Bluejake

Today was a perfect day for a skate. I was inside all afternoon experimenting with Flash code, so by 5pm I was ready to be outside. I didn't have a clear idea of where I was going, so I pointed skated over to the West Side and pointed myself north. The Hudson River park is really coming along- it's fast smooth skating all the way up to 72nd Street, and they have just about completed the installation of the actual park from Houston Street to around 20th. At around 30th Street this woman on a bike passed me, so I used her as a wind break for about ten blocks. Eventually it got boring so I sped past her at full speed- it was this amazing burst of speed. The skates were performing especially well, as I had the wheels rotated just last weekend at the Blades on Broadway and 3rd.

Central Park is always a challenging skate. I cut across to the West Side and enjoyed the long downhill stretch from 72nd up to the end of the park at 110th. I must have been doing thirty miles an hour coming around the final half mile. Coming south on the West Side drive was much more difficult- there are three or four big hills. At one point this little group of joggers actually passed me. Eventually I made it down to a hot-dog stand back by 72nd and grabbed a Gatorade. Refreshed, I sped south and east out of the Park along 60th Street. I was up and over the Queensboro bridge just as the sun was setting. It's amazing how different it is skating towards Queens. Roosevelt Island and the Queensbridge Houses were the deepest shade of red, and everyone was staring out over the water as they made their way out of Manhattan. Coming off the bridge was pretty frightening. I ended up skating along under the G train tracks for four or five blocks- it was like a cross between the Warriors and CHUD. It was pretty dark and if not for all the traffic coming out of the taxi garages I probably would have been pulled into the sewers.

Eventually I found 11th Street and followed it south to the Pulaski Bridge. Just as I reached the top I realized the drawbridge was open- this giant tugboat was moving slowly out to the East River on the creek below. There were fifteen people just standing there staring at these giant road sections flipped up toward the sky, occasionally glancing West as the last rays of sun hit the sky over Manhattan. It was such a strange cross-section of people- day laborers saving the train fare, bikers, a guy wearing a suit, a guy talking to himself. As I skated into Greenpoint and Williamsburg it got dark. I had never skated there at night before, but it wasn't that hard to find Bedford and skate back to the Williamsburg Bridge. The Bridge was fine- but if you skate it at night remember that major sections are totally unlit. It's not so dangerous, except for the part on the Manhattan side with the steps and the wooden slats. That's definitely a possibility for sudden death.

Skating