Couple of days in New York City

Since the flight I’ve been staying in Jamaica, Queens just getting sorted, fixing the bike up and waiting for the snow to melt.

After the mini-epic getting here it was nice for the next day to go well. Thankfully, the first set of ACA maps had arrived, as had the Magellan GPS, so now there’s no excuses for getting lost.

Built and tuned the bike after the flight. Nothing wrong other than a slightly bent fender but easily fixed.

I was supposed to meet a couple of people but due to the storm and work schedules it didn’t happen, but as I’m flying out of NYC there’s another opportunity which is cool. So instead, I’ve had a couple of touristy afternoons & evenings and got some last minute bits in the city.

It’s quite an interesting time to be here, just after Hurricane Sandy and Obama being re-elected. I visited Lower Manhattan yesterday (World Trade Center, Wall St, Brooklyn Bridge etc). It’s really quiet at the moment, with a lot of shops boarded up post-Hurricane damage, and there’s a lot of people working very hard through the night trying to fix things like power and water.

In contrast, Manhattan (Central Park, Times Square etc) is heaving with people. Central Park was surprisingly awesome (so was the hot dog), a breath of fresh air in the hustle and bustle of America’s largest city, surrounded by incredible architecture every which way.

Anyway I don’t want to harp on too much about the touristy stuff, but I’m looking forward to spending a few more days here at the end of the trip.

Tomorrow is the first day of cycling. Pretty keen to get on with it now. So from here on out the blogs will be more trip-orientated!

I’ll leave you for now with an out-of-focus picture of a hot dog from 5th Ave.