Northeast - Snow Bicycling Dream

Of all people to have this dream last night...

At about 7pm, my wife and I finally made it home from Florida to Long Island at the height of the blizzard. We were the last flight out and the last LIRR train running from Jamaica, so it was quite a stroke of luck.

Anyway, when I finally got to bed after digging my way into the house, I ended up dreaming vividly about trying to ride over a bridge - I believe it was the 59th Street bridge - during a snowstorm as blizzardous as last night's. All around me was total white-out, except for the Christmas lights I could still see shining through some of the apartment house windows. I'm not sure if I was alone on the bridge, but I don't remember seeing anyone else out there with me. In fact, the feeling of the dream was lonely and a little creeped-out. When I finally got to the other end of the bridge, my father-in-law, a long-deceased Astoria merchant, was waiting with a shovel. I'm not sure what that meant.

As some of you might know, I do not ride in the late fall or winter, so having this dream was a bit ironic. I think the bike was just symbolism for the feeling of being in a plane, circling over JFK for over an hour with no visibility, waiting for an OK to land. I know some of you commute into Manhattan regularly in all kinds of weather, though, so I'd like to hear if anybody has a REAL story about crossing a bridge in a snowstorm like this one.

No, but I had a bike dream last night too. I was riding a bike wearing trousers. Every time pedaled a revolution, my pants leg would get snagged by the gearwheel and chain. Each time it snagged, I would cuss.

That's all, a unending aggravation.

Perhaps these dreams are just a release for the frustration and pissed-offness we feel for having our cycling hindered by the sometimes crappy Northeast weather?

I'll tell you what it is like tomorrow, although this seems promising:

http://twitter.com/nycbridgereport

Those tweets stating the bridges are passable are from December 14th. :(

Haha, I wasn't paying attention at all to the dates.

Well let me tweet something now: There is no bike path on the Queensboro bridge right now.

I walked a few feet then said "screw this" and jumped the railing onto the main roadway with another cyclist. It was a surprisingly painless ride over the bridge. As far as the rest of the city goes: I need some knobby tires. Tomorrow I am taking my cyclocross bike to work.

I'm going to try the Williamsburg bridge later.

OP: you were lucky. See what these people went through (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101228/ap_on_re_us/us_stranded_on_the_a_train;_ylt=AjY0mWJmGCVrmWXqvn_DvzJG2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTMwN25zZG50BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMT AxMjI4L3VzX3N0cmFuZGVkX29uX3RoZV9hX3RyYWluBHBvcwM0BHNlYwN5bl9wYWdpbmF0ZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrAzQwMH NwZW5kZnJpZw--).

The Williamsburg Bridge is clear, plowed and salted with some patches of hard packed snow and ice, and snow on the sides but totally passable. Just watch for the ice.

OP: you were lucky. See what these people went through (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101228/ap_on_re_us/us_stranded_on_the_a_train;_ylt=AjY0mWJmGCVrmWXqvn_DvzJG2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTMwN25zZG50BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMT AxMjI4L3VzX3N0cmFuZGVkX29uX3RoZV9hX3RyYWluBHBvcwM0BHNlYwN5bl9wYWdpbmF0ZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrAzQwMH NwZW5kZnJpZw--).

One of the many reasons why I'd rather be on a bike, regardless the weather. I was stuck several times, the worst was the F train in Summer, for 3h, dark no A/C' HOT as **** on a packed rush hour train, pregnant woman fainted, lying on the floor. Thanks MTA for your efforts but I feel safer above the ground under my own power :)

Absolutely. And these last two days I enjoyed seeing people trying to clean their cars stuck in snow mountains and get them out. :D

Reminder: If you buy metrocard at all, buy before 12/30 (1 day left) when the fare goes up.

>>>See what these people went through (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101228/ap_on_re_us/us_stranded_on_the_a_train;_ylt=AjY0mWJmGCVrmWXqvn_DvzJG2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTMwN25zZG50BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMT AxMjI4L3VzX3N0cmFuZGVkX29uX3RoZV9hX3RyYWluBHBvcwM0BHNlYwN5bl9wYWdpbmF0ZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrAzQwMH NwZW5kZnJpZw--).<<<<

What a drag. Usually I'm the one with the bad luck, but some kind of miracle has kicked into my life for the past few days. Today, I had an accident at work that SHOULD have cost me the loss of a finger, or at least a few broken ones. But when I removed my hand from the handtruck in which it got stuck under the full weight of a giant outdoor movie screen, there was only a large indent in my middle finger and all my fingers were moving normally. There was not even a drop of blood. Everyone who witnessed the accident was speechless. I will never understand why I am able to type this post at lightning speed without a smidgen of pain right now. Perhaps it had something to do with the dream and making it across the bridge against the odds to see my dead father-in-law on the other side?

Anybody have any idea of whether the GWB is clear for those of us who might want to escape the city this weekend? Not sure if it'll be possible unless some of the snow is cleared but hope spring eternal....

Another advantage of bicycles over cars: Snowed-In NY Residents Complain Over Parking Tickets (http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/12/30/snowed-in-ny-residents-complain-over-parking-tickets/). :D

I'd take it as a sign that you need to rethink your decision not to ride in the winter... :)

Anybody have any idea of whether the GWB is clear for those of us who might want to escape the city this weekend? Not sure if it'll be possible unless some of the snow is cleared but hope spring eternal....

Went over the GW last Friday, it was clear. Most of the path was clear to midtown,
some sections were snowed in; 125th st to 96th for example. It's probably passable
today. Checkout the video in my sig to see the conditions.

Of all people to have this dream last night...

At about 7pm, my wife and I finally made it home from Florida to Long Island at the height of the blizzard. We were the last flight out and the last LIRR train running from Jamaica, so it was quite a stroke of luck.



Quite a stroke of luck, Papa Tom.

I would like to address the Bikeforums members, and clue them in:

Last Night, I was sipping coffee, and I overheard a man saying he had been in Florida, took the LAST Long Island Rail Road train back to Huntington in the middle of the Blizzard.
I said to him, I read a post on the Internet about a man who said he had the same thing happen to him. So I said "This guy lives in Syosset, not Huntington"... "But oh, wait, Syosset is on the Huntington Line, so you must have been on the SAME TRAIN..."
Turns out I had met Papa Tom , in person!
What are the chances?
Small World.

Papa Tom has left out part of the story. The LIRR does not stop directly at JFK Airport. He had to take the Airtrain:

http://www.mta.info/mta/airtrain.htm

http://www.panynj.gov/airports/jfk-airtrain.html

The JFK airtrain is fully automated, there is NO conductor or motorman on board, it's like an elevator that goes sideways. Pap Tom was using his hands to help close the doors at each stop, since the blizzard had blown snow into to slots that the sliding doors slide on.

This is really a story of the Small World, I never imagined I would meet Papa Tom later in the day.

I felt I was on a "Lucky Streak" so I played one dollar on the lottery... but I did not win the 355 million dollars.

But, as a matter of fact, I did cross the Brooklyn Bridge once, after a snowstorm. No , actually, I turned back and couldn't cross the bridge, the snow was too deep.

What an odd coincidence.

>>>What an odd coincidence. >>>

Yes, it was odd, Hotbike, but a pleasure to meet you. FYI, the stroke of luck continued for me. Later the same night, WCBS FM ran a call-in contest and I dialed in on a whim. In the past, these things have been virtually impossible to win, so I stopped trying decades ago. Wouldn't you know I was the 11th caller and won a pair of tickets to the NYC Boat Show!!!!

Unfortunately, I can't afford a boat, but if this keeps up, someone ought to be dropping one off in front of my house any day now.