Unfolded NYC

I actually do get off the bike path! Last night I rode to midtown – against gusts that tried to move me sideways instead of forward – to watch our chef and his team teach a cooking class.

They killed it.

I didn’t get a shot of dessert. (That very young woman on the left is our pastry chef.) Caramelized milk bread, like a mashup of the best French toast and crème brûlée.

On the way home, I stopped to take a pic of Columbus Circle.

Bromptons are perfect for city traffic. Monty is so slim and nimble that it’s easy to snake around cars and potholes.

As I rode to work this morning (again battling fierce wind) I wondered, not for the first time, why this poor little bear is hanging from a power line at the corner of Laight and Varick. And why he’s been there for well over a year.

Snapping a photo prompted me to find an answer. A little Googling turned up this article, explaining that the critters are supposed to be urban art. I prefer my power lines unadorned, but that’s just me.

It’s still a bit soon to pack away my winter woolies, but the snow in this week-old pic is history.

And the Hudson is no longer covered with ice. Woohooooo!

Monty and I are back to our regular daily commute, enjoying blue skies

and cycling home in setting sunlight instead of darkness.

Let the riding season begin! I registered for the Tour de Staten Island, a part of NYC I don’t know well. Last fall’s Tour de Bronx was such fun that I want to do all the borough-specific rides this year, as well as the 5 Boro and the Century.

It’s a good incentive to get in shape. I skipped way too many Bar Method classes over the winter; the workout complements cycling, keeping my leg muscles strong enough to protect my troublesome knees. Time to get back to it.

Several friends in the fun Brompton NYC group on Facebook use Strava to track their rides. I’m going to try it too.

I’ll leave you with my favorite sign of spring,  painted by my dear brother-in-all-but-blood Dan Dutton.

The prospect of riding home in the cold and dark doesn’t thrill me. But once I’m out there, I rather like it. My commute is nearly painless – 5 miles each way, mostly flat, mostly on a protected (well-maintained and -lit) path.

Riverside Park is beautiful at night. Its post lamps, designed in the early 1900s by Henry Bacon (who also created the Lincoln Memorial), cast a warm, golden light that softens the city’s contours and makes even grimy snow look good.

Of course, a gritty cityscape is never far away.

Isn’t my guy splendid?

When it’s

here’s what happens to the river

no matter how far south you ride.

And here’s what happens when you breathe into your face mask.