Sounds epic right? I can assure you it was. I woke up before my alarm at the ungodly hour of 4:23 A.M. Needless to say, I was not in the most pleasant of moods. I left Union Square at around 5 and headed up 6th ave. It's true what they say, about the "city that doesn't sleep," at least in lower Manhattan that is. There were still people wandering around, and many lights aglow. The volume, however, was significantly less than usual. There was an strange silence in the air. I say strange only because, New York without hordes of people is like... I don' know... a hot dog without a bun. It's just weird.
I started riding, but decided to cut myself a break, since I had 100 miles ahead of me, and hopped on the D train (It was 7o blocks to the starting line from where I was). The thing that creeped me out was subway tunnel (depicted left). I have NEVER seen a tunnel empty (this is the level before the turnstile). There was no noise echoing from above; no trains thundering from below; No conversation echoing across the ceramic walls. I quickly refilled my Metro card, hoping to get onto the platform as soon as possible. I went through the prescribed procedure: 
Swipe your card, flip the turnstile as though you had walked through, and then open the emergency gate to let your bike in. As I carried my bike down the stairs onto the platform, I was relieved to find people waiting for the train. Once the D got there, I was even more surprised at the number of people that were already on board.Once in the Park, I lined up with the other participants. According to the Transportation Alternatives Staff, over 6,000 people were participating that day. This is the 20th annual New York Century Tour, which serves as T.A.'s primary fundraiser for their advocacy efforts. This was the only T.A. ride (including tour de Bronx and tour de Queens) which I had to pay for. This ride is a little bit different from the ones I have done to date. First, the route was not closed of to vehicular traffic. Secondly, we did not travel as a group. You went at your own pace, and no one waited up for you if you fell behind. Third, there were marshalls, but they were not so much leading the ride as they were patrolling and making sure things went smoothly.
We left Central Park, while it was still dark, in groups according to how many people could role out while the light was green. The idea was to obey traffic signals. We zoomed down Riverside Drive, the site of a proposed bike lane (according to the 2009 map). Because there were hardly any cars out that early, we had the road to ourselves, and the hills on the upper west side were a lot of fun to speed down. As we headed further downtown, the sun began to
rise, and just as we reached midtown, it peaked up over the tallest buildings casting a beautiful orange reflection onto the street below (sort of depicted right). The highlight of my morning was when we hit the Brooklyn Bridge. Anyone who has been keeping up with this blog, or knows anything about me, knows how I feel about this gorgeous, iconic structure. The sun had just climbed above the horizon as I began the ascent up it's arching pedestrian promenade. The brilliant orange light bathed the bridge's 
neo-gothic arches and accentuated the twisting steel of the criss-crossing support cables. As I looked to my left, the Manhattan bridge glowing in the brilliant orange light against a fresh, pink, cloudless sky. As I glanced behind me the sun glimmered off the financial buildings downtown. It was wonderful. Unfortunately, as I find is always the case with the Brooklyn Bridge, no pictures can do the scene its splendid justice.
From there we headed to Prospect Park, and the first rest stop. I was impressed when I got there. Not only did they have thousands of Crispy Cream Doughnuts, but they had bananas, apples, oranges, water, and Peanut butter and Jelly bagels. They even had a been for compost! From there We headed out to the Western edge of the Shore Parkway (the week before I was biking from its eastern-most point). This was a brilliant ride, because it actually 
follows the shore line (the Eastern portion is not so, most of the time you have tall grass on one side and the express way on the other), with brilliant views of Staten Island. More importantly, however, You get to pass directly beneath the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. This bridge was the last in the United States to hold the record as the longest in the world,a title it relinquished in 1981 to the Humber Bridge in England. It is gargantuan, and extremely impressive. The next stop was in Marine Park. I did not stay here to long, because I was not yet tired, but a noticed a few things while I was there. On all of the bike tours I have participated in, there is always a mutual sense of trust and respect between the riders. 
No one is ever uncomfortable leaving their bikes unattended (for short periods of course), and conversation is easy to come by. I always overhear stories of other rides, or heroing experiences. In this way, we are generating energy about cycling, an energy which rubs off on people as we ride around. Seeing people happily biking through the streets sends a message to people. Wow, look how much fun they're having, and if that many people are biking there must be something to it! Anothter cool feature at he rest stops were the map stations. There was always a table, with free bike maps and information on it. There were also marked bike pas which identified the route, and your relative location (depicted right).
No one is ever uncomfortable leaving their bikes unattended (for short periods of course), and conversation is easy to come by. I always overhear stories of other rides, or heroing experiences. In this way, we are generating energy about cycling, an energy which rubs off on people as we ride around. Seeing people happily biking through the streets sends a message to people. Wow, look how much fun they're having, and if that many people are biking there must be something to it! Anothter cool feature at he rest stops were the map stations. There was always a table, with free bike maps and information on it. There were also marked bike pas which identified the route, and your relative location (depicted right). 
We headed over to Rockaway, which I found out is actually all part of Queens, and made the same journey I had the week before [through the Jamaica bay wildlife Refuge, and back to central Queens]. On the way over the boardwalk, I saw some massive kites taking flight on the beach (depicted left). 
Our next stop was Kissena Park, but there was a slight detour before the rest area. Apparently Kessina has a Velodrome (one of those tracks with inverted edges) [depicted right]. They had opened it up so all the century riders could take a spin. Even with the extra weight I was carrying, it was still fun!
As I sat up against a rock at the Kissena Park, I concluded that we were directly beneath the JFK airport approach airspace, since at least five passenger jets made low, descending passes over head while I was there. I stayed in the park for a while, as this was the 60 mile marker. My bike computer read 68 miles, but that's because I had biked a little bit that morning to get to CP. I enjoyed the ride through north eastern Queens, especially because I got to ride by the Throngsneck Bridge (depicted left). 
After that it was straight past La Guardia, and around to Astoria. When i stopped I was tired. This was the 75 mile marker. This is the upper limit of what I normally do in a day. my bike computer already indicated that I had done 80 some miles. Being stubborn, however, I was determined to complete the century! I stayed in Astoria long enough to refuel (with water and at least four PB & J sandwiches) and stretch. Then I hit the RFK bridge. Unfortunately it was backed up all the way across, because of the stairs along its walkway (depicted right). It took a while, but I finally got to Randall's Island. All those going to the Bronx turned left; everyone else went right, and back into Manhattan. I turned left, and for a while there was no one following me. As soon as I hit Bronx soil, something ignited inside of me. I'm not sure exactly what was going on, but this rush of energy just took over. 
My speed increased, and all of the sudden I had not only caught up to some of the other riders, but I passed them! For a while I was traveling in familiar territory (from my previous trip up North), but then the tour took me to the east. Let me just say, that I think the Bronx is fascinating. No matter where you go, you find children playing games in the street, people sitting out on their stoops, and families BBQing in the park. It's like the last vestige of Jane Jacob's ideas about urban community. 
There are also some very cool greenways including the one in Soundview Park, and the Mosulu Parkway. It was like riding through a cove of arching trees at the water's edge {depicted right). That fence, in the picture is, interestingly, blocking off a freshly paved trail for pedestrians and bicycles which goes even closer to the water. I made it all the way up to the Van Courtland Rest Area (depicted left). I was so amped up at this point though, that I only stayed for about five minutes. After that I jetted out of there and headed south. I don't remember a whole lot of this portion of the ride. I was in one of those trances, where you are hyper focused on your actions. I do vaguely remember catching up to, and passing not one, but two delivery persons on bicycles. As we have discovered, that isn't the easiest task. It was interesting being so in tune with my bike. There was no disconnect between what I was thinking and the bike's actions. 
I was able to skirt my way around parked cars, speeding traffic, and a number of other obstructions. I was so focused, that all of the sudden I looked up at one point, and noticed that I had made it don to 107th street. This was several blocks passed the finish line! I didn't even realize I had made it back into Manhattan! I turned around and headed to the real finish line. I was very excited to pick up my free t-shirt! I definitely earned that damn thing! After a day jostling with cars I decided to take the scenic route back home to Union Square. I rode along the Central Park loop until it spit me out at 7th ave. As I was riding through I heard a man say to his girlfriend "It's okay honey, we can do the five mile loop instead." I laughed as I glanced down at the 118 some miles displayed on my bike computer's odometer readout. From there it was smooth sailing all the way down Manhattan, into the Sunset.
My speed increased, and all of the sudden I had not only caught up to some of the other riders, but I passed them! For a while I was traveling in familiar territory (from my previous trip up North), but then the tour took me to the east. Let me just say, that I think the Bronx is fascinating. No matter where you go, you find children playing games in the street, people sitting out on their stoops, and families BBQing in the park. It's like the last vestige of Jane Jacob's ideas about urban community. 
There are also some very cool greenways including the one in Soundview Park, and the Mosulu Parkway. It was like riding through a cove of arching trees at the water's edge {depicted right). That fence, in the picture is, interestingly, blocking off a freshly paved trail for pedestrians and bicycles which goes even closer to the water. I made it all the way up to the Van Courtland Rest Area (depicted left). I was so amped up at this point though, that I only stayed for about five minutes. After that I jetted out of there and headed south. I don't remember a whole lot of this portion of the ride. I was in one of those trances, where you are hyper focused on your actions. I do vaguely remember catching up to, and passing not one, but two delivery persons on bicycles. As we have discovered, that isn't the easiest task. It was interesting being so in tune with my bike. There was no disconnect between what I was thinking and the bike's actions. 
I was able to skirt my way around parked cars, speeding traffic, and a number of other obstructions. I was so focused, that all of the sudden I looked up at one point, and noticed that I had made it don to 107th street. This was several blocks passed the finish line! I didn't even realize I had made it back into Manhattan! I turned around and headed to the real finish line. I was very excited to pick up my free t-shirt! I definitely earned that damn thing! After a day jostling with cars I decided to take the scenic route back home to Union Square. I rode along the Central Park loop until it spit me out at 7th ave. As I was riding through I heard a man say to his girlfriend "It's okay honey, we can do the five mile loop instead." I laughed as I glanced down at the 118 some miles displayed on my bike computer's odometer readout. From there it was smooth sailing all the way down Manhattan, into the Sunset.
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