Citi Biking & Momofuku Noodle Bar

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Independence Day and long weekend. It kind of sucks that next year, the 4th will land on a Tuesday, so we'll have the weekend, go to work for a day, and then have off, and then go back to work. Although, I'm never going to complain about having a free day off from work so moot point.

Today's post is all about a day back in June. I made plans to meet up with my dear friend, D, in the city to bike, go to an art show, have some delicious food, and enjoy each others' company. If I had started this blog in my early 20s, it would be chock full of New York adventures, especially considering I lived there for about a year, but these days, I have less energy to drag myself out there. Even though I've always felt like a city girl at heart - I know NYC better than I know my own home state - I guess I'm just getting old and ornery. Luckily for me, D is always inviting me to awesome art shows, which gives me a valid reason to trek in, and then we usually turn it into a day of food and adventure. Thanks, D.

We opted to spend the day riding bikes. We managed to bike the entire length and width of the island. I parked on Riverside near 110th, we walked down to the Citi Bike station on 83rd, rode all the way down to Chelsea, rode across to 1st Avenue, and then backtracked. It was quite a workout.

I drove in, since D's apartment is just a short ride from the GWB. D rode with me as I tried to find a parking spot on Riverside and then we walked almost 30 blocks down to the Citi Bike station and grabbed some bikes. The walk along Riverside was so nice, since it was shaded and downhill.

We biked along the Hudson River Greenway all the way down to 39th street, where we docked our bikes and got some Gatorade to hydrate and cool off. There were loads of other bikers and rollerbladers and walkers. It was definitely a perfect day for being outside.

The day was gorgeous but extremely hot. Luckily, the breeze blowing off of the water was refreshing enough to sustain us during our ride and the view wasn't half bad either.

After we cooled off, we tried to grab two more bikes - we had a bit of trouble because the bikes were all taken at one point - but once we finally got our bikes, we headed south towards Chelsea. We ended up walking around Chelsea Market to cool off in the free air-con.

D managed to snag this photo of me while she was on her bike. She attempted a few times, swerving like mad every time she tried to turn her head. But, she was successful!

After we had our fill of window shopping, we walked over to the SVA Maker's Market to check out D's fellow alum and their wares for sale.

There were some really fabulous vendors. I loved these little ceramic pots; if I ever decide to try and take care of air plants again, I will buy some of these cuties.

D actually bought an astronaut and an ice cream cone from Broderpress. So cute!

These little skulls from Fire & Bone were creepy but adorable.

Studio Llama Llama's crocheted animals were some of the most precious things I've ever seen.

And I was particularly smitten with this little cloud lamp that simulated a thunderstorm. It was so whimsical. This was by Richard Clarkson, who actually has several weather simulating lamps.

After the markets, we headed east to get some dinner.

We decided to eat at Momofuku Noodle Bar

There was a bit of a wait, even though we only got there half an hour after it opened for dinner, so we put in for a table and then walked around the corner to grab a beer at a nearby bar, Pinks.

We started by sharing the brisket bao bun. It was really good. The brisket was tender with crisp edges, the bun was soft and squishy, and the pickles were a nice fresh topping to offset the unctuous richness of the meat.

For our mains, we got the Momofuku ramen and the pork shank ramen. Both were really good.

The Momofuku ramen was super flavorful. The pork was delicious, the broth was nice and clean, the poached egg was perfectly soft, and the noodles were nice and tender.

The pork shank ramen was made with hand-pulled noodles, which were really good. The broth was spiced nicely, which made it super delicious, and the portion size was nice and generous.

After dinner, we grabbed bikes and basically took our same route, just in the opposite direction, back to where my car was parked. We enjoyed the sunset during the two minute rest we were forced to take when we stopped to switch bikes. Basically, the way Citi Bike works is that you pay for a day pass (which is $12 plus tax) and every ride up to 30 minutes is included in that fare. Beyond the 30 minutes, it's $4 per extra 15 minutes. Since we aren't pro-athletes that can bike the entire island in that 30 minute time frame, we switched our bikes at the 39th street dock by the Hudson.

And of course, we had to take a selfie with the gorgeous colors of the sunset!

So that was our biking adventure in the city. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again. It's definitely a different vibe to bike in a city I know. It was much more relaxed and easy, but so much fun. Usually, I'm in a cab or underground; it was pretty exciting traversing the city with ease. Though, I have to say that once we hopped off the bikes and had to walk, it felt like we were wading through molasses because it was so much slower. Still, the 15,000+ steps we walked in addition to the biking made for an awesome workout.

xoxo.