Brooklyn, July 23rd
Finally, the end of the loaded ride! I’m now ensconced in a hostel. No more stealth camping!
Yesterday I put 40 miles on the clock. The weather was reasonable – low 80s I estimate with a mix of sun and cloud. I didn’t cover 40 miles of linear distance but backtracked and took a couple of scenic loops on some nice winding backroads (unfortunately often semi-clogged with Sunday traffic). I also had a very brief ocean dip and managed to find an outdoor fresh water shower at a local beach, which raised my morale considerably. I was prepared to ride further but when I saw the first motel I’d seen in a VERY long time at 3:30 PM, something snapped and I grabbed a room and semi-collapsed. A real bed, air conditioning and hot water - what bliss!
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Today’s 42-mile ride was on secondary highways for the first 30 and major city boulevards for the last 12 miles. The weather was hot but it cooled off in the afternoon with an almost thunder shower (20 minutes of very light rain). Traffic was from the little I’ve seen of it to date very heavy throughout and the riding was not for the faint-hearted. I rode through downtown Queens and about 500 traffic lights later, reached the hostel. Metropolitan New York is huge and it took an amazing amount of time to travel apparently short distances on the city map I had.
The hostel is in a former industrial area that’s just starting to re-invent itself as a hip neighbourhood. There are lots of abandoned substantial factory buildings, some of which are being converted to loft housing and a few bars and restaurants. It’s a shame to view the hollowing out of once mighty US manufacturing sector however and one wonders how the US is going to stay number one since they’ve out-sourced the manufacturing know-how that initially put them there.
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