One hobby that I would’ve never expected to pick up in the city is biking. I’m not talking about pushing my citi-bike around Central Park. I’m talking about riding up 6th avenue, the central artery of the city. I warm up on my way through West Village, whose southern border is right around my dorm room on 4th. After a few minutes, the “Lady’s Mile” emerges, a strip of the avenue where many of the staple department stores (Macy’s, etc.) first opened. From 30th street onwards is tourist haven. Wide-eyed travelers emerge from Penn Station, Asians herd west for their first bite of K-town, and street performers try to demagogue the masses. About ten blocks up is Rockefeller Center, which is really just a bunch of tall gray boxes. Across the street is a big flashy neon sign, I mean, Radio City Music Hall. At this point, Central Park is in sight, and it’s a gentle down-hill cruise to 60th street.
Though it could just be me, I typically hear at least a handful of tourists comment on my existence. Yellow chauffer cabs hurtle around, city buses stop almost every block, everyone else is in a mad scramble to get home, and here I am, wearing my classic grey “Capital Classic Invitational 2010” dry-fit T-shirt, slowly negotiating my way uptown. This process is remarkably like driving. When a car in front of you is slowing down, just change lanes and pass him. When you’re in front, keep your cool, because you have the right of way. Anticipate the green light, because you’ll probably get a head start and save a few seconds too. There are also opportunities for creative problem solving. If you’re getting bored, create your lane. And rather than yielding for those pesky pedestrians, dodge them.
As such arbitrage opportunities become apparent, these innocuous city strolls turn into some of the most exciting games of the city. And so, as I listen to those tourists, I realize that they just don’t understand the rules yet. 6th avenue is a little microcosm, and understandably, life here moves a bit too fast for most. Nevertheless, these visitors provide perspective, reminding me that streets are dangerous, and human life is at stake. Sure, I try to be careful, but as I whiz by a double-decker bus at almost 30 mph, all I ask myself is, “Aren’t we all going to die anyways?”
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Today, I went for a nice bike-ride up to Central Park along 6th Avenue again. Turned left, and then took Central Park West up to Harlem. I realized I was a bit out of place, and routed back to Columbia University. Enjoyed the sight of the main quad for a bit, then biked back down along Broadway and West End Ave before eventually hooking back into the Hudson River bike trail. It was a nice steady uninterrupted bike ride back to about 10th street, where I made my way back to the Hayden.
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