Biking Adventures: Tour de Brooklyn

better late than never!

This past Sunday was the 6th annual Tour de Brooklyn! However, it was my first time doing this particular tour. The simultaneously nice and bad thing about this tour is:

1) it's short: a mere 18 miles
2) it started and ended less than a mile from my apartment.

The reason this is nice: obviously convenience of getting to the start line, which means I can sleep later. But bad because with the short distance, it just doesn't feel challenging (there aren't even any bridges to cross since we stay in the borough of Brooklyn the whole time). But that's ok, it was a pleasant and leisurely ride and a fantastic spring day for riding. Besides, I was doing it for the experience. And I met some very nice people and got some fun photos...

Sunday morning, I'll be honest, I didn't feel like figuring out what to wear, so I wore the same thing I wore to the 5 Boro Bike Tour (but this time, without Spanx! That's a HUGE milestone for me!):

I rode all the way to McCarren Park (that was sarcasm, it's less than a mile) and checked in for the tour:

I bought my souvenir t-shirts from none other than Wiley from Transportation Alternatives. (He's the TA guy that asked me to be the Commuter Profile. How handsome is he - seriously?) Hi, Wiley!

Then I waited in line on Bedford Ave, for the tour to start...

We started off in Williamsburg and rode through Greenpoint. While on Franklin Ave, I met a blog reader named Shannon. I didn't get a photo of her, but I assure you - she was cute and lovely in a striped top on a gorgeous blue cruiser. (Hello, Shannon!)

Here are some photos I took along the tour:

Eventually, I caught up to my friends, Joe Katz & Sherry. Here they are, riding next to me on 4th Ave (in what Sherry called "Operation: Bitch Cakes"):

And here's Sherry & Me cheesing it up (well, mostly ME cheesing it up. But look at that beautiful right angle I'm making with my left elbow! Exquisite!):

At the half way point there was a rest stop. A woman who had yelled "Bitch Cakes!" a short while earlier, identifying herself as a blog reader, had caught up to me. Her name is Natasha and both she and her hair are just beautiful. (Hello Natasha! It was great meeting you!)

At the rest stop were free snacks (yay! I love fruit!):

 

While there, another woman said hi to me. I didn't recognize her, but I returned the greeting. She asked me if I watch Street Films. I told her no, I hadn't. She told me "You're famous. They talk about you all the time!" I replied "Really?!" She said: "I think you're the only woman that bikes in skirts and high heels on a pink bike in NYC." I told her "Well I sure hope I am!" (Note to self: must look up these street films...)

Leaving that rest stop, I ran into my high school friend, Eila (who you may remember from the 5 Boro Bike Tour blog):

When she saw me, she said two things: 1) "You're so tan!" (It's true, I'm a golden goddess. This is the tannest I have ever been in my life) and 2) "Your ARMS!" (Again, it's true, my arms have never looked as good as they do right now and I was just thrilled that she noticed my progress). Hi Eila!!


And here are a few more photos from the tour from that point forward:


1) Riding on cobblestone. Beautiful, but very un-fun.

2) An accidental shot as I hand my camera to a man to take a photo of me. I can't believe how thin my arm looks:

3) The photo the nice man took for me after handing him my camera:

4) One of the few times I stopped and dismounted - to get a shot of this "You Go Girl" graffiti (I collect them and had never seen this one before)

5) I am truly shocked at how much smaller my legs are. This is the smallest they've ever been in my adult life:

6) Self portrait riding north on Kent - something I've done more times than I can count - with the Williamsburg Bridge in the distance:

 

And finally, when I made it back to McCarren Park for the end of the tour, I posed with NYPD (at their request):

At the end of the tour, despite that I had ridden just under 20 miles, I had to follow up with my post-tour ritual: fries and wheat beer at one of my favorite local bars, The Habitat:

While I was there, I had an unexpected visit from Summer, the pretty young woman I mentioned meeting the afternoon I was on my way to the Punk Rope after party. She had marshalled the event and we only spoke briefly before it. I was glad she saw my bike parked outside and came in to say hello. Great to see you again, Summer! Nice job manning the route, thank you!

Back at home, in keeping with tradition/any excuse to show off how great I look in my underwear now, I took my after pics and photos in my tour t-shirts:

Despite the fact that it was the shortest tour I have ever done, I had a fantastic time. I totally enjoyed it and will certainly sign up for it again next year. Thanks, Transportation Alternatives, I love you guys and gals and will see you soon!

(Note: the entire set of my Tour de Brooklyn photos can be seen here)

Two things before I go:

• Congrats to Lydia, a blog reader who just emailed me to tell me she made lifetime today. That is AMAZING and I am so happy for her! Congrats, my good lady!!
• Thank you to Brooklyn Fit Chik for the sweet little write up she gave me recently in her blog. (We'll get to that sangria by the end of the summer, I promise!)

Have a terrific night, everyone! xo