ManifestDestiny2010Redux: 7/25 To the Atlantic

We woke up and began to gather on things for a ride to the Atlantic. We wanted to get the Atlantic Ocean and we debated weather to go to Coney Island or Fort Tilden on Rockway Beach. We headed out the door with light bikes, I the only one carrying Panniers. We rode across the Williamsburg Bridge into Brooklyn where we found Spokes and String bike shop, and Goody bought a new chain. We started riding south again and Goody realized he needed a new cassette as well. We stopped at another bike shop in Brooklyn, where Goody bought a cassette and I got a new tire. The attendants at the shop told us to to Fort Tilden, not Coney Island, we listened. We next rode to the Brooklyn Public Library, where had some online time and then biked through Prospect Park. We got on the Ocean Parkway we had a bumpy but decent bike path that lead us towards the water. We headed east on Neptune ave and soon found the bike path that would lead us to the water. It was a cloudy but clear sunday afternoon and there were many other riders out on the path. We talked with one group, who informed us that he owned a bike shop, Continuum Cycles just a few blocks from where we were staying in the East side. We made our way into the Park and rode out along the Beach. We said goodbye to our new friends and let them know we would probably be in the next day to get some repairs. We walked our bikes out onto the beach and began to celebrate. We got our picture taken with our bikes in the water and then threw the disc wildly. I took off my shorts and barreled into the water,naked and free, filled with an ineffable joy. I threw my two rocks from Ruby Beach on the Pacific back to the sea. Mission complete. We continued to swim and throw the disc before finding our way back to an abandoned fort on the beach as it began to rain. We celebrated with a stuffed cigarillo, and chatted with some locals before being kicked out by security. We rode back west on Neptune avenue then turned north on the Shore Parkway bike/pedestrian path that runs along Gravesend Bay. We got a great view of the Statue of Liberty and then turned into Brooklyn where we stopped at a Produce Mart and then found a torta shop that Will knew about from his time living in the area. We ordered some loaded Al Pastor tortas heavy on the Avacado and then biked back to Prospect Park. We devoured the large Tortas and threw the disc one last time. The disc had taken a beating and now was bent and cracked, with tape all over it in attempt to keep it level. We threw one more time. Admired all the commotion in the city and returned to the bikes for a ride back to the lower east side. Will got two flats on the way back, which seemed comical at the time. We raced across Manhattan Bridge and descended into the city. Pete and Aidan would head off the next day towards Washington DC, Goody towards his home in Glenville, NY, north of Albany. Dan and Will would spend one more day and the city and then head north.