Yesterday I hopped on my bike again after a week-and-a-half absence, and rode from my apartment on 151st St. to Battery Park on the Hudson River Greenway (aka west side bike path.) About 22 miles round-trip and twice my usual commute.

What I realized, despite the craziness of the city sometimes, is that the Greenway is pretty much New York at its finest. You can ride from the bottom tip of Manhattan to the upper tip on a scenic route that is almost car-free. It is calm and quiet. You see that fellow New Yorkers do relax, as you swish by all the sunbathers, tennis players, fishermen, moms with strollers, rollerbladers, joggers, and other cyclists. You are right next to the West Side Highway, but the honking gas-spewers are more background noise you can tune out than a potential hazard. The ride restored my faith in the city, two months away from my escape from the madness.

Granted, the Greenway isn't perfect. Rush hour in the summer can bring the onslaught of spandex-clad rich guys on $5000 bikes pretending they're on the Tour de France, swerving between bike commuters and pedestrians. There are sporadic dips into traffic, especially the rather confusing break between 125th and 130th Sts. And Carl Nacht's and Eric Ng's Ghost Bikes serve as sobering reminders of the tragedies that can occur if we don't continue to push for increased safety.