First Adventure to the Island

Hey Friends!

Finally had my first adventure on the Ninja on Saturday.  My final destination was to be Wegman's and/or this cool frozen yogurt place called Skinny Frog.  However, I decided that on the way I would stop halfway across the river at this little island called City Island and go exploring.  So I geared up, did the usual warm up check, and swung a leg over with a smile on my face.

It was windy that morning which made me a little nervous as the bike swayed a bit in the lane.  Full tuck was the best answer to the issue, and made it a little easier to relax in the wind.  The roads were empty so I went hard on the throttle.  Cruising down the road along the river, I got to take in a wonderful view, and was excited to make it to the island.  I crossed the first bridge and then had to slow down for a hairpin turn to enter the island parking lot.  If I had more skill that would have been a very fun turn to take, however I decided not to risk it.

The Stadium

After parking near the river, I got off and started walking.  I passed some batting cages and came up to the minor league baseball stadium.  It was very nicely maintained, but very quiet as there was no game going on at the time.

Continuing down the path, I passed several booths and shacks.  Most were closed but there was a food and toy stand open  and they had a nice place to have a cookout.

I passed through that area and came to a nice large opening that overlooked the river.  From there was a wonderful view of the city and the capitol building.  I got a chance to take a few panoramic shots which turned out beautifully.   There were also a lot of boats docked, including a beautiful riverboat, and further down the road were canoes and kayaks.  I assumed they were for rent to go boating on the river, so perhaps later this summer I can go kayaking!

Louisiana Style Riverboat

 After snapping a few more photos, I proceeded around the path.  I was passed by a little red toy train which was very neat.  The guy who drives it didn't look too enthused, but the children riding were having a blast anyways.  I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the train unfortunately as it caught me off guard, but eventually I got a photo of the station!

RR Crossing

Walnut Street Station

I also passed a very old building.  It turned out to be a bathhouse, I'm assuming for baseball players of the past as there was quite a bit of baseball history there.  A sign indicated it was from around 1921!!  Next to the bathhouse was a beautiful little mini golf course too.  Funny enough, while I didn't get to play right then, a short time after I left the island, my good friend called and asked if I've heard of City Island and if I wanted to go mini golfing!  What are the odds?!  I quickly found out that I was really rusty and terrible at putting, but that's a whole different story.

Bathhouse

Mini Golf

Wrapping it up, before heading to Wegman's to get some delicious sushi, I took a picture of my bike with the city and river in the background, for the memories.  I remounted the bike, took one last look, and then headed out.  It was a long ride after leaving the island, and with much more traffic.  I managed to make it over some extremely poor road conditions, and  at one point felt like I was close to wiping out when my tires hit a cut edge on the street.  I did not fight the bike, and stayed light on the bars, and the bike kept itself upright thankfully.

Ninja in Action!

After eating sushi, I headed back home for the 45 minute return journey.  I raced back over the bridge, easily pulling away from cars and hit 60mph for the first time, which was the fastest I've gone yet.  It was exciting yet scary too!   Finally reaching home, taking off my gear, I can definitely say the trip was taxing.  About an hour and a half of riding, even with a few breaks, my back was aching after making it back to my apartment.  It might have been the poor road conditions too, but whatever it was, I was not used to it! All said and done however, it was completely worth it, and I had a blast.  It was a great day with perfect weather as well... not too hot, a nice breeze, and plenty of sun.  What an excellent first adventure!

I took quite a few more pictures, so if you guys want to see them, click the link on the right side of the page to visit my photo site!

Though it will be raining here all week, I'm sure it will go by quickly.  Enjoy your week friends!

- Pandabear