In Inwood

Inwood is one of the last neighborhood refuges in Manhattan. Today I rode the 20+ round trip up to Inwood and back, with the intention of checking out the area that's at the top of my list of residential options for next year at Fordham. Though there may be some dispute, I consider Inwood anything above 187th street. (In 4th grade news, Inwood may be the only place where a few blocks away from Dyckman is the intersection between Seamen and Cummings.) It really is beautiful there and reminds me of the quieter places of Brooklyn, like my old area in E. Williamsburg and Cobble Hill/Park Slope.



The ride up there and back was great. I went up and down Broadway for almost the entire time. I only felt slight soreness with the Achilles, which is good. There are a few "hills" north of 96th street, which is unusual for Manhattan; though I'd ridden them before, I was paying closer attention as this might be my daily commute to school and back.

The ride from 207th street to Fordham (at around 62nd st.) was about 7 miles and took me exactly 35 minutes. I have to keep in mind though, that I would be doing that ride right after waking up sometimes/often in the bitter cold or extreme heat-humidity. It is a fun ride though, traversing many different neightborhoods and past many parks and waterfronts. My commute last year from Brooklyn to NYU was about 5 miles with the Williamsburg Bridge being a beautiful viewpoint and biggest obstacle.

That all in mind, I might start expanding my preference for living next year to Washington and Morningside Heights.

New new york

Yesterday I went on a short-ish bike ride around NYC. Specifically I rode from Dalia's, up 1st Ave, past the UN and East River overlooks, to Central Park, around the park bike path and then down Broadway and back to Dalia's on E. 24th street. Here's a sketch of the route:


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I was a bit apprehensive for this ride as it's the first I've done in a couple weeks, since going to Julien's. Overall, my achilles felt fine (I did a similar ride this morning and hardly felt any pain!); just a few bouts of pain when I'd stand to pedal.

It was an absolutely blissful experience to be back on the bike, especially in NYC. The weather was perfect for biking, mid 50s, and this was my first time since coming back to NY that I've got to really hang out in the city. The ride yesterday solidified my decision to attend Fordham Law School this fall.

There were some problems with my rear break, which I promptly fixed when I got home. My New York bike (a lower-level Fuji I bought new about a year ago) is much different from my Cannondale in CA. It's a bit bigger and feels sturdier, which is useful for plowing through traffic and gigantic rampant potholes throughout the streets.

Also, in ibex-news: today and yesterday I automatically kept looking behind to check on the ibex that wasn't there.