Urban Bike Ride 5/14/13

The Urban Bike Ride - some new and some unexpected experiences:

Sixteen Tuesday Groupers (not the fish) participated in this ride. After being ceremonially conched by Bill Billings, upon leaving Lafayette Park (near the Zoo), many saw the historic neighborhood of Riverside for the first time. The first unexpected, but delightful, experience was the sighting of a blimp from Ghent. Not easy to tell whose it was or what it was doing, but it was fun to watch as it lazily floated over the city.We also did not expect to see a huge cruise ship docked at the Half Moone Cruise Terminal, but there was a Carnival ship - its signature whale tail visible for almost a mile before we got there. While trying to view the "letters" memorial on the northwest corner of Towne Point Park, several Tue Groupers nearly got arrested (well, maybe not really) for misunderstanding some barriers meant to keep everyone away. That is, away from the cruise ship, not the memorial. Fortunately, our folks were able to get a good look at this unusual and poignant memorial before being asked, rather firmly, to leave.We then explored the somewhat hidden kayak put-in dock on the Elizabeth River on the edge of Harbor Park parking lots - near the new Amtrak station being built. Soon after, many riders had their first experience of crossing the Berkeley Bridge on bicycle. Yes, there is a pedestrian/bike path on the south side of the bridge that took us over to the Norfolk neighborhood of Berkley.After stopping at the Pagoda to see the beautiful water gardens and huge koi, we sashayed through Freemason and Ghent and enjoyed an ethnic Indian lunch at Rajput on 21st St. We then headed to West Ghent, past Weyanoke Gardens, before heading back to 21st St. to the Cold Stone Creamery for "you know what." Then, it was north through Colonial Place to Mayflower Av. on the Lafayette River before inspecting the relatively new boat ramp at Delaware and Llewellyn - good for future paddles. We returned, with everyone, to Lafayette Park to end our 20-mile urban ride.

Steve and Stephanie

Phyllis: We also got to meet Charles the ODU Lion Dog!

To see Bill B's panorama of pretty pictures : https://picasaweb.google.com/b.billings/Tues130514NorfolkUrbanBikeRide?authkey=Gv1sRgCLrxj73_jcTzJQ&feat=email