Doing the Unthinkable

About a. Month ago, I did the craziest stunt in my life.

No, it wasn’t dangerous nor scary. I just rode around Manhattan on my road bike.

My wife, Tata, got a good plane ticket deal six months earlier for the four of us and so we were headed to the US for a three week look around. Since the plan was to stay in Manhattan for a week then the rest of the stay was in Chicago. Of course, we had a few detours along the way.

The first day after we arrived, I went to Central Park. But I wasn’t wearing my cycling kit, I was in my pants, shirt and rubber shoes. I just wanted to “feel” the area before riding there the next day. I also wanted to see the lay of the park on a bike because I wanted to join a crit the next day.

On the way home, which was at the corner of 34th and 8th, just a stone’s throw away from the world’s most famous arena, the Madison Square Garden, I passed by Times Square. While Times Square may look bright and happy on YouTube, I honestly found it as an ordinary tourist trap. But still, it’s the center of fun in Manhattan! It was already 8pm but the sun was still up but almost on the way down and the lights were just amazing.

I had been to Central Park a few years before and we took the tricycle with the driver s the tour guide. So I know a bit about Balto, the John Lennon Shrine and the Proposition Bridge to name a few spots.

Central Park is 9.8km long. It is basically a flat route but has some ups and downs along the way. The great thing about this place is that 2/3 of the road is for cyclists while a third is for the runners and joggers. So whatever your fun is, this is the place to be.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to join the race organized by the Century Road Club Association (CRCA) because the crit around the park was exclusively for the members only. I think it was a good thing because the race was fast and I was sure I’d get dropped as soon as the flag was dropped.

I went back the next day and planned to take a few videos for my planned vlog but then I got a call. Turns out it was a friend, Dr Malil Borromeo. I knew she was also in Manhattan with her kids for a vacation and she told me that she and the kids were in the park! And so I went to see her and the kids. We had a chit-chat on the bench with the squirrels and the hobos around us, not bothering us of course.

After an hour, I had to go back home because we had an invitation for dinner.

TIP: To avoid any problems if you want to bring your bike abroad, make sure that weight and the dimension of the bike case is within the allowable rules of the airline. Report it as a sports equipment. Make sure that you inform the airline ahead of your flight that you are bringing a bike case. Lastly, use locks that are TSA compatible, otherwise the Transportation Security Administration will break the locks to check your bike case and you cant do nothing about it.