Official Biker Babe

Saturday I decided to work off a bit of the food and beer I consumed all day on Friday (Happy 4th ya'll!) by going on my first bike ride in Manhattan. The concept of biking in Manhattan has terrified me before, but I've slowly entertained the idea until I finally built up the courage to do it.

First off, biking to the Williamsburg Bridge is really easy because it's just straight down a not very busy street in Brooklyn. And then biking up the bridge is a bit challenging but not really -- works up a slight burn in the quads which is joyously repaid with the ride above the cars and subway, staring over the East River lapping up against Brooklyn on one side and Manhattan on the other, with the buildings all reaching high. It was beautiful. When the subway came rushing past, I looked down through the rails of the bike path, watching the top of the train car rush by and feeling its rumble (but not in a scary way). Because the path is so high, when I looked up I saw the structure of the bridge, all its beams and posts and whatever else makes it a bridge. It was gorgeous! Then the path slants back down and I absolutely flew, zipping around walkers and zooming straight down. It was awesome to ride that fast without worrying about cars or anything, truly close to what flying must feel like.

Then the path dumps out into a huge median in the middle of crazy busy Delancey Street. It's like, I'm a bird, cruising above the subway and the cars, staring at the tiny boats from my way up high spot, to HOLY SHIT MANHATTAN! But it was actually really cool. I instantly switched to this mode of paying insanely close attention to everything, completely aware of all my surroundings, while controlling my bike in a way I hadn't before in order to make turns and dodge pedestrians and "avoid accident."* I felt empowered, like, I am completely in control of this machine underneath me, manipulating its wheels and bars to move my body around Manhattan streets in a fast and fun way. It was exciting and also boosting; if I can bike in NYC, I can do anything!

I rode through the Lower East Side and then turned onto Bowery just to say I've biked on Bowery before. The car lanes are actually really wide, and there's also a wide bike line on the side, so it was a rather easy street to manage. Then I turned onto East 3rd Street, following it to to the west side (Noho maybe?) and around NYU zone. I was a little confused but got my bearings straight and navigated through Astor Place, down 4th street and back toward the bridge. I thought it might be nicer to bike on a side street, so I took Mott, thinking it would intersect with Delancey at some point. Well, either it does and I completely missed it or it doesn't at all, because I ended up right smack in the middle of Chinatown and was waaaay overwhelmed. I don't like walking in Ctown, much less biking along the narrow streets with cars parked on both sides and people walking whenever they want and cars honking. The streets that did have bike lanes were lined with people double parking, and I was just like, Oh my, get me out of here! After about five minutes, I found my way to Delancey and gratefully pumped up the hill and cruised over the Williamsburg Bridge again. The serene view brought my Chinatown anxiety back down and by the time I made it home, I had been out for over an hour and developed blisters on my palms. Now I know people wear those fingerless glove not just to look badass but for a legit reason, and I'm on the hunt for a pair.

Someone pointed out to be while I was bragging about my bold biking that it was a Saturday on the 4th of July weekend and Manhattan was very empty and calm. Oh well! I guess it was a good way to start out, and I can't even imagine Chinatown during a weekday. But no matter what, I still feel empowered.

Basil updates: He LOVES Frida Bat! She likes him very much too but is still figuring out how to play with him. He's very happy with us, obviously demonstrating love in the sweetest, most adoring ways (kisses, tail wags, cuddles, extremely happy greetings with such vigorous tail wags that his whole butt moves back and forth!). He snoozes like the dead and spazzes out when he wakes, but post-spaz is able to sit and chill out. And the spazzing is amazing -- everything he does is just so damn cute. So far he has chewed two pairs of sandals and one bra, though I rescued the bra before it was totally destroyed, the tail off of my Popple (from childhood!) and partly through a strap from Dave's shoulder bag. Poor guy is losing his baby teeth and therefore wants to chew constantly. But he's really, really good at dropping things when we say, "Drop it!" and relaxing with a dog toy instead. Stupidly, we left the closet door open while we were away for a few hours, so that's where the damaged goods came into play. But no worries, I've already replaced the shoes. Also, no more baby gate! He now has free reign of the house and Frida is totally happy with him in her bedroom. And even on her bed! Blacula likes him, too, but often let's him know who's in charge. If he gets too close, she smacks him and hisses and he whimpers and chills out. He's still best buds with Toby from across the hall, and makes friends every time we go out anywhere. He's a mini-celebrity! When we're walking him, people come up and say, "Oh (insert boyfriend/girlfriend's name), this is the puppy I was telling you about!" He also loooooves cuddling and sleeps with us and Frida at night. Sir Basil Diego is the best.



* "Avoid accident" -- on the subway, the recorded announcer every ten minutes will list all the things you shouldn't do on the subway (like hold the doors and run down stairs and stick your baby's arm out the window), then will say, "Avoid accident, and have a safe day." Avoid accident? What? This is a joke between Dave and me because the sentence is so ridiculous. Isn't the definition of an accident something that just happens, or is unavoidable? Who knows. So anyway, avoid accident, and have a safe day.