[ riverside | alone | Dairy Queen 1 | Dairy Queen 2 | back ]
I had this camera in my hand
looking for the best picture
and of course I took the wrong turn.
Cars pass by me at 60 Mph.
The road is rough.
There is almost no light.
I see (maybe imagine) human shapes
moving in the dark side of the road.
Still no sign of any skater.
Another glance back.
Nothing.
OK.
How do I get on this bridge?
On which side should I go?
Is the trail on the upper
or on the lower deck?
After waiting a few minutes
to cross the double highway
(I don't recommend you do this)
I see a series of steps.
Here I am on the upper deck north.
still don't know if it's the right place to be.
I skate to the middle of the bridge.
I stop to look down.
Nothing.
I see black where I should see the Hudson.
I bend over the edge
and this time
I hardly believe what I see.
Of course it is water
black water with some Jersey lights reflections
but it is much lower than I expected it to be...
I pull back from the fence
wait a few minutes
--still no skater around--
and decide to continue rolling.
On the Jersey side of the bridge
I choose a spot
to sit down and wait
for the rest of the group to arrive.
A few minutes later the first skaters pass by
without even noticing me.
I guess that's a good sign.
I was expecting people to shout at me
but nobody seems to have noticed
that I was missing.
I wonder if it's a good or a bad thing
but I'm so happy to see them again
that I quickly forget about it
and ride to Dairy Queen New Jersey
as everybody says.