New York Yomp 6

Been away for a couple of weeks, hence no blogs, or cycling, for that time.  Apart from that is, one trip in New York.  Most cycle hire shops wanted to hre for 24 hours, all I wanted was an hour at the most.  Fortunately there were some 'Boris Bikes' opposite the hotel in Manahatten.  That worked out at 12$ (£10) for a day as long as no one ride was over 30 mins and bikes were re docked. Perfect.  Did this on the 1st July.

CitiBikes 

With over 12000 bikes scattered at docking stations around the 5 boroughs, this is the largest scheme in the USA and with over 10,000,000 rides a year second only to Paris in its use.  It certainly seems very popular with many users and for the locals, an annual season ticker works out very cheaply for commuting. There are cycle paths around the city, but no-one has told the taxi drivers are lorries moving around the city.  For that reason I ventured out just after 6 am and cycled from Manhattan to Central Park and back along the Hudson River.

Early Morning Rock

Just off Times Square a very load rock band could be heard on 49th St. Being a bit of a head banger, just had to investigate and found a band being set up for some sort of concert coming up (Independence Day holiday was not far away) and they were doing a sound check; at 6.30am! Dont know who they were but they did sound very good.

Imagine

Cycled up 6th Avenue to Central Park and headed for Strawberry Fields, a small corner of the park that is dedicated to the memory of John Lennon who lived, and died, nearby.  Covering 2.5 acres, this quite spot was a favourite of John and Yoko and the City Council designated this area and named it Strawberry Fields.  Set up initially with a 1M$ donation from Yoko it is a must see place to any visitor. Normally it is jammed with tourists and buskers singing Beatles songs, it was good to visit it without all that razzamataz.

The Dakota

A large apartment complex on the corner of 72nd St and Upper West Side was the home of John Lennon and Yoko. It was outside this building, under the archway that John was shot by a Mark Chapman on December 8th 1980.  This is just a stone's throw from the Strawberry Fields  memorial.

By this time my first 30 minutes was nearly up, so docked the bike,had a coffee in a nearby Dunkin Donuts, and carried on with the ride.

Cycle Path

Left the Dakota and cycled west along West 72nd St to the Hudson River.  Crossing the busy Henry Hudson Parkway using a subway, found a good cycle track the Henry Hudson Greenway.  Not many around at this time, but I would imagine it would get busy as the day wears on. The elevated section is the main road.

Carried on down here to 49th St and parked the bike back in the same place. Picking up the Queen Mary later today so no opportunity to do this again.  Just as it all made sense!  There was a similar set up in Boston where we visited on the 4th July but too busy to try this again unfortunately.

Guesswork on the mileage for this one, I will be generous and say 6 miles.