Bluejake

I really enjoyed last weekend's skate around the Battery and I thought that the weather this weekend seemed just right for a long skate- not too warm, not too sunny. I originally conceived this trip as a reverse version of Two Bridges Redux- that is, skate over the Brooklyn Bridge and then cut over to the Manhattan for the trip back to the city. It turned into something else entirely- a two-hour-five-bridge skate through Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.

The ride started off uneventfully- the skate down to the Brooklyn Bridge was pretty quiet- Tribeca seemed eerily still for noon on a Sunday. There were hundreds of tourists walking lazily across the bridge as skaters and bikers swerved out of the way to avoid knocking them off the walkway. I forgot how challenging skating across the Brooklyn Bridge toward Brooklyn can be. I remember doing it three or four times a week to get back to Park Slope from Stuyvesant during my Senior year in high school. Anyway- the wooden slats are still hell on the knees, but the view is the best around. I ended up resting on Keith Godard's informational signage at the top of the bridge- wonderful pieces. The way back on the Manhattan Bridge was pretty smooth- empty but for a few bikers. I picked up a lot of speed heading down the other side of the bridge toward Chinatown and almost bit it on the barrier that blocks the path from crossing Bowery.

After a quick trip across Chinatown I was up and over the Williamsburg Bridge- still under massive construction. The wooden slats are worse than the ones on the Brooklyn Bridge, and coming down the other side the path just dead ends right on Bedford. Since you end up going about 25mph, if you didn't know to slow down you would probably end up getting hit by a bus at the bottom. After skating across I had one of those Mt. Everest moments (should I continue, and risk getting lost in Queens in a possible oncoming thunderstorm, or head back across the Williamsburg to the apartment?) I considered it for thirty seconds and then headed down Bedford at top speed- hipsters flying past in a blur. I crossed the Pulaski Bridge about fifteen minutes later- into uncharted territory in Queens. The next twenty blocks were touch and go- I sort of aimed for the Queensboro Bridge and then skated next to it until I found the skate path along the north side. The Queensboro is a beautiful example of a cantilevered bridge- the weight is supported by the metal framework above the roadway. Anyway, I was dead tired by the time I hit First Avenue on the other side. After a quick detour down Sutton Place, I sped down First Avenue to Houston, and then down Prince Street to get home. The whole East Side seemed sullen and gray, except for the UN buildings, which looked cool.

The whole ride took about 120 minutes, but crossing the five bridges (Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, Pulaski, Queensboro) only took about an hour and a half. It's hard to say what was the best part- the whole ride has all sorts of stunning scenery. I suppose the adventure of an uncharted skate through Queens will probably be what I remember.

Skating