Thursday, March 15, 2012

Central Park on bikes again!!

Turn back the clock. It's springtime. Last year. The blizzard of blizzards. Followed by blizzard after blizzard after blizzard. Back when I was dreaming about a full-suspension 29-inch wheel mountain bike just so that I could commute to and from work. Back when melting snow revealed cars that had been parallel parked and buried under snowbanks months before.

Ah, springtime!

And what better way to celebrate than a return trip to lovely Central Park. Nicole and I had visited mid-town Manhattan to see a special exhibit on Andy Warhol's "screen tests." The verdict: fascinating!
It was as if Dali himself made an appearance!

Afterwords, we walked over to Columbus Circle, where we ordered the strangest, most exotic, and perhaps, tastiest pizza ever: mango rhubarb! The rhubarb were fresh and in season, and the mango, rhubarb and blue cheese were just sitting on the crust, displaying their odd comoradie, waiting to be consumed.

Not only was the taste alone worthy of an investment, but for $15, we had probably scored the cheapest lunch for two in Central Park West!

We headed outside again, and then was shining. Nicole spotted about two dozen steel-gray Trek 7300s that were part of a bike rental fleet.

"Ah, Connecitcut!" He said, with a conniving green. "I give you the special rate!" He displayed a card with prices per hour for rental, with each additional hour costing substantially more than the hour that preceeded it. "It takes about an and half to ride the whole park," he said, with a smile that wouldn't dim. "I'll give you a special rate for the second hour" he said as he turned towards Nicole. "Since you're from Connecticut."

I was a bit turned off by the huckter-ness of this man's  nature. But he seemed to have a good fleet of bikes, and it was a beautiful day. And I could tell Nicole was very excited to get on a bike again.

So we decided yes, we'll take it. "Come with me he said. "I'll get the bikes for you." With that, he started walking us 180 degrees in the opposite direction of the bike rental stand. Huh? "Where are you taking us?" I asked.

"Towards the bikes he said."

Well they appear to be over there," I said, pointing to the bike fleet under the giant sign that said, "rental."

His smile disappeared, and he became firm. "They are more expensive." He said, trying to reassure us that we had made the right decision. "We have the same bikes."

Nicole and I just sort of looked each. Okay, whatever. We continued to follow from the southwest corner of the park to the sidewalk on 59th street. The man picked up a walkie-talkie. "Yeah, two bikes" he said. "That's right, two of them."

The operation was sketchier by the minute. Sure enough, one of his comprades brought out a Wal-Mart bike. I had had enough!

"All right," I said to the mysterious stranger. "We're not riding those bikes."
Wheeee! Coasting down the park's west side.

"But they are more expensive!" He replied. Clearly, he had gone through this routine before.

"I don't care," I said. "I'll pay more so I can ride a bike I actually like!"

He followed us briefly, trying to win us over one last time. "I'll do half off for the whole ride!"

"Forget it," I said, as we kept on walking. Boy I do feel sorry for anyone who took his "special" rate for 25 percent off.

We walked over to the bike fleet and talked to someone behind the counter. Oddly enough, they had a flat hourly rate. And it was cheaper that what the sketchy dirt-bags who walking around with rental pamphlets peddling all the passers by.

We briefly signed up to ride a tandem. After a few minutes of riding, we quickly realized it wasn't for us. Whoever was sitting in the rear seat had a lovely view of the front riders shoulders. That, and pretty much every nut and bolt needed to be tightened on that damn thing. We politely returned said tandem for the 7300s that had first caught our eye and started riding again.

As we rode up "museum mile" across from Fifth Avenue, we couldn't help but soak in the amazement that we had been here on a gray October day just a few months before. This team we saw color everywhere--the blue sky, the budding flowers, and the leafy greens and the beautiful edifices that line the eastern and western edges of glorious Central Park. What a day!

We also felt some of the same feelings as on our ride before. The power of Central Park's combination of landscaped lawns and unspoiled beauty does not diminish with each visit. The jagged rocks of Manhattan Schist that jut out of the ground, the running brooks, the majestic trees--all of them inspiring in their own way. And there is no better way to experience what is perhaps Manhattan's greatest asset than on a bicycle.
The unmatched subtle majesty of Central Park .

After we reached the park's northern border at 110th street, we followed the park's winding road south towards home base. Here we encountered something unusual in most of Manhattan: hills. Despite our efforts to stay in shape with the occasional ride on a stationary trainer, we noticed our legs were a bit out of tune after a few months of relative inactivity. It made us want to start riding bikes again--preferably our own. Nicole commented on how our bikes were lighter and faster than the 7300s we had rented. I knew what she was thinking, but was bit daunted as to the logistics of bringing our bikes down for another Manhattan day trip.

When we returned our bikes, though, Nicole was still grinning with the prospect of a future bike ride through Central Park. In the meantime, however, I figured our trip wouldn't be complete without a ride on the Lexington Avenue Express to the Brooklyn Promenade. With that, we walked a few blocks east on 59th street and took the subway to downtown Brooklyn. We perused the neighborhood's historic Federal Townhouses and were treated to sunset views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. Beautiful. But, still our day was not done.

At dusk we continued our walking tour of the neighborhood and spotted a sushi restaurant. We were especially enticed with the two drinks for the price of one with dinner purchase. Unlike the bike rental hucksters, this was a real bargain. We enjoyed a lovely meal of fresh sushi for two, along with a few glasses of plum wine. The total bill--tax and tip included--came to less than $35. I couldn't help but marvel that a price for a similar meal would be difficult, if not impossible, to come by in Connecticut.

But Connecticut was the next stop our list--home. After all, if there was one thing we had learned from our trip, home is where the bikes are. And our cats needed us.

Our next bike ride, however, proved to be more than just fun, but perhaps the most important bike ride of our lives . . .

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