I've cycled under, around and by the new Kosciuszko Bridge any number of times. I've admired its light show, through all of the colors of the rainbow. But I hadn't actually crossed the bridge's walkway/pedestrian path.
Until last night. Actually, I pedaled about half of it. I followed 43rd Street and made what I thought was the turn onto the path.
Instead, I found myself on the shoulder of the roadway. That might not have been so bad if the speed limit were less than the posted 45 MPH: the same limit posted for the rest of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, a.k.a. Interstate 278.
No drivers pulled over to the shoulder. But I could see that it ended with the first exit, where a steep off-ramp snakes its way down to Meeker Avenue in Brooklyn. For once, I actually hoped a cop would stop me. Even if I got a ticket, I figured, at least I'd be riding in a patrol car down to the street or the precinct.
That wasn't an appealing prospect. So I stopped about halfway across the bridge and started to hoist my bike over the four foot-high concrete barrier that separates the shoulder from the path. An Indian man was walking in the opposite direction, with his wife. He grabbed the right fork and seat stay, boosted my bike and set it down on the path. Then he reached for my hand, but I was able to climb over.
I thanked the man. "No problem, ma'am. Be safe." His wife smiled.
