecting to have difficulty through Jersey City, but it was actually quite easy biking right down Montgomery, then into a nice park before the bridge. I was thinking, hey, Jersey's reputation is undeserved, this is great.
...Then I took the sidewalk across that bridge and into the hell that is Newark. It was awful, industrial wasteland, trucks and traffic, glass and trash everywhere, no way to go that made sense, absolutely terrifying. I finally got onto this sidewalk across this long bridge, too narrow to ride, and strewn with trash, cars and trucks right in my face just on the other side of a little barrier. I hummed some tune to myself, focused eyes ahead, and walked my way across, feeling this sense of reproach toward whatever must have gone wrong with our society for such a place to exist. It got better after that though, still more mess, more madness, more traffic, but better. My favorite moment, while on a designated share road, was having a lady honk at me, pull up much to close, and angrily shout, "Why you ain't got no bike?" The worst drivers and scariest moments I've had all trip, I experienced today in New Jersey.
After I had gotten out of all that, stopped in a park to eat and charge my phone (again, lots of pictures and turn by turn directions), I had an old gentleman ask about my trip, tell me how badass I was and ballsy to do what I'd done today, tell me I needed to tell my story, and give me a fist bump. I doubt he'll ever know it, but he made my day.
Google largely had me meander along sideroads from there, a lot of twists and turns through a suburban area where I would have been absolutely lost without turn by turn directions. But thanks to Google, I ultimately got where I was going. my host arrived just after me, along with his three year old daughter, adorable, whiny, difficult, and fun (your typical 3 year old). She reminded me often of Sofia and Clarity, and made me feel excited for seeing my nieces at the end of this trip.
Together the three of us went to a kosher pizza place (which was really quite good) and an ice cream joint next door, the treat of my host. Then, with the help of a stroller for when his daughter would innevitably tire herself out, we made the three or so block trip to the grocery store, with a little stop in-between to hear a hippie guitarist street performer, and friend of my host, who is involved in the music scene, play me a sort of love song about riding a cheap bicycle (nope, not kidding). I was able to experience some of his quiet little town and again see that save a couple bad parts, New Jersey's bad reputation is really undeserved. I got my shower when we got home, his daughter got her bath, and then shortly after it was her bed time and then his. I'm taking the opportunity to indulge in an episode on Netflix while I type this, and then it will be sleep time for me too.
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