I'll admit that I've spent time looking at dying leaves, I mean, fall foliage. This year it seems late in coming--or, at least, a little less colorful than usual. I'm seeing fallen leaves in bike paths, on sidewalks and in other spots, but the leaves still on trees are green.
More noticeable signs of fall came, for me, on my ride to Point Lookout yesterday.
The reeds on the islands, and the plant life on the shore, never fail to reflect the season's colors.
Even more reliable, to my eyes,is the light surrounding them--especially on overcast days. Clouds gather and seem to take on the depth of the sea; the sea and sky darken without actually becoming dark. Yet the reeds and grasses stand, even as they age and turn sere.
Each of them stands alone.
I took a brief ride the day before, between bouts of torrential rain. Ironically, I saw more color on one corner in Harlem than on my longer ride.
Looking at this building, you might guess that it's a studio or gallery. The latter assumption would be correct: All of the work on the walls is done by local artists. But this building serves another function. Can you guess what it is?
Believe it or not, it's a pediatrics office. Pediatrics 2000, to be exact. Two doctors, as well as nurses and other professionals who help children, practice there.
Kids actually enjoy going there. Their parents seem to like it, too. The art is one reason. Another is this:
There are no stairs anywhere in the building. Only ramps connect the levels. So, no kid (or adult) is stigmatized for being in a wheelchair.
The best thing is that everyone seems to think as highly of the doctors and other professionals in that building as they think of that building itself.
The kids get culture while doctors take their cultures. It sounds good to me!
I should know better than to make plans to go on a big organized ride.
I kinda sorta promised someone else I would go on the Tour de Bronx. We hadn't made plans to meet up, but I told this person I was going on the ride.
A few years ago, I did TdB and enjoyed it. Other riders remarked about some of the places the Tour visited: the Maritime Academy, the waterfall, parks full of cliffs, the Riverdale streets that look more like they belong in Princeton than in the Bronx--or the Bronx that many people envision, anyway. And the hills. More than one rider expressed surprise that there were so many--and that there was so much of interest to see in the borough.
Today, though, I woke up later than I planned. And a semi-emergency came up. As a result, I got on the road about three hours later than I'd planned. Worst of all, I rode to the starting point of previous Tours de Bronx, near Yankee Stadium--forgetting that this year's starting point was near the Botanical Gardens, about five kilometers away.
Now you know why I never pre-register--or, most important, pay the registration fee in advance--for such rides!
So, instead, I took my own ride into the upper reaches of the Bronx and Westchester County. How could I not? The wind, which blew steadily at about 30 KPH and gusted to 60, was somewhat softened, for me anyway, by the clear skies, sunshine and foliage:
I took Vera, for no particular reason. Actually, I think I knew, deep down, that this day's colors would become her:
Everything seemed to be dressed in such colors today, even the park benches:
Those were found in Fordham Park, next to the namesake university. The foliage graced a park in Scarsdale, though such colors were everywhere.
Interestingly, the most traffic-free part of my ride came after I crossed the Randall's Island Connector to the southern tip of the Bronx. There, the factories were idle and warehouses closed, so there were no trucks plying Walnut and Oak Avenues, or the numbered streets in the 130s and 140s. There wasn't even much traffic entering or exiting the Bruckner Expressway.
On the other hand, I encountered surprising numbers of cars and SUVs along some of the tree- and mansion-lined streets of Scarsdale, Tuckahoe and the western section of New Rochelle. I guess a lot of people decided today was a perfect day for a Sunday ride. Thankfully, I didn't encounter any hostile drivers.
Perhaps this man talked to them:
Until a year or so ago, the sign for this street--in the South Bronx--didn't have a tilde (squiggle) over the "n" or an accent on the "e". So, people who don't speak Spanish referred to the street as "Louie 9". It reminds me of the Montreal Metro station and Boulevard named Pie (with an accent grave on the "e") IX, for the longest-reigning Pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Anglophones in the city often call it, with amusement, "Pie Nine".
For the record, Louis Nine served 13 years in the New York State Assembly and is remembered for his battles--sometimes victorious, sometimes not--to obtain housing for low-and middle-income families and families with handicapped children, as well as employment opportunities for young people and members of minority groups.
I saw Louie 9 near the beginning and end of my ride--and the fall colors in between. Maybe next year I'll do the Tour de Bronx again.
Note: Once again, I apologize for the quality of these images. I took them with my cell phone, and could not prevent the glare you see in some of them.
Another Beautiful Fall Day today. If I don't have some really urgent commitment, and I am not out and on a ride, someone should check my pulse!
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| "Ride me!" |
Seriously, it was just one of those days when I couldn't have not ridden, even if I tried. And I don't know what would have motivated me to try.
Anyway, I did the most quintessentially fall ride I could do without taking a train or plane--or accompanying someone who was driving a few hours out of town. You guessed it: I rode to Connecticut again. On Arielle, my Mercian Audax, of course.
This time, though, I changed my route a bit. I've found more segments of the East Coast Greenway I hadn't ridden previously: Today I took it all the way from the Bronx to Rye, which is near the Connecticut line.
Most of the route follows secondary roads that are commercial strips or main streets of residential neighborhoods in several Westchester County towns. Some parts of it are two-lane streets with cars pulling in and out. The drivers, thankfully, seemed cognizant of cyclists and gave me as much of a berth as they could. I also noticed that they were very careful before opening their doors and didn't honk or yell at me when I was just ahead of them and they were trying to pull into a parking spot. Maybe they were in a good mood: After all, it was Saturday and most of them were shopping or getting waffles or ice cream in the cute little stores.
And, where I couldn't find any more ECG signs--near the Rye train station--I followed a hunch and took a left on Purchase Street, which I rode for about a kilometer to a fork, where I decided to hook right onto Ridge Road. Not surprisingly, I had to climb a couple of hills, though they weren't terribly steep or long. And it brought me to Port Chester, where I know the side streets well enough that I could follow them over the state line.
So,on today's ride, I managed to avoid US 1--and the entrance and exit ramps for I-95 and other highways--altogether. That alone was enough to make me happy.
Even better was the opportunity to see the changes in foliage. In just over a week, I saw more reds and yellows in the trees and bushes.
And, interestingly, some flowers have come into bloom.
Some years, there is a week or so when the Fall seems like a second Spring. The colors are, of course, different, but no less vivid.
To think that I was offered such treats during a ride when I felt really, really good!
Today I also realized another reason why I've done my Connecticut Ride so often. It's like one of those meals that offers a nice combination of tastes, textures and even colors. This ride takes me from my block of brick houses, across the park that is Randall's Island, through the industrial areas and shabby but lively tenement-lined streets of the South Bronx, along tree-lined streets in Westchester County and around the vast estates and horse farms of Connecticut. And back again. Pretty good for a day ride, wouldn't you say?
Few things in this world are more of a treat than a bike ride on a beautiful mid-fall day.
A pleasantly cool breeze stroked my back as my feet seemed to glide through circles down the path beside Beach Channel Drive, the road that cuts through a sliver of land in Jamaica Bay. Part of that land is occupied by Gateway National Recreation Area which, from what I understand, is a great bird-watching spot. I was flying, with a great bike under me and a blaze of colors surrounding me.
In addition to the trees whose leaves have turned yellow and orange, I saw these bushes:
I never noticed those deep red leaves before. Is that a fall color? I also saw, for the first time, berries that looked like blackcurrants. Knowing that my temptation to try them could get the better of me, I sought out a ranger. (I know there's usually at least one on duty: I've seen them before.) But I could not find him or her. I did, however, see a lot of people who were probably bird-watchers or hikers. One of them might have known about those bushes, but I couldn't bring myself to ask.
Oh well. I guess if I want to make Ribena, I'll have to get my fruit elsewhere!
Anyway...I rode out to--you guessed it--Point Lookout. I've been there when the tide was out, but I've never seen anything like this:
Usually, when the tide is out, just the sandbars are exposed. I've never before seen that pool of moss where I usually see water lapping up against the rocks.
Perhaps it's not that unusual for that place. At least, that's what I hope. Then I can see the moss as just another one of this beautiful day's colors.
One of the things I have always loved about cycling is that, even during and after the most routine rides, my senses are sharpened. Food tastes better, my cats seem cuddlier and I see colors more vividly.
I was reminded of this when I got to work today.
That, in the garded in front of the administration building. The ride in was otherwise unremarkable, save perhaps for the fact that I was once again "playing chicken with the rain." I did encounter some drizzle on my way home, but I rather enjoyed it. Perhaps it was an after-effect of seeing seeing a bright autumn garden at the end of my ride this morning.
