Are They Finally Getting Somewhere With This Bridge?

In an earlier post, I alluded to a bike/pedestrian bridge under construction--for aeons, it seems--between Randall's Island and the Bronx.


Actually, saying it's been "under construction" isn't quite accurate.  Perhaps it was at one time--say, around 2009--but for the past few years it's been frame surrounded by a chicken wire fence that serves mainly as platform for signs claiming that it's undergoing an environmental review.


The problem is that the land on the Bronx side is part of the Harlem River Yards.  The State Transportation Department owns the Yards, but leases them to developer Harlem River Yards Ventures, which in turn leases parts of it to other companies. (Where else but in New York, right?)

Well, now it seems that some of those companies gave easements to the state and, when I rode by the site this morning, construction of some sort was going on.





I hope...I hope...I hope.


Even though the project is still behind schedule, it's still being done in a more timely fashion--and with much smaller cost overruns--than the Second Avenue Subway.  Nothing like a little perspective, right?

Cycling On The Water?

Whenever I ride to the Rockaways and Point Lookout, as I did the other day, I notice new signs of recovery and rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy.

At the foot of the bridge from Broad Channel (on the Queens "mainland"), there used to be bayside restaurant and club on the Rockaway Beach side.  It was totaled during the storm; the McDonald's next door was flushed out during the surge and looted of whatever was left afterward. The other day, I noticed that some sort of waterside cafe or restaurant had opened.  Attached to it is a dock where one can rent Jet Skis.  I wasn't surprised to see a couple skittering across the choppy bay waves; after all, the day was nearly perfect.  

I've never ridden a jet ski, and it's been a while since I've been in any kind of boat that runs on human power.  However, I couldn't help but to wonder whether such aquatic vehicles could be combined with bicycles.   When I was a kid, it seemed that every amusement park had some sort of artificial pond with little pedal boats shaped like ducks or some other creature.  Why not make something like that for grown-ups?, I wondered.

Might the result look like this?

Or this?

Copenhagen Cruisin'

Before the 2008 Olympics, I didn't realize that beach volleyball was a competitive sport.


That's not to say it isn't interesting or fun to watch--or play.  I played a pretty fair amount of volleyball in my youth, and I can tell you that playing it well requires quite a bit of conditioning and practice.  I'm sure that much of what I did on courts is more difficult on sand.  Or, at least, the timing and coordination are different.


Once I started to watch the tournaments, I wasn't surprised to see that Brazil and the United States had two of the best teams.  I was, however, surprised when the Belgian team gave the American women a scare in one match. 


I have to admit, the day  before I saw that match, I never would have associated Belgium with beach volleyball.  I know there are beaches in that country.  Some have a rather austere kind of beauty, but in terms of weather, they're nothing  like their counterparts in California, Hawaii or Ipanema.  People don't travel from other countries to take in the sun and surf in Belgium as they might, say, in Spain or some parts of the US.


I don't think Denmark fielded a team in that tournament. Like Belgium, it has beaches. Also like its Flemish neighbor (well, almost), they're not the first things people associate with the country. 


But people do indeed go to those seaside havens for pretty much the same reasons people flock to sea, sand and sun (well, sometimes not so much of that:  look at Blackpool!) everywhere.  And, there is beach riding in Copenhagen. 


It seems, though, that the Danish idea of a cruiser--or beach cycling attire--is a bit different from that in Daytona or Malibu:

From San Jose Bike Party