But today I took a decent ride. Although I slept fairly late, I managed to get a 40 mile (65 km) ride in, with a few short but fairly steep climbs.
I took a rather circuitous route to a place I used to cycle through and to regularly when I was living in Washington Heights. Back in those days, Yonkers--at least the part west of the Thruway (a.k.a. I-87) was the sort of place for which, it seemed, the word "depressed" had been coined. Nearly all of it was as poor--and, not surprisingly, black--as some parts of the neighboring Bronx. But, unlike some of the Big Apple's poverty pockets, it seemed utterly listless--as if there wasn't even enough energy to be angry, let alone get into a fight.
So why did I ride there? As I mentioned, it was close by and had a few decent climbs. Also, there used to be a bakery that made fresh pita. (There was, and is, a Middle Eastern community.) Depending on how much time I had (or how much I wanted) to ride, I could continue further into Westchester County, to Sleepy Hollow country. Best of all, the city skirts the Hudson River and offers some fantastic views up- or down-stream:
Downstream. The George Washington Bridge is in the distance. |
Across: The Palisades |
Part of the purpose of my trek was a test ride. More about it, and some other things I've used lately, later.