As I mentioned in a previous post, a bicycle/pedestrian connection between Randall's Island and the Bronx has opened. It's actually very good: It's well-constructed and makes a smooth transition to the pathways on the island. Also, it's wide and closed off to motorized traffic, though there is a rail crossing--albeit one that doesn't seem to be used very often. My only real complaint about it is that it's that most people would have a difficult time finding it from the Bronx side.
Still, I sometimes choose to ride up the walkway on the Bronx spur of the RFK Memorial/Triborough Bridge. One reason is that it has a fairly steep incline, which adds a small challenge to my daily commute. Also, while the new connector makes for an easy entrance into the Bronx, the old RFK walkway makes the entrance, shall we say, a bit more grand
and perhaps a bit more dramatic, even a bit Gothic, on an overcast day. It's not exactly noir--more like gris, perhaps. Plus, you have to admit, there's something imposing about seeing a cross--or something that looks like a cross, anyway--as you are riding up to an arch.
Don't get me wrong: I'm enjoying my new job, and the commute to it. Truth be told, the part of the Bronx where I now work is more interesting than the part of Queens where I had been working. And, oddly enough, even though I don't see a lot of people in the neighborhood riding bikes (a few of colleagues in my department and elsewhere in the college ride in), somehow I don't feel as conspicuous as I did at my old job, where practically nobody rode. And I couldn't make the kind of entrance I make when I pedal up that ramp into the Bronx!
Still, I sometimes choose to ride up the walkway on the Bronx spur of the RFK Memorial/Triborough Bridge. One reason is that it has a fairly steep incline, which adds a small challenge to my daily commute. Also, while the new connector makes for an easy entrance into the Bronx, the old RFK walkway makes the entrance, shall we say, a bit more grand
and perhaps a bit more dramatic, even a bit Gothic, on an overcast day. It's not exactly noir--more like gris, perhaps. Plus, you have to admit, there's something imposing about seeing a cross--or something that looks like a cross, anyway--as you are riding up to an arch.
Don't get me wrong: I'm enjoying my new job, and the commute to it. Truth be told, the part of the Bronx where I now work is more interesting than the part of Queens where I had been working. And, oddly enough, even though I don't see a lot of people in the neighborhood riding bikes (a few of colleagues in my department and elsewhere in the college ride in), somehow I don't feel as conspicuous as I did at my old job, where practically nobody rode. And I couldn't make the kind of entrance I make when I pedal up that ramp into the Bronx!
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