Summer Streets NYC 2023
During the last month of summer on the first three Saturdays of the month, New York City hosts Summer Streets. It is worth noting that Summer Streets also take place in July in the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx, however the longest trail is the one in Manhattan.
This is my second time partipating in Summer Streets as I have participated in it last year and I must say things have changed. The route remained mostly the same as most of it was made up of Park Ave, however last years route was slightly shorter than this years. A longer route this year of course does not bother me, as it was an opportunity to see and explore more parts of the city that I haven't been to before, so overall this was a change for the better.
If you would like to see how different the routes were in the past two years, click the links below to check them out:
Most summers, people move away from their hometowns or cities and go either to another country for a brief period of time or go to a different region in the United States. For those who stay home or close to home over the summer because of work, often don't get that same enjoyment of a long vacation as others do with a plane ticket or driving across the states. It is often difficult to find anything to do relating to a feeling of a getaway from the city. Summer Streets however offer that opportunity for those working from Monday to Friday in the summer. Although the time of 7:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. may seem a bit too early for the late sleepers of the city, for those willing to get up early and experience a relaxing moment taking in the city for its beauty, and not its daunting work, it is an experience to remember.
During work, I was looking forward to the upcoming weekend to take part in the event. When the the sun set that Friday evening, on my way home, I set my timer in the moring to 8:00 with the intention of starting at 9:00. Once at home, I did what I needed to do left to end the day and hit the bed as early as possible. The alarm woke me up and I started to get ready for the trip. Once ready, I made my way towards midtown crossing the Queensboro Bridge and in three and a half blocks I reached Park Ave.
Once I reached 3rd Ave, from a distance, I saw the cyclists zooming and the runners galloping on both sides of Park Ave. I got excited. I couldn't wait to zoom on my bike along with them. As I neared Park Ave, the cyclists and runners were put to a stop to let the cars through on East 60 Street. This gave me the perfect opportunity to get onto Park Ave towards Uptown Manhattan and start peddling on a sparse road ahead of me. Once I felt the freedom of the road ahead of me, I turned up my gears and started peddling hard to get up to speed. Once at a constant velocity I took my hands off the handle and quite literally glided between the cyclists and runners. One might say that that is risky and very irresponsible of me. I agree partly. I agree that I posed a potential danger, but since I have learned through practice how to maneuver a bicylce in such a way, I have a know how of how to judge and trust my instincts when questionable situations arise which I prevent from happening.
Other than that I was truly enjoying myself. I loved the wind brushing against my hair making it all floppy and all over the place. I loved the change of shade and sun every now and then from the rays of sunlight that peaked through the skyscrapers and the shade provided by the trees. It was a great feeling to take in all of the people and city around me without a worry for anything.
Every now and then I would have to come to a stop as cars were let through on the larger two-way streets, or the occasional bike pack was densly infront of me causing me to "switch lanes" and move slalom between other cyclists and runners. None of this of course took away from the fun of it all. In a matter of minutes I found myself accelerating down Park Ave in Harlem. Once at East 109 Street I turned left and followed the route along Central Park Noth and then turned right on Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard. Here was the last stretch of the route before there was the last rest stop, where I made a U-turn onto the route heading now towards Downtown Manhattan. At this moment it started to drizzle a bit, but thankfully not to the point that would transform into heavy rain. On the way back up to Midtown, there were a few "hills" that I along with the runners and other cyclists had to overcome, but once that was overcome, the route began to even out again. It did start to get more congested however, as the number of streets with cars crossing across Park Ave became more frequent. Soon enough though I hit Grand Central and a little while later I made it to Union Square. At this point I knew that my journey was starting to come to an end as soon I would reach the start of the route, that being the Brooklyn Bridge. Soon enough I did get to that point.
Now I had a decision to make, continue onto the Brooklyn Bridge and head back to Queens from Dumbo or to make a U-turn onto the Summer Streets route, and complete the loop reaching the Queensboro Bridge. The decision was made in the moment, so I settled on the former as for one I still haven't rode through the newly made bike lane on the Brooklyn Bridge, and secondly I wanted to bike a bit more since I still had the energy to do so. The streets of Brooklyn and Queens I know pretty well so it wasn't a "new" experience or something I was excited about at the same level as the Summer Streets route which happens only in the summer, but nevertheless I enjoyed trip as a whole. Cycling along Dumbo, Williamsburg, Greenpoint and onwards I marvelled at the idea that I, just moments ago, just cycled through basically all of Manhattan, and now I am doing the same on the Brooklyn/Queens side. It made me question how else in the future I can push my limits of distance. I guess I will find out as time moves forward. Till next time!