Summer Streets

Summer Streets

Yesterday morning, I decided to take my bike out for a spin - something I hadn't done since May 21 (a.k.a. Bike To Work Day), which earned me a gift certificate to a bike shop. Becca has been in solitary confinement in the bedroom, studying for her upcoming Dental Admission Test.  And even though I've been quiet, I think she was getting sick of seeing me sitting on the computer trying to find the perfect songs for our wedding video or tinkering with WordPress for my fledgling hobby of building a visual catalog of Brooklyn Heights homes (Heights Inside Out).  The weather outside was delightful, so it was a perfect opportunity for me to hit the streets.

I took off with no particular destination in mind.  I was thinking I'd go around the block and pick up one of the bike lanes in our neighborhood, then maybe do a small loop down to Carroll Gardens and back.  An office building down the block from us is being converted into apartments, so they had the street closed for some crane work, then I got caught in the resultant traffic, so I ended up just heading towards the Manhattan Bridge.  I figured at least there's a dedicated bike path there, and I could cut across town and pick up the Hudson River Greenway over by my office.

But when I hit Lafayette Street, I saw something beautiful:  no cars.  I saw lots of bikes and closed off cross streets.  So, I just hopped into upstream flow.  I soon realized that this was one of  the Summer Streets events put on by the Department of Transportation.  I'd heard of this before, closing down a long stretch of Manhattan streets to vehicular traffic, but never made a point of waking up to experience it - since the events run from 7AM to 1PM.

It was complete dumb luck that I was there on that day at that time, but it was pretty damn glorious.  I just kept riding farther and farther uptown, because it was so easy and relaxing.  Up past Union Square, then on Park Ave all the way to Grand Central, where I rode through the winding tunnel that runs around the perimeter.  I decided to head back when I got up to 53rd St, then got to ride on closed streets all the way to Brooklyn Bridge.  From there it was a quick ride home.  For the complete route I took, check out my Livestrong loop.

One nice thing about the Summer Streets program is that it runs on three consecutive weekends and doesn't draw the same masses (yet) as annual events like the Five Boro Bike Tour (which I've heard is a complete cluster).

So, my pedal-pushing readers, plan your next NYC trip around one of the Summer Streets weekends.  It's really an awesome way to tour the city, from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, for FREE!  Freebie!