Yikes. I also spend an inordinate amount of time training in Prospect Park, and have stopped going barrelling down that hill at 30 mph for exactly that reason. On one of my first rides, I almost hit a goose that was crossing the road to get to the lake and couldn't be bothered to get out of my way. I find myself constantly dodging squirrels and pigeons -- there seem to be more of them on that hill than in the rest of the park, and they're all at the bottom of the hill when I'm going my fastest. If I'm doing a "hard" loop, I ride the drops down the hill instead of the aerobars so I can get to my brakes quickly. Makes it just a little more challenging to maintain my loop times.

On a similiar note, I was on a training ride with a friend in Central Park, and a pigeon came flying out of nowhere, went just in front of my wheel and crashed directly into her spokes. Amazingly enough, it *bounced* off the spokes and flew back the way it came, and somehow didn't hit me on its way back. Freaked us out for the rest of the ride, and made us both very timid going down Harlem hill and the rollers on the upper west side.

Lee

You both make a strong case for riding over the GW and down Route 9 where the only thing you have to dodge is roadside gravel and glass. There is a reason they keep three ambulances on the west side of Central Park on the weekends. If the squirrels do not get you any of the following will: a) the bladers on cellphones doing z-patterns, b) the dogs on extenda leashes whose owners are looking the other way or c) the people who simply do not pay any heed to the fact that people are doing 20 mph on their bikes on the same path. Riding in NY/Brooklyn is a dangerous enterprise. Note to self: get ambulance insurance.

I've never done the GWB/Route 9 ride, but after reading over your list of warnings (that I've certainly experienced in both Central Park and Prospect Park-roller bladers on cellphones are the absolute worst) I wonder if you could let me know the next time there is a weekend group ride over the bridge so that I can join in. Please.

I once witnessed a similar accident: A bike going downhill when a kid tumbled. two of his fingers fell directly in the front wheel. Almost nothing left of the 2 fingers and the guy on the bike got a commotion. Luckily for the kid (5 yo) the doctors arrange his fingers with only a small handicap on one of them(last articulation can't bend). And by the way, that kid was me.

It was my fault, but still, I've learned a lesson : always carefull around kids

Richard

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Richard

"You're only young once, but you can be immature forever" - Larry Andersen

While I am not new to New York, I am new to riding in New York. I joined the NYCC but I'm caught between the 17 mphers who want to go for muffins in Piermont and their 20 mph SIG riders who frown upon us Fred's and won’t do anything less than a 6:30 a.m. century. So truth be told I have just been soloing it.

I learned how to cross the GW by simply hanging out by the bridge area and following people who looked like they know what they are doing. I would be happy to show you or anyone else the route for that matter. In fact I would welcome any and all company. Shoot me an email or send me a private message and I will keep you in the loop on any Route 9 riding ops. Others are welcome to do the same.

Completely agreed. Central Park and Prospect Park are both beautiful places to ride, but also quite dangerous. I'm continually amazed by the cyclists I see riding pacelines in the park while dodging traffic on their right and runners/bladers/slower riders on their left.

I just rode 9W for the first time this past weekend for my long ride. Discovered a couple of things:

a)It took me 1:15 to get from my apartment (Brooklyn) to the Jersey side of the GW. It's a HAUL! And you really can't go very fast up the bike path -- at least I couldn't. Too many obstacles.

b)I almost got smashed several times while riding up and over the bridge. Between the hairpin turn on the ramp on the Manhattan side, and the sharp turns around the bridge towers, it's a much more technical ride than I expected. Those turns are NOT wide enough for two bikers to pass. And a cyclist coming at you on a narrow bikelane is a lot more dangerous than a squirrell! I don't suppose there's any plan to improve access?

c)Once you get there, the ride in NJ is fantastic. I had planned on a 3 hr ride, so I rounded my 1:15 to Jersey down to an even hour, and did a 1hr out and 1 hr back to the bridge, with a cooldown across the bridge and over to the 175th street subway.

d)People look at you funny on the subway if you try to stretch and hold your bike upright at the same time. Especially while wearing cycling shoes.

I didn't quite make it to Nyack, but that seems to be the cycling destination of choice. I'll make it up there one of these days. Do any of the other NY/NJ riders on the list have any suggestions for decent routes starting at the GWB? I looked on the NYCC web site but the route library is just a list of turns -- no distances, descriptions, etc.

If it was just a squirrel then it is okay. I don't like them, they make fun of me because I live in the ground and I am afraid of heights.

Yes, it is a haul to the GWB – but worth it. Riding along Riverside you can get some pace in for a few miles. The bridge crossing is not all the comforting but I do not agree that it is more dangerous than park riding. The uphill entry from the Manhattan side is by far the worst part. It's the price you pay for some freedom. If you do slow there is really not that much danger. You will find that the big groups return in droves around 11:00 – 11:30 a.m. on Sat/Sun and at those times the crossing should be avoided.

As far as rides, I have scouted some of the NYCC directions to Greenwich/New Cannan but I have not done the ride. My plan was to scout some of the rides on my overtraining days and actually ride them on an endurance day.

Here is an Australian version of the squirrel story....a group of cyclists going in one direction....a car going in the other direction...kangaroo hops out in front of car...kangaroo bounces of car...[now imagine you are at the bowling alley]...kangaroo bounces into group of cyclists on other side of ride.....STTTTTTTRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKKKKKKKKKKKKKEEE! Cyclists get skittled.

OK, since we are telling animal stories, here's mine.

I tend to ride Central Park just after dark to avoid all those dazed humans who step off the curb without even looking up the road. Unfortunately, this also seems to be the time that racoons are on the move in CP. Just a few nights ago, I saw three crossing the road in front of me on one single ride. North edge and West side seem to be the most densely populated.

Last year, while flying down the last hill on the West side of the park (30+) I actually hit one of the buggers. It came from the West side of the road and stopped directly in the center. I saw it standing there doing its deer-in-the-headlights impression, yelled my loudest as I started getting on the brakes, made a quick decision to break left, just as the raccoon made a similar decision, and wammo... I hit it with both the front and rear wheels, but remained upright. Worst part was that my aero bottle splashed up on me, and for a moment, I thought I was covered in raccoon blood. As I recovered my composure, I looked back and the coon was gone. I guess he survived the hit.

If it's not the people, it's the raccoons, squirrels, birds, etc. Good thing we wear helmets!

Back in the mid 80's when the Calif. Wednesday ride was if full swing, I remember being in a breakaway with Scott Molina hammering through the campgrounds at San Clemente. Scott was taking his turn when this squirrel came running out of the bushes and straight into his front wheel. Unlike the other story, this one's head just got into the spokes and was instantly decapitated. The body got stuck into the brakes, but didn't lock up. It just began banging on the front wheel like the old playing cards and cloths pin motors we used to put on our little sting rays. Kenny Souza and I were riding next to him and just couldn't believe what we were seeing. It was like some kind of Salvador Dali image that our brains just couldn't process. It wasn't until we pulled over and looked over the bloddy scene that we were able to comprehend what just happened. It would be fun to hear Scott's account of that incedent, as the actual murderer of the sqirrel.

Up here in the northwest I heard about this story from a couple of years back. Tourist had stopped on the side of the road to take a picture of a deer. Deer got spooked by the camera and ran across the road right in front of a police car. Cruiser struck the deer causing it to fly up in the air and landed on a bicyclist travel that was traveling in the opposite direction of the car. I'm not sure how the cyclist faired in the aftermath.

The kangaroo story reminds me of a story/urban myth. A couple of English chaps were traveling across Australia in true backpacker fashion when their combi collected a roo. They pulled over and went to check him out. The corpse wasn't really disfigured and one of the guys put his sunnies on the kangaroo and took a picture. Anyhow, they ended up sticking a Manchester United football (soccer) shirt on it too, and a hat, a watch, a necklace and propped him up between them and set the camera on automatic. However, when the flash went off, the kangaroo which appears to have only been stunned/knocked out in the crash, came too and bolted into the bush never to be seen again. So, if you're ever out in the bush west of Kalgoorlie, and you see a kangaroo in a David Beckham shirt, you'll know why.

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"Language most shows a man: Speak, that I may see thee. It springs out of the most retired and inmost parts of us, and is the image of the parents of it, the mind. No glass so mirrors a man's form or likeness so true as his speech." - Ben Jonson, Timber, or Discoveries made upon Men and Matter.

Geoff,

This story was used as the plot for a kids movie last year called "Kangaroo Jack". In the movie they chase the kangaroo to get back something in the pocket of the coat.