Hudson River Ramble (12 miles)

This past weekend I was in NYC visiting friends who are long-time avid cyclists, so we took advantage of the (mostly) stellar weather to ride three days in a row. Yay! I'll describe the routes-- as well as the post-ride dining and entertainment-- over the next few posts. But first I want to give a shoutout and big thank you to my buddies R and J in NYC. They were incredibly hospitable and generous while my junk and I were occupying their living room for 4 days.

A quick note about the equipment used on these rides: For this trip I rented a 7 speed hybrid from Eddie's Bicycles Shop down the street from R and J's abode on the upper west side. This shop features a friendly staff and a fleet of wobbly-wheeled, fender-rattling cross-town Fujis ($35/day). I was actually quite surprised how comfortable the bike was, considering how many miles we logged.

Anyway, the first day's afternoon forecast (or futurecast as the local weatherman described it) called for thunderstorms, so we just took a quick jaunt up the Hudson River Greenway to the base of the George Washington Bridge. The greenway is a nice multi-use path that runs right alongside the west side waterfront from Battery part to the GW bridge. The path takes a little detour at 125th street, but this affords an opportunity to cruise by the Cotton Club and Dinosaur Bar B Que before rejoining the path.


At the base of the GW bridge is a very small red lighthouse with some
interesting history and literary credentials. Honestly it seems too small to imagine that it was ever very effective. On the other hand, I didn't see any remnants of shipwrecks along the waterfront, so I guess it did alright.

Animules: domesticated urban animal life, lots of squirrels
Distance: 12 miles
Elevation: 869 feet
Route: Hudson River Ramble (bikely.com)

Dining and Entertainment Notes

On Friday night we had a lovely meal at Haru in the neighborhood. I had some particularly tasty tempura and a roll combo that left me feeling a little bit like Violet Beauregarde. Good times.

After dinner we headed down to the Village Vanguard to catch a performance by the Heath Brothers. This is a wonderfully intimate venue in a subterranean space, where you just feel the history of the place oozing out of the bricks. The Heath brothers were great-- charming, funny, clearly enjoying the jazz lifestyle.