I finally got myself to a nightCAP ride!
Since my move to Brooklyn a year ago, I’ve been meaning to join one of the Tuesday night group rides with NightCAP Brooklyn, a group that organizes social rides for trans, non-binary, queer and allied cis women. This past Tuesday, I finally made it.
It has been pretty difficult for me to motivate myself lately; everything, even inane tasks, have felt overwhelming and insurmountable and I haven’t had a desire to ride much in the past couple of weeks. Every Tuesday, I try and talk myself into going to this group ride but always come up with excuses to skip it. I had done the same thing this past Tuesday and wasn’t planning on going until a friend convinced me to, using the Halloween theme of the ride to tempt me since I love the holiday so much.
I cycled over to Grand Army Plaza to join everyone at the start point with the plan to roll out at 7 PM.
We waited a few minutes longer as people mingled and then the ride organizers reviewed the guidelines for any newcomers (me). Once we were all set, we started the ride through Prospect Park and made our way to Green-Wood Cemetery for a lap around it.
There were about 40+ people riding in our group and since this is a no-drop ride, the organizers really make an effort to keep the whole group together for the duration of it. At the start, one of the organizers, Katie, recruited a few people for her blocking team and it was awesome to see them in action! The blocking team would stand to stop traffic on either side of the road, enabling all of us to keep rolling through the intersections together. In the beginning, we encountered a few unhappy drivers but for the most part, the cars were patient as we all cycled by.
After our lap around the cemetery, we made our way east to Ditmas Park to visit a house that has become famous for its Halloween decorations (I’ve actually read articles about this house each year around this holiday). We rolled up and took over the median across from the house, with all of our bikes piled up and onlookers seeming more impressed by our group than the decorated house we were all there to see.
We spent some time here, taking in all the different decorations that were featured on the wrap-around porch of this beautiful home.
Before leaving to head back to Grand Army Plaza, we gathered for a quick group picture!
I will be honest and admit that I didn’t speak to a ton of people during the ride but it was still great to feel like part of a group and to be able to ride around at night without too many concerns. After finally getting myself to go to one of these rides, I’m hoping it will be easier for me to continue going to them.
I am heading to Portland, OR tomorrow to visit my friend and I can’t wait to ride around there in the fall weather.
