Biking in NYC

I took a long time off from cycling.  I decided at the end of my 2009 triathlon season to take a break from cycling until I enjoyed it again, to let my neck and shoulders heal and to go a bit easier on myself.  I did P90X, flying trapeze and stretched a lot.  Then I got pregnant, did little else but walk, had the baby (who is perfect in every way, a miracle, and made of pure magic).  Yesterday, on a whim, I got my bike out of storage, pumped up the tires, and rode to work.  When I realized it was raining and in the mid 30's I was undaunted.  I wanted to ride!

With my Medela breast pump, a change of clothes, shoes, and my lunch stuffed into my North Face backpack, I left my Brooklyn apartment with a general sense of how to get to work.  I've been taking the subway for the 2-1/2 weeks I've been at this job, and being crammed into a full subway for 35 minutes before walking nearly a mile across town has added a lot of stress to my already-stressful day.  Because I've been under ground I haven't learned the lay of the land...er...city, so I relied on the fact that the Brooklyn Bridge leads to Manhattan and the Empire State Building is uptown. 

Unfortunately, the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge bike path is three blocks before the bridge starts and is obscured by barricades and traffic, and the Empire State Building was hidden by fog.  I got turned around after taking several one-way streets and following signs to "Hudson River Trail" that ended at a building.  Fortunately, being lost under the bridge and heading south before I headed north only added 10 minutes.  I got there in 40 minutes.