This is the nature of bike riding! I have gone to all corners of the four significant boroughs of New York City, to places in my city that I would have never gotten to without riding. I have expanded my exploration to Jersey City, Hoboken, and Newark, and have gotten to know those cities pretty well. Also, I know more about navigation in Bergen County, Westchester County, and (on point for this thread) Nassau County than I have ever known. On top of all that, I have made several trips to Philadelphia; and I am filling in details of my mental map of that city.
In quiet moments, I often have flashback-like memories of various street scenes. So it's the gift that keeps on giving.
The bicycling pace is the perfect travel speed to see places and get to know them. Walking is too slow, trapping you in one small location for too long. And one gets very little of any external stimuli while driving.
But when you are riding a bike, you are moving at a speed similar to riding a horse, a speed at which humans have moved for millennia, and one which our brains are adapted.
Your bike is your freedom.