Let's Go, Jane!

The unseasonably warm fall weather has meant that I’ve been able to continue with long distance cycling. My intention is to keep riding into the cold weather, as long as the roads are dry. We will see. This week’s adventure took me on a 50-mile bike ride down the New York side of the Hudson River and then back up on the New Jersey side. I crossed two bridges and ate a delicious meal halfway through the ride. Carey was out of town so this one was a solo adventure.

The first 10 miles of the route was on and off the Bronx River Pathway. For the next 10 miles I headed over to another bike trail, the South County Trailway, part of the Empire State Trail which runs from New York City all the way to the Canadian border. I am so grateful to live near all these bike trails and am contemplating biking the full Empire State Trail (350+ miles) in the spring and taking an Amtrak train back. How cool would it be to say I biked all the way to Niagara Falls?

After a brief stint on the Putnam Greenway, I left the bike trail and found myself in an urban neighborhood with elevated tracks and bodegas. The streets were narrow with sharp curbs and no shoulder, and lots of cars. There were many, many pedestrians, not all of whom were sober. It was the least fun part of the ride. Then suddenly, I turned a corner and there was the George Washington bridge.

This was my third time crossing the Hudson River on a bicycle. The first time was on the Cuomo (former Tappan Zee) bridge in Tarrytown and second was on the Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie. The Cuomo is 3 miles long, the walkway is 1.3 miles. The George Washington is less than a mile long, and quickly became my new favorite. At the midpoint, I passed a woman crossing the bridge in a motorized wheelchair. I love that her mobility challenges don’t limit her range.

Once across the bridge, I found myself in Fort Lee, NJ. I stopped at a Cuban restaurant along the route and ate a delicious bowl of pernil with black beans and rice. Hopping back on the bike, I followed 9W up along the western side of the river, taking a brief detour to go through downtown Piermont, an adorable riverfront town that I visited with Carey last summer.

By the time I got to the Cuomo bridge it was getting dark. I did not realize with the shorter days and the recent time change that it would be fully dark at 5 pm, so I found myself racing against daylight for the last hour of my ride. Luckily I have lights on my bike. I arrived at home around 5:30 pm, exhausted but with a great sense of accomplishment and independence. As much as I would have loved for my boyfriend to join me on this adventure, I also love knowing that I can do it alone.