A Hint of Autumn on the Last Day of August

Wednesday 8/31: Bay Ridge

Distance: 7.78 miles
Time: 1:00
Pace: 7:43
Temp: 63
Dewpoint: 49
Weather: mostly cloudy, windy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.19
Total Unique Miles: 337.78
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 19.39

Route: I began at 5th Avenue and 95th Street, went west on 95th to Marine, down to 99th (including the dead-end part of 98th), over to Shore Road (with Harbor Court in there too), east to 3rd Avenue, north to 74th, east to 5th Avenue, south back to 96th, west to Marine, down a block and then east on 97th, west on Marine to 3rd Avenue, south a block to 99th, back over to 5th Aveune, south to 100th, west back to 3rd Avenue and south to 101st, east to Fort Hamilton Parkway, north to 92nd, east a block to Gatling, and then north to 86th and west to 6th Avenue. I then ran north on 6th Avenue to Bay Ridge Parkway (including the little dead-end portions of 84th and 85th Streets), went west to 4th Avenue, south a block to 76th, east to 7th Avenue, south one more block to 77th, and then west back to 4th Ave.

Notes: Following my newly-minted Plan to Run the Southern Reaches of Brooklyn, I moved on from Canarsie in the southeast to Bay Ridge in the southwest part of the borough. It was great running weather, too -- it was only 63 when I got up this morning, with low humidity. Moreover, I actually saw the sun today (through some thin clouds), which is probably the first time in a week. (As noted in this space previously, I really don't mind overcast conditions or even running in the rain. My interest in the sun being out is purely in the interest of getting better photographs, of course.)

In any event, Bay Ridge was pretty much how I remembered it from the last time I was down there. Small businesses (including lots of restaurants, bars, delis) line the avenues running north-south, with some very nice houses and apartment buildings on the streets running east-west. And looming over everything (visible from a good swath of the neighborhood) are the towers of the Verazzano-Narrows Bridge. Some of the streets I ran today (including parts of Bay Ridge Parkway and 76th Street) were lined with especially handsome, well-kept limestone rowhouses and beautiful shade trees, and none of it was unpleasant. With the cool, dry breeze pushing a few dried leaves across the sidewalks and the faint, mottled sunlight, it almost felt like fall. I can't wait for the real thing.

Today's photos:


96th Street off of 3rd Avenue


Looking south on 5th Avenue


Under the Gowanus Expressway


3rd Avenue


Looking west on Bay Ridge Parkway