The next stop will be…

This morning I decided to see what my new bicycle commute, most of it anyway, is gonna be like after *E* and I move. Instead of heading north from my house, as I usually do, to Queens and taking the Queensborough Bridge to Manhattan, I biked south to the Williamsburg Bridge. The bridge is about 4 miles northeast from our new home and from there it’s another 7 miles to work so I got to see the majority of the new route.

I gotta say I’m liking the W’burg Bridge a lot better than the Queensborough. The walk/bike path on the W’burg is above the traffic lanes unlike the QB where you’re right next to them consequently the air on the W’burg path is much, much better. Also there’s no construction going on with its attendant workers and their trucks blocking the path. I didn’t miss those guys at all.

So far, it’s plus plus for the W’burg but I saved the best plus for last. It takes me half as long to get across it as the QB, just five minutes this morning. I’m not sure why. It could be that it’s shorter than the QB or maybe it’s the angle of ramps for the paths. Either way I sailed across it this morning and there’s nothing wrong with that.

An experienced cyclist that I work with suggested taking First Ave to go uptown after getting off the bridge so I took his advice. It was not for naught as it turned out to be pretty ideal. Traffic in general on First wasn’t too heavy and there weren’t any seriously congested intersections which is always a possibility when you get around midtown. Also it’s kinda cool because it takes me past the United Nations building.

I stayed on First until I passed under the QB Bridge then took my usual route on into work. Total time this morning was about 40 minutes, just 10 more than normal. I expect the whole new commute to take about 50-60 minutes but I won’t know for sure until I’ve tried it. All in all, although it’ll be twice as long, I think my new commute is going to be an improvement over my old one and I can finally leave the wretched QB Bridge to the smog and construction workers.

The soreness from my ride yesterday dissipated pretty quickly and my bike commute was no problem this morning. I’m wondering if the soreness was more from the saddle than from the effort of pedaling. It’s possible since that’s the longest time I’ve spent on a bike in recent memory.

Anyway, it looks like I’m good to go for the NYC Century. I plan to bicycle commute on Wednesday and Thursday then take Friday and Saturday off before doing the Century on Sunday. I’m gonna take my cellphone with me so I’ll try to post updates to Twitter while I’m at the rest stops. You’ll be able to follow my progress in the little sidebar widget or directly from my Twitter feed here.

I just got home after putting 27 miles on my bicycle. Here’s the course if you wanna take a look. I had one little 5 minute break but other than that it was non-stop, two hours and twenty five minutes. My legs are sore but not as bad as I thought they’d be. I guess tomorrow morning will be the true test of soreness when I have to decide to bike commute or not.

The ride was in preparation for the New York City Century which is next Sunday. I haven’t done much riding other than the commute so I thought it’d be a good idea to shake my legs out a bit and see what they could do. I have to say they did surprisingly well which is very encouraging.

I’m gonna attempt 55 miles on the Century ride so I need all the encouragement I can get. There’s several rest stops on that route so I think I can manage it. My biggest concern is making it across the Tri-Borough Bridge near the end of the course. I’ve never been across that bridge on a bike so it’s an unknown. The good news is there’s a rest stop right before I have to cross it so that should definitely help.

In an odd way I’m kinda looking forward to the crossing the Tri-Borough because it’s the only major East River bridge that I haven’t been across. I’ve biked up to it from my neighborhood once but never across. I’ve done the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, and Queensborough Bridges many times. I guess if I make it across the Tri-Borough I’ll have to set my sights on the only Hudson River bridge at some point in the future, it’s the George Washington.

Oddities I spotted while on today’s ride. What appeared to be a marriage proposal on the Pulaski Bridge. The view from there is pretty nice but it crosses Newtown Creek, one of the most polluted waterways in the area so it seems an odd choice for a proposal. Still, that was much nicer than what the Queensborough Bridge had to offer. About one third of the way up the walk/bike path coming from Queens, I spotted broken glass and a not insignificant amount of blood. Yikes. The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful.

All the more so when caffeine is involved.

My morning routine has been the same for a long time. Get up, drink two cups of coffee, go to work, and get breakfast at the staff cafeteria. This worked fine when I commuted by train because my empty stomach could more than handle the coffee. Not so much now that I’m bicycle commuting.

The coffee combined with the effort of bicycling and the heat of summer creates a cocktail that feels like it’s burning a hole through my stomach. It usually strikes about two thirds of the way into my commute and I get to ride the rest of the way dealing with nausea. Kinda puts a damper on the joy of bicycling to work.

I suppose I could continue to suffer but I find it’s beneficial to listen to what my body is telling me lest I get an ulcer. So it seems a change to my routine is in order. Hmmm, change? Me no like change so much. It goes against my only slightly tongue in cheek mantra, “Never try new things.” I’ll need a plan…

Fumid: contraction of the “F” word and humid.

Example: It was so fumid this morning on my commute that it compelled me to create a word to describe it and furthermore, blog about it.

On a more positive note, today marks a first for my bicycle commute since starting several months ago. I’ve been regularly commuting on the bike three days a week for some time now but this week I managed to do it four days! My goal is five days a week and it’s definitely within sight.

My bicycle commute takes me across the Queensborough Bridge walk/bike path which runs alongside the bridge’s roadway. I recently noticed an unusual symmetry that I think bears mentioning. There are “gentlemen’s clubs” at both ends of the path, one in Long Island City in Queens and another on 60th Street in Manhattan. Weird, no? Even stranger than their geographical location is the fact that their names are kinda similar, Scores and Scandals. Classy! It’s a little odd to pass such a seedy business(two, no less) while doing something as wholesome as bicycle commuting.

Three recovery days!

My body is still adjusting to bicycle commuting from a pretty sedentary lifestyle earlier in the year. I’ve been doing the commute(12mi. RT) about three days a week for a few months now with the goal of five days, all weather. For various reasons, I had to take the subway three days in a row this week so I haven’t ridden since Monday. I could not wait to get on my bike this morning so much so that I only had one cup of coffee before leaving the house. I’m a regular two cupper so that’s saying something.

Anyway, I was stunned by the increased performance afforded by the time off. Everything seemed both easier and faster. The break really highlighted the fitness gains my body is making and it was awesome. Even the bane of my commute, the Queensboro Bridge, failed to tax my heart and lungs as much as it has been. It’s crazy how such a simple decision like deciding to bicycle commute can make such a difference to my health. I’m totally addicted.