October the First.

I didn't know there was a marathon through Manhattan today until I went out on a bike ride. There was some fairly substantial gridlock for a few blocks ahead of the cordoned-off route where the runners went by, and then it was the most wonderful thing: a street without cars. It wasn't totally empty of automotive traffic because there were alternate entrances, like for the bus routes, but it was bare enough that I could go on for block after block without ever thinking about it. Wide lanes all to myself, riding right through the middle with all the elbow room I could ask for.

It's a pity it won't happen again next week. It made riding to various markets to get pink-fleshed apples and fennel a breeze.