Well as hard as it is to believe, after a week of Citi Biking, it’s actually starting to feel a bit–dare I say it–routine.
I took the late train in and got to Penn around 9:20 AM. The weather was gorgeous, still a little humid but overall a balmy 72 degrees with a nice breeze.
I got my bike at about 9:24 AM. There were plenty at the end of the station but I decided to wait while a young lady rode in and docked her bike..once…twice…third time was the charm.
I went backwards to hook onto 30th, hung a Louie onto 6th until I was past the construction on Madison, hung a Ralphie into 40th past the construction there, and then had a straight shot down Madison to 52nd and 5th, where there were actually docks. Okay, one reason it was so easy was because most companies outside of mine are letting their employees take three day workweeks. But hey, if the ride is this nice each time I wouldn’t mind.
Going home was a different story of course. I worked late and didn’t get out of the office until about 8. I checked the web site and of course there were no bikes anywhere near my office. But there were a bunch at 44th and 5th…which would save me about half the walk. As I got there I saw people staring westward, where there was an absolutely stunning sunset perfectly positioned between the streets. The sun was a gorgeous tint of red and pink. Like everyone else I grabbed my phone to snap a picture and like everyone else my picture didn’t come close to capturing how pretty this was.
Although the sunset meant something else..linger too long and I’ll be riding a bike in the pitch black darkness, something I wasn’t too eager to experience. So I beelined it up to 45th, through the morass of tourists, and into 9th. The ride down 9th was remarkably clear, with the exception of one idiot biker who made a quick blind turn into the bike lane going against traffic—and right at me without even pausing.
The sun had just set by now, so I got to enjoy a lovely view of the Empire State Building riding to the dock.
Got to Penn with plenty of docks, and for the first time in I don’t know how long mine docked the first time. Granted, I had to get to work late and leave really, really late–and there are still no bikes within a few blocks of my workplace–but this was a day I enjoyed.
Per cost ride: 95/15.5=$6.13
Stress level: 4 of 10
Aggravation level: 4 of 10