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Brittany O’Neal with the smooth lines, speed, and power, slicing through Brooklyn streets and making it look easy (it’s not).
I lived in Brooklyn for about five years, and biked a lot of miles, so a few of those streets brought back a lot of memories. I didn’t cover those miles like Brittany does, but hey, that’s okay.
I was riding through Chinatown, minding my own biz, and some kid opened his door and I hit him. I was going slow, so nothing crazy happened, but the frame for my touring bag broke. This means the bag that I carry my 25lbs worth of stuff is broke now. Boo! Thankfully the kid gave me a few dollars towards a new frame.
This could have been a lot worse.
I’ve been doing some laps at Central Park in recent weeks. Lots of aero bars and tourists on rented bikes.
My 40-60 mile jaunts between towns and cities are within my abilities so riding around the park is for the saddle time. I’m not trying to break any speed records, I just want to build up to 4-5 hours of time on a bike seat.
This is a street in Brooklyn that I ride on my way to Queens. It’s quiet. It’s lonely. It’s still.
Ahead lie miles of quiet, lonely and still roads. I’m stoked.
In case you’re wondering what sort of bike I will be riding during my adventures, it is a NYCBikes single speed with flat bars. Right now I’m not planning on adding any extra bags or a seat-post rack. This is mostly because I don’t have a lot of stuff, but once I start hauling my laptop and the rest of my possessions (which isn’t a lot) that could change.
I wonder if doing this adventure on a single speed is a mistake, then I remember I’ve done some serious rides on this bike already. I’ve done 75 miles a few times, and a handful of 50 milers. Even the ride to Nyack, NY and back. I realize I won’t be doing these rides in record setting time, but I’ll get there.
UPDATE 2/4/2024: From my pal Bill’s Flickr feed; me helping my pal Sarah with something on her bike when we rode down to Coney Island.
Since my rear flasher freaking fell off while riding down 2nd ave I figured it’d be safer to take the subway for the 2nd half of my commute.
And yes, there is something written on the floor but I didn’t get the full text. And yes, it includes the word horny. Yea.
Look at the trees! The color! The bikes! I should really try to get closer shots of these cyclists, but ya know… this is what you get. Go ride!
5th Ave Bike Messenger
I wanted to see if it was possible to ride over the Whitestone Bridge, so this was part of my recon work. But I just HAD to stop and take in this gorgeous view. And no, it’s not possible to ride over the bridge. At least I couldnt see a way.
