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OK, so technically it was the Four-Borough Bike Tour for me, because I broke from Team Hartbeat and joined with Team Brooknam (me, Chris, and Mike D.) to go meet up with our boy Ming, have some beers, and go to a Mexican joint. After that, I knew that rejoining the procession would result in my missing the 4:07 train to Waterbury, which would, in turn, result in my eventual death at the hands of my wife. So I headed back to Grand Central. Pictures and a little bit of text are after the jump.


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I started the day in Bed-Stuy at my boy Chris's house. Here's his very fast bike getting ready to leave the house.



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Riding with Chris to the rendezvous point at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge.
(Chris doesn't need to trouble himself with silly things like paying to participate in the ride or wearing a silly little blue vest. In the New York bike world, Chris always has the hook-up, and today was no different - he made a call just as we started the ride and someone met him at Canal Street with a VIP bracelet.)



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The meet-up went off without a hitch. Bagels were eaten and coffee was drunk.



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Will eloquently expressed what it feels like to meet up with people at 6:45 after a night on the town.



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This guy had a folding bike that was way goofier than mine.



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Will, Chris, and Dan cross the Brooklyn Bridge in the deadly "Flying V" formation. Hartford + Brooklyn + Ann Arbor = Bicycle Kung Fu.



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We waited at Church and Vesey for a long while before getting started.



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A deli near the start on the ride was mobbed. I bought Brendan a tallboy of Heineken, and a cop who was there congratulated me for starting so early in the morning.





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The crew waits for the ride to get started.



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Were there transvestites on tricycles? You bet!



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Dag. There were a lot of people.



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Eventually, we got moving.



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But things slowed to a crawl at the entrance to Central Park, so Chris and I detoured around the park and made a pit stop on 3rd Ave.



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Between the top of the park (where Chris and I rejoined the ride) and Astoria Park there were many fine views. That last pic is of some cool-looking project rooftops on the Queens side of the Queensborough Bridge.



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In Astoria Park, we were joined by Mike D., Chris's friend and business partner, who is a sociopath and a hilarious person. I unfortunately failed to get a shot of his awesome Bilenky cargo bike.



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Eventually, we reached the best Borough, Brooklyn. That was the cue for me, Mike, and Chris to leave the route and show up unannounced at Ming's house. Ming is a crazy shut-in who plays World of Warcraft, shoots nerf darts at his cats, and builds little models of giant fighting robots. He also tucks his belly in under his belt. He seemed completely unsurprised to see us, provided us with beers, and suggested we get food at the Mexican joint across the street, which we did, although I failed to make any photographic record of any of it. Something else I failed to photograph was the Honduran guy with whom I had a lengthy conversation on many topics while traveling from Bridgeport to Waterbury. He lamented the strict enforcement of DUI laws in this country (he has one charge in New York and one in Connecticut), drank six tallboys of Coors (he offered me one but I declined), and generally made the ride entertaining.