Today instead of taking a cab downtown, I decided to dust off the bike. I probably haven't ridden it in at least ten years, but the tires pumped up nicely and with a slight wobble I was off.
My helmet is admittedly antique.
I didn't take any pictures going downtown, but it was very muddy along the river, and complete gridlock south of about 88th Street. I had already resigned myself to being very cautious, but I was gritting my teeth the entire way as cars and pedestrians and bikers all threatened at various points to swerve in front of me. Biking around the city is like being a landlord: you can't do it for very long and expect to maintain a glowing opinion of the intelligence of your fellow humans.
I didn't help that my toe clips were broken, and running shoes are difficult to slide over the pedal, due to the bumps and ridges on the bottom of the sole.
I took a picture of the broken crane on my way home.
Central Park West was an insane parking lot until about 80th Street.
Harlem was relatively quiet, however, and I stopped to enjoy the gothic architecture at City College in Hamilton Heights.
Dream brownstones on Convent Avenue in the low 140s.
Convent Avenue blissfully free of traffic, which isn't to say you can ever let your guard down in the city; someone on a cell phone walked right in front of me about ten seconds after I took this picture.
I made it home in one piece, though, so I'm not complaining...
