I gotta go back to this place.

Yesterday I posted about how I had to calibrate the Jones Counter on my bike so I could measure a course for a race.  Well, I was not measuring a new course, I just had to adjust a course that was used in the past.  Next Sunday, NYCRUNS  will be putting on a 5K and 10K on Roosevelt Island

The course had to be temporally readjusted because the northern end of the island took a bit of a beating from Hurricane Sandy.  I rode around and saw that the new park on the southern end just opened up.  Since I needed a place to add about a tenth of a mile to the course I rode into FDR, Four Freedoms Park.  I was immediately asked by a park security officer to dismount my bike and leave it on the other side of the gate.  OK, but I asked if I could just walk my bike, I just wanted to take a look at the park, and the gate was far away at this point.  "No", was the polite answer. In fact that park has some pretty strict rules.

Please Do

• Carry out what you carry in; no littering
• Quietly stroll, but leave bicycles, roller skates, scooters, skateboards and amplifiers at home
• Enjoy Nature but no tree-climbing, fishing or feeding of wildlife
• Leave dogs and pets at home
• Enjoy water but no food, alcohol or other beverages
• Observe No Smoking policy

For Your Safety

• No climbing of embankments or walls
• No glass containers
• Do not obstruct entrances or walkways

Thank You

So after I adjusted the course (moved the start back a little, so we can avoid the reconstruction for north of the lighthouse), I went back.  I found out why you can't even bring in a cup of coffee, or carry you scooter in there. Granite, lots and lots of granite. 

I only had enough juice left in my cellphone to capture the 5 photos below.  But that park is breathtaking,...  Fragile, like the High Line but flat. It is not a place to take a bike and it was a good thing there were people there telling people that they should not.  It will be a grate place to cool down after next Sunday's race.