Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You

I have this theory that it takes a couple months on a bicycle to really get to know your immediate surroundings after you move someplace new. You can’t do it in a car because your car only goes from Point A to Point B as efficiently as possible, without winding down side streets or back alleys, or through parks and dirt paths that don’t accommodate vehicle traffic. And anyway, you’re too busy operating a two-ton machine to soak everything in.

You can do better on foot, but you can’t cover nearly as much territory unless you have all day.

Running?

Well, I don’t run, so….

With a bicycle, you can ride for many miles down the side roads and alleyways, poke in and out of various neighborhoods, cross through parks and woods, all with an up-close view and plenty of time to absorb it all.

It usually takes a few weeks for the bike to tell you the whole story. I’ll give you an example….

In November of 2000 I was transferred to Los Angeles from New York for a new position at a company I had joined less than a year earlier. I got a little studio apartment in Marina del Rey, in the southwestern part of the city. After settling in, I hopped on my bicycle and started exploring the area.

I knew nothing about Los Angeles. The only time I had ever been there was 13 years earlier, on a cross-country road trip, and I only saw LA from one of its 43,000 freeways.

I had no idea where Marina del Rey was in relation to anything else, other than it was within a quick drive of my office – a huge plus in a ginormous metropolis like Los Angeles, where everyone drives everywhere. I was not and still am not a map guy, meaning I don’t immediately buy a map to get the lay of the land. This was before Google maps, so you couldn’t use that to guide you around.

So, I explored on bicycle.

I had been there about two or three weeks, riding around, before I realized I lived only a couple blocks from the Pacific Ocean – right next door to Venice Beach, one of the most famous beaches in the world.

When I first started riding my bike I invariably headed east, thinking that had to be the most interesting direction. There was a little inlet just southeast of my apartment and I remember thinking, “Cool! I’m near the water!”

Then one day, after a few weeks, I decided to ride in the other direction – westward – just to check it out.

After pedaling for about a minute I found myself on a bright, sandy oceanfront, right on the glorious Pacific, the biggest body of water in the world. I quickly learned that you could pedal for miles and miles on paved beach paths – north as far as Pacific Palisades, south as far as Redondo Beach, more than 20 miles of bike paths from end to end – up and down the sunny, beautiful beach, seeing views that most people can only dream about….

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This process has repeated itself no matter where I lived. In Norwalk, Connecticut (2003-2005), it was only because of my bike that I discovered the harbors and waterways of the Long Island Sound, along with the multi-million dollar mansions of Westport and the grittier, funkier ‘hoods of Norwalk.

In New York City (2005-2007) I basically got an education in Manhattan on bike, riding from our Midtown East apartment way north to Harlem and then way south to Battery Park, at the lower tip of the island. East side, west side, all around the town….

In a temporary return to my hometown of Charlotte (2007-2017), which I thought I knew well, I discovered neighborhoods and streets and buildings I never would have except on bike.

In London (2008-2023) I would ride as far east as Greenwich and as far west as Westminster, mostly following the Thames, jutting in and out of a hundred different neighborhoods that I never would have known about without a bicycle.

These days, I am learning my way around our community in northern New Jersey, where we relocated in late July after departing London. I have been riding a bicycle here for a couple months now. I discover something new every ride.

I quickly learned that I used to ride 23 minutes for something that actually takes only about 7 minutes – if you know where you are going. I am discovering the shortcuts, the roads less traveled, the insidery cycling knowledge that lets you hang with the cool kids.

It’s amazing how different something can look and seem in a matter of a couple of weeks. That route you took a couple weeks ago, that seemed so bold, so off-the-beaten track? Oh, it’s really just a couple streets over – you just got things all discombobulated and ass-backwards.

There’s not nearly as much variety here as in previous places I’ve lived. We live in a residential community that has very good schools, handsome old homes, a couple banks and stores, and not much else. It’s a safe community and good to raise children in. But if you’re looking for amazing sights, you’re gonna look a long time.

Not far away in one direction is a cool town with a vibrant center city area and pricey restaurants. I can get there in 10 minutes on bike. In another direction is another town, this one much grittier, and a little cheaper. It’s close as well – but a harder ride because of the hills.

There are a lot of steep hills in this area. You can get a decent workout just riding for 30 minutes or so. The hills, combined with my age, mean I probably won’t take the 12- or 15-mile excursions I used to. But you can see a lot in a lot fewer miles, because it’s all packed together.

I wonder if I’ve seen most of it already, after only a couple months here. I wonder if there are many surprises left.

Oh, probably.

Here’s some value-added photos of the immediate environs, for your viewing pleasure…..