bcobb

First ride in Brooklyn

Nov 6, 2016

Sam got a job working for the venerable Storycorps, so in October, we moved to Brooklyn! Today, I was able to go on my first bike ride in town.

Why is this notable? Well, despite having ridden my bike a ton as a kid, and having raced bikes a little in college, I really didn’t do much city cycling until the last few years, when we lived in Madison. When we lived in San Francisco, despite having a great commuter bike, I was intimidated by the prospect of suddenly turning onto a street with a ridiculously steep hill, or having to contend with street cars, or having my bike stolen, or simply not being cool enough to be riding a bike in San Francisco, dude.

The end result is that I basically didn’t learn how to ride bikes as a simple means of transportation until we moved from San Francisco to Madison. Tons of good stuff in Madison is eminently accessible by bike, especially from where we lived, and I took advantage of it. But when we found out we’d be moving to Brooklyn, I felt the same sort of impending trepidation as I felt in California, so it was important to me to nip my anxiety in the bud. So many people ride their bike regularly in this city, right? Why shouldn’t I ride, too?

Which brings me to today: I rode from our place in Bed-Stuy to D. Coluccio & Sons, and I survived! It’s quite a thing to experience, riding through Brooklyn. Double-parking is rampant, and it’s not always easy to tell double-parking apart from lackadaisical driving. Negotiating traffic flowing around those cars knocked the rust off of my handling skills in a matter of blocks.

Other highlights of the ride:

• My route took me through Prospect Park, which was better riding than I expected, and I had a nice boost from a strong tailwind up some of the modest climbs.
• I arrived via 12th Ave, but forgot to turn back onto it when I left, so I took little detour down 60th St, into one of Brooklyn’s Chinatowns.
• I ended up walking a couple of miles as I got closer to Bed-Stuy on my return, as there was a long Police line–I think due to the NYC Marathon today. It was a nicer way to check out some stuff further west than I’ve walked before, but still within walking distance of our place.

And, of course, reaching my destination felt great.

Next time I head out that way, I’ll probably take the train so I can transport more delicious stuff back. For today, a fresh loaf of bread, some pâté, and some imported candy was a worthwhile prize for having finished the ride in one piece.