NYC Feels and Wheels

It was the last few days of our East Coast vacation and I had my mind set on one thing we have not yet done – cycling our way around town. So on a Sunday morning, D and I headed to the nearest CitiBike after downloading their app on our mobile phones. Luckily they’re widely spread throughout Manhattan. We availed of the Day Pass which cost us $12. The deal was we could use it for an unlimited number of times on 30-minute intervals. So the trick was to be able to locate the next bike rack that we return our bikes to before the 30th minute mark (otherwise we pay additional fees).

We got our first bike we got from E 10th St & 5th Ave. We pedaled away with hardly any stops along the bike path next to the Hudson.

I think I was rusty – I huffed and puffed my way to our first stop: The Vessel at Hudson Yards. It was pretty and modern, and was so photogenic with the blue skies as its backdrop.

We took a break from cycling after gawking at The Vessel. Then we made our way to The High Line where we passed through an elevated walkway surrounded by plants, some works of art, and a scenic city view of the area.

Afterwards we rode the bike again, this time heading to the Madison Square Park for an closer view of the Flat Iron building, and the Empire State Building (which looked better from this far).

We got to rest a bit, grabbing a quick lunch and exploring the thrift shops around this area. I saw a flea market at the W 25th Street which was cool!

A tip for those who want to try out the Citi Bike: check where the docking stations are that have free slots. We ran into this issue twice and had to pedal furiously to the next docking area before the 30 minutes ran out. Data signal is a must to be able to stay connected and up to date as to which docking areas are busy and which are free.

So there you have it: for $12, we got to get close and stop short at the sites we wanted to check out, covered 20 kilometers of the Lower Manhattan, and burned 522 calories. Plus, and more importantly, we got to leave lesser carbon footprint. I always feel like a child again whenever I ride the bicycle, it’ll always be so much fun!