BMW BIKE TOURS

It was about 6:00pm the night we arrived in NY and we threw three mountain bikes into the back of Rudys truck and drove towards Manhattan. We weren’t really sure where we were going or how close to Manhattan we would be. Soon though, we saw Manhattan rising on the horizon again and this time we were heading straight toward it. The buildings looked huge, one towering above the other. I wondered to myself, "what would they look like up close?" Not thinking in a million years I would see them tonight!

We drove the truck right up and under the skywalks between the Societies buildings in Brooklyn and parked. We unloaded the bikes and began a "little" bike ride. Rudy took us up past the main entrance to Brooklyn Bethel where we meet some brothers and sisters who were just on their way home from the Convention. We talked and they invited us to come and have a tour of the Branch and the facilities and to have lunch with them one day. We said yes, that would be great, so we exchanged phone numbers and said we would call them in a couple of days to arrange a tour time.

Off we went again, this time winding up onto a bridge. As it turns out the bridge was in fact the Manhattan Bridge! It was still reasonably light and we had a beautiful view of Manhattan itself as we rode toward it. Again, this was the last thing I thought we would be doing, riding into Manhattan on a push bike! What are we crazy, we would be killed by all the crazy NY drivers, surely! Onward we went. Stopping every five seconds to take photos. Once on the other side of the bridge we rode through China Town and then into Little Italy. While in Little Italy, there was a parade being held for one of the many "saints". The roads were all closed and there were literally so many people it was hard to keep riding the bikes. The restaurants were so full they had people sitting on the roadway eating. The loud chatter of Italian voices was quite a sound to experience.

Once we left Little Italy we headed off again, each time we did this we had no idea where we were going at all. This time we ended up riding down a road that was lined with high rise buildings. They were so high that you could nearly not see any sky at all, and that is no exaggeration! It was actually really pretty. The natural light was fading and the electric lights were coming on. The air was still and cooling. It was just perfect!
Next thing we knew, we were in Wall street, the "financial district." In this area the buildings were even taller if thats possible. We went to "Ground Zero" where the Twin Towers once stood, towering above the cities skyline. Now there is a huge hole in the ground and fences all around. There are police officers everywhere! That was a strange experience. We had never known what it looked like in real life before the towers fell so it was hard to imagine them standing there safe and sound, when all we could see was what now looks like a construction site. More photos were taken but its hard to portray something like that in a photo, you really need to be there in person.

Not sure if you have see in the movies a great big brass (I think) bull that sits in the financial district of NY, well we went there too. Dave had his photo taken with the bull but light was fading fast at this point as they haven’t come out to good. That bull is huge!
The South St Sea Port was our next stop. This was stunning at the time of day we were there. The night light had set in and the whole area was alight with all the colors of the rainbow. Playing loud and proud was Latin music which people in the street were dancing too. You could smell good food and feel the atmosphere. We walked through this part as you are not allowed to ride bikes here. This area overlooks Brooklyn so when we stopped at the waters edge we could see all the Societies buildings lit up, very cool. There were ferries coming and going doing night tours of the city by water. From where we stood you could see bridge after bridge spanning the East River or was it the Hudson, hmm not sure. Each bridge was lit up with different lights so you could tell them apart at night. In the distance you could see the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building too. Each night the Empire State Building has different lights on it just to make in more interesting. The lights were bright blue this night. We stood there for ages soaking in the atmosphere, it was a wonderful thing to experience.

Now back up onto another bridge, this time the Brooklyn Bridge. This took us back across the river toward the Societies buildings. This time was meandered through Brooklyn Heights on our bikes. Here the very rich live, with their massive houses and glamorous views. We went down to the Promenard where you are directly across from Manhattan Island. The skyline is breath taking lit up at night, again, you have to be here to believe the beauty, photos just don’t do it any justice.

Rudy took us past all the residence buildings for the brothers and sisters working in the Branch, past a number of Kingdom Halls and buildings that were once owned by the Society but have now been sold. You could tell by the way some were dressed that they were our brothers, it was very cool.

We then after biking for nearly four hours went back to the car and drove home again. As you can imagine we were quite exhausted, but enthralled all at the same time. We had taken so many photos it was crazy. It was one of the most amazing things I think I have ever done. It was so unexpected and so mind blowing it is hard to explain. Two little kiwis from the other side of the world biking through Manhattan at night and we did not get hit by a single car!
In fact I have never felt safer than when we were to doing this tour. I think I had in mind that NY was going to be very dangerous and that we would have to very careful of everything we did there. It is true that you should be careful but really its more about using your brain and not going into to places you shouldn’t and not flashing money around, as long as you don’t do that then you should be just fine.

Why on earth did we ride around downtown Manhattan when we could have been hit by a car you might ask? Well that’s a very good question. I would have said "are you crazy, Im not doing that!" In reality though as a pedestrian or cyclist in NY you have all the rights. If someone hits you even if you are riding on the wrong side of the road, you can sue the person for hitting you! So all the drivers are very careful when they see cyclists or people walking the streets, and believe me there were hundreds of us. Heaps of people were riding bikes around and even more walking. The cars just give way to you, let you go first, etc. We rode against traffic, went in front of cars, rode on the foot paths everything you could think of and not a single person tooted at us!! Hard to believe I know, but its true! We would have been in more danger in a car I think.

Why was this called the BMW Bike Tour? The three main bridges into Manhattan are the Brooklyn, the Manhattan and the Williamson Bridges thus the BMW. Its a good way to remember the order of them.

Well that was just one evening in NY and we still had 5 more to go! Will keep ya posted!