After some seriously enjoyable vegging out in Point Pleasant
and a bit of last-minute searching for a place to stay in New York City, we
rode down the road on Sunday morning to the train station. Wanting to avoid the
pretty much guaranteed headache of trying to ride into the Big Apple, we decided
to arrive via the New Jersey transit line into Penn Station. It was a busy Easter Sunday on the train and
it took a wee bit of convincing on several occasions to convince the staff that
we should, indeed, be allowed on with our bicycles, but in the end we got in no
problem.
Emerging
from the front doors of Penn Station was awesome. No other way to put it. It was overwhelming and terrifying yet felt
totally normal at the same time. Not
only were there huge buildings, people everywhere, and tons of taxis honking,
but Sam and I both seemed to have this recurring "We made it!"
feeling that came in waves. After some
initial mental preparation, we got on our bikes and made our way in the
direction of Brooklyn and the home of Shira, our Warmshowers host. Lots of people had warned me about riding in
NYC. I had been worried about riding in
NYC. Given my tolerance for cities,
fast-moving things, high levels of noise, etc. (a fragile soul, perhaps?), I
figured that it would be doable but perhaps like ripping off a band-aid. Boy, was I wrong. It was so much fun. There were other bicycle riders all over the
place, bike lanes to be found with well-timed lights, and a bit of a
free-for-all feel that made it feel manageable.
We got
ourselves sorted out at Shira's and then, at her suggestion, the three of us
biked over to Williamsburg to check out some thrift stores and see the
neighbourhood. We had a delicious dinner
together along with a friend that evening filled with vegetables and a
successful salmon 'experiment'.
Basically, the day can be summed up in the fact that I had Alicia Keys
playing on repeat in my head. Sort of
surreal, yet just another part of this bicycle travel adventure.
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