Sheepshead Bay - by bike!

A couple of weeks ago, TQ came out to the living room to find me looking glumly at a map of Brooklyn.

"Planning your next walk?"

"Sort of. Trying to figure out where the nearest salt water is."

We live in a neighborhood right smack in the middle of Brooklyn. It's beautiful, with lovely homes and lawns and big trees and gardens. It's a great neighborhood for walking, and (as you know if you've visited this blog at all in the last few weeks) I've been getting the biggest kick out of watching the Spring floral progression, snowdrops to crocuses to daffodils and cherry blossoms and now well into tulip time (yes there will be a Tulip Time post, of course there will). But I'm really starting to miss the waterfront!

Sheepshead Bay is within walking distance from home, but it's a bit of a time commitment on foot, and except for the medical stuff, I've been respecting the rules about public transportation being for essential personnel only. I was thinking maybe the inland end of Gerritson Creek might be a little less of a hike, and there's a little nature boardwalk there that might offer some nice birds. Still not exactly nearby, though.

But TQ had a great idea - why didn't I borrow his bike? He hadn't used it in a while so it needed a little attention, but he got it dusted off and the tires blown up and as soon as he had it ready to go, I went for a shakedown cruise up to Prospect Park.

No salt water there, no, but I've done a lot less biking than your average middle-class suburban raised person as the home in Hawai'i was on a steep hill, a most beautiful place but not bike friendly at all, except for the occasional serious biker who would go slowly puffing by up the hil, working hard in low gear, reappearing a little while later going back down, an elated flying blur with wheels just zzzzzziiiiiiizzzzzing along at maximum speed. My dad got a bike to ride to work at Pearl Harbor at one point, but that didn't last too long - I don't think the concussion after the 10-speed's skinny tires hit a storm drain the wrong way one unfortunate day was necessarily the end of it, but eventually he was back to driving.

The only time I remember being a normal 70's kid going everywhere on a bike (which was actually a magnificent chestnut horse, although it would've looked like an orange 3-speed to the average grownup) was during our brief sojourn at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Flat as a pancake, and about as safe for free-range kids as anywhere you could imagine - I think the whole family got bikes and my friends and I went all over the parts of the base that didn't require active duty ID's for access. I remember that as being great fun, but that was just a couple of years.

So i am not super super confident of my biking skills, and I've always been scared to ride in NYC because of the traffic. Things are of course very different now, but I still thought that keeping my first ride in really familiar territory and in walking distance of home seemed like a good idea.

First ride went great. For the 2nd ride I thought of Sheepshead Bay - but decided to do one more test ride up to the park, this time adding the loop around the park for a little more mileage. That went fine, too.

Then we had a whole stretch of sloppy weather - rain and/or high winds and I went back to hoofing it.

But today was finally absolutely glorious and I had a wonderful ride down to Sheepshead Bay and back! Click for detail. Love this part of Brooklyn! 

I got a later start than I'd hoped so I didn't take too many pictures, but I did stop to watch this mama swan on her oh so urban nest :( having a nice preen in the sun. Gorgeous day!

Tomorrow it's back to drizzle, but I was thoroughly happy with today's ride.

And can't resist linking to a very fond memory from one of my long walks to Sheepshead Bay - How To Share Your Chowder With A Dog. Miss that girl.