Tour de Some of Brooklyn
Sunday, 3 June 2007
I and about a billion other people took part in the 3rd Annual Tour de Brooklyn today under slightly cloudy skies. Pictured above are Greg and I about a half an hour into the ride. I’m proud of this photo because I’m the 2nd most attractive male in the immediate foreground of it, takes work…
Because I heard about, signed up, then took part in this event all in the space of about 24 hours I had no idea what this whole thing was about until I actually got underway this morning. Apparently this is Brooklyn’s capstone to Bike Month, and takes riders on a tour of a litany of neighborhoods and attractions, including: Park Slope, Greenwood Cemetary, Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, the Verrazano Bridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Kensington, Prospect Park South, and Prospect Park itself.
Unfortunately for the ride organizers, I live very close to Park Slope, used to live in Bay Ridge, bike through Sunset Park to get to my friends in my old neighborhood, and have meandered my way to many of the sights in the surrounding areas (read: everywhere but Kensington), so this ride wasn’t so much about discovering Brooklyn for me as it was about feeling like I was among kindred spirits. Indeed, when we stopped to let all the riders back behind us catch up I was able to snap a photo or two and I was floored by how many of us were taking part. There seemed to be an endless stream of bikes coming over the horizon, or around the corner, or into the park, or wherever. I really got the sense that I was part of a community. I saw kids attached to parents’ bikes, toddlers riding in seats above tires, custom chop-jobs, club jackets, and my personal favorite, t-shirts that read “One Less Car” on the back. Rock!
In the past few weeks I’ve been on a major fitness kick and Monday I was supposed to start biking to work (though I may push that off if the weather is still as nasty tomorrow morning. I’m hoping I can carry through all this energy that I’ve been able to generate for the rest of the summer and turn it into something good for the fall and winter. Maybe a new hobby. I’ve always wanted to pick up archery…