Day 1: 30 Miles

Coney Island, NY to Hoboken, NJ

Today I woke up ready to get on my bike. While Saturday is my last day in Hoboken, I planned to start this trip in Coney Island, where I could officially dip my rear tire in the Atlantic ocean. Something about dipping my tire in the Hudson River from the shore of Hoboken just didn’t feel right. This is going to be a coast to coast trip and I wanted to have the satisfaction of getting to the Pacific Ocean knowing I’d started at the Atlantic.

I got on the 10:30am ferry headed for Manhattan and immediately struck up a conversation with one of the ferry employees. He noticed the bags on my bike and asked where I was coming from. I explained to him that I was just starting out on my trip, but would be heading west soon. He was interested because the last cyclist he saw on the ferry with a loaded bicycle was coming from Los Angeles. That cyclist had ridden east across the country and apparently thought Central Park was similar to the state parks he had been to along his trip. He was planning to camp in Central Park for 3 nights. When the ferry employee heard this he offered to put the cyclist up in his apartment until the cyclist figured out what to do. It was great to hear a story like this literally 5 minutes into my trip. I can only hope to run into a similarly nice person if I require help along the way.

The ferry dropped me off at Pier 11 and I headed from there up through Chinatown to the Manhattan bridge. The road in Chinatown up to the bridge is one of those places in the city that you could take me to blindfolded and I’d be able to tell you where I was immediately. It’s a nice mixture of fish and old garbage smell that really motivates you to keep moving.

The Manhattan bridge is the best bridge for cyclists that I have encountered in New York City. The north side is for cyclists only and has wide lanes in both directions. While it’s not scenic and the subway can be obnoxiously loud, there are no tourists to dodge which is great. Coming off the Manhattan bridge was the last bit of enjoyable cycling on this ride. Today was a great reminder of why I hate riding through New York City. There are too many cars, people and stop lights.

After 6 miles of stop and go traffic on the Ocean Parkway I finally made it to Coney Island. I rode along the boardwalk feeling the weight of my bike bounce the boards as I moved along. It is a long walk through the sand from the boardwalk to the water. I took off my shoes and socks and slowly pushed my way through the sand until my back tire was in the ocean. After a few photos I was ready to get back to the boardwalk and head back to Hoboken.

No trip to Coney Island is complete without a stop at Nathan’s and after a morning of cycling I was getting pretty hungry. Two hot dogs later and I was set to go. I figure I’m going to have to get used to fast food followed by cycling if I’m going to survive this trip. Why not test it out with a couple of Nathan’s hot dogs.

With the wind at my back I made quick time retracing my route back through Brooklyn. This time I’d cross over the Brooklyn bridge on my way back to the World Financial Center ferry. The Brooklyn Bridge has been completely ruined by the selfy stick. The bridge has a pedestrian lane and a bike lane, neither of which is wide enough to fit the capacity of people crossing the bridge. Tourists with selfy sticks will aimlessly wander into the bike lane trying to get a photo without a care in the world to oncoming bicycle traffic. I managed to make it across the bridge and back to the ferry where I hopped on and made it back to Hoboken. With New York completed on my route there are just 15 more states to go.

Tomorrow I will take the day off in strict observance of one of our best national drinking holidays. I’ve got a great crew of friends celebrating Cinco Goodbye-o and then I’ll be off on Saturday to really start this adventure.