Sorry, grunzster. It was a nice day after all.
Felt better today, especially after the couple extra hours of sleep. Didn't leave Ridgewood until 8:10 (watched the start on TV). Drove down 17 and 4 and across the GW. Parked on Riverside around 140th and joined the tour at 125th (I knew where the toilets were
) at about 9:00.
Skipped the first two reststops to wait in middle of the "second start" crowd at Astoria.
Stopped at the next three reststops, loading up on oranges. Made it across the Verrazano and into the Festival by 11:50 (beat my last year's best of 12:02). Did a quick walk about to pick up some of the free stuff, and was headed to the ferry by 12:10. No wait for the ferry this year, but a 20 minute wait while the boat finished loading. And it was pretty cold in steerage. Was back in Manhattan a little after 1:00.
The ride back up to Riverside was fun. Zigzagged thru downtown, Chinatown, Lower East Side. Found several places I was looking for, and made a lunch stop at a little Japanese carryout I had heard about called Otafuku. I can't get okinomiyaki in DC, and what this little place makes is worth the trip.
Went over to Washington Square for a while, then picked up the tour route - up 6th and thru Central Park. Finished with Broadway and Riverside back to the car by 4:00.
Much better day than I expected. It was getting toasty near the end.
Ended up with 54 miles, but an average of only 11.6 mph.
Air - good to see you. Hope it wasn't too lonely out on that bridge.
