Jan 292012

Looking for a Bite/Bike of the Big Apple: The Bikespedition Heads to New York City

Thanks to the talents of Second Daughter, I head to New York City this week. She will audition for several performing arts programs at the colleges she has targeted through diligent research. I will sit and knit in Stage Mom mode while she sings, dances, and delivers the monologues she’s been practicing upstairs.

I also hope to get out on the street and check out a few bike-related destinations. It will be co-o-o-old February,  and the New York bike share system isn’t yet up and running so I think I’m talking about taking transit, walking and looking. It should still be inspiring.

I plan to take some pictures while I’m there and post my fuzzy-cell-phone-images impressions of biking in New York to share the experience with you–a bikespedition of a different sort.

Here’s a partial list of things I hope to see and do and a few New York bike resources. If you’ve biked New York I’d love your recommendations for the must-see elements.

  • NYC Bike Share: I don’t get to do this! It’s launching summer 2012. I’m just noting it here as a future bike attraction. If I get to ride at all in New York it will be because some kind person lends me a bike and a helmet.
  • The High Line: A public park built on an elevated freight line that was transformed into a linear park.
  • Times Square: Sort of a “well, of course” for a trip to New York that revolves around theater, but my reason for being excited is that this will be my first trip to New York since they closed Times Square to vehicular traffic. (Can you say “transportation geek”?)
  • Adeline Adeline: Eldest Daughter gave me a way-cool ringy-dingy bike bell for Christmas that came from this shop. I’ve followed them on Twitter for quite a while thanks to discovering them through my compilation of the Women Bike Blogs list. I have a feeling they’re like the shop I would open if Bike Style Spokane ever became a storefront.
  • Bike New York: General resource site I’ll try to read through since I can only imagine how much hairier biking is in a city the size of New York compared to tame little Spokane!
  • New York City Bike Maps: Looking at the bike map of Manhattan they have the exact same situation as Spokane does: Bike lanes that stop and start. But seeing them installed in a major metro area with far more traffic than Spokane should reinforce my belief that we can have an outstanding bike network here at home. If they can make room for bike lanes in NYC, with some of the world’s priciest real estate underfoot, surely Spokane can!
  • Riding in general: We’ll be staying in the Theater District. Everything in New York feels close together to me—it’s either a walk or a subway ride away with no parking hassle or expense—and I’d love it if I could find a way to ride a bike through Central Park or Greenwich Village.
  • Celebrity spotting: Since lots of famous actors and actresses live in New York City, and quite a few have been known to ride bikes, I may spot someone famous on two wheels. Not quite as exciting as meeting Mia Birk, but still.

Back to the talents of Second Daughter, I just have to share a taste. I wish the sound were really true to her voice but I just appreciate having any kind of video record at all.

Your Turn

  • Have you biked in New York, or another major metro? What was it like?
Sharing is karma--pass it along!

Reader Comments

Write a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.