How to Beat the Heat in NYC

This summer was a hot one, no doubt. So hot, that Nicole and I fell a little behind the times. This is an episode of an earlier weekend when we sought refuge from the oppressive city summer heat.

This summer was the sort of hot where you walk outside and can't tell if you're sweating, or if the humidity in the air is just bonding to you. Blech! Who needs that?

Kevin's bike casts a lovely shadow in the setting summer sun.

Nicole and I thought we could seek refuge from the summer sun with a trip to one of New York City's world-renowned swimming pools. From what we are told, these are some of the best public pools in the nation, virtually all of which were massive public works projects during the Great Depression, and kept in pristine condition for the general public, free of charge.

It was with these expectations that we got on our bikes and headed to Van Cortlandt Park Pool on a sultry Sunday afternoon.  During the summer season, New York City closes its pools daily from 3 pm to 4 pm for a mid-day cleaning.


At about 3:30, Nicole and I got to the back of the line. We waited patiently for 4 o'clock to come. It came. The line moved slowly at first, for about fifteen minutes. After this quarter of an hour had passed, the line stopped entirely. Van Cortlandt Park Pool was filled to capacity.

Nicole rides along the old Putnam Rail-Trail.

Not entirely pleased that we hadn't received any sort of warning from the parks department that something like this might happen, and not really looking forward to standing around in the mid-day heat, we decided to ditch the pool plan.

We got on our bikes feeling resigned until  we stumbled upon a dirt path. Nicole suggested we turn left, towards the unknown, rather than simply head home. On the path, we found that the the trees around us offered protection from the summer sun's oppressive heat. Even though the hot and humid air was static, simply riding the bikes gave us a cool breeze that we so sorely needed.

We rode a few miles before the dirt trail turned to asphalt. The terrain had changed, and so had the imaginary borders that define cities and towns. We were in Yonkers.

We kept riding north, because, well, why not? The trail was there, and we had fun riding underneath several underpasses on this new found bike trail. We passed a golf course, a large public park, and rode through residential neighborhoods that were reminiscent of our rides along the Farmington Canal Trail in Connecticut.

Did we have a destination? Not really. We rode for about an hour this way before we decided to turn a back. We had seen something of a water park just east of the bike path and figured, why not? We did intend to go swimming today and we were riding with our gear, bathing attire and towels included. There was a convenient spur from the bike path to the park entrance, and we simply coasted towards Tibbetts Brook Park.

North of the Border! Of New York City, that is.

Once we arrived at the main entrance, we saw that there were two problems: one, the pool was closing soon, and two, it didn't matter what time the pool closed, because this park is only open to residents of Westchester Country. Ouch.

The detour wasn't a total loss. Nicole spotted an ice cream stand and we were in business. We enjoyed some ice cream sandwiches. I stood in the shade. Nicole smiled and laughed at me.

"You're so silly!" She said.

"Hey, it's almost a hundred degrees out here."

Almost. Perhaps I didn't need to be so dramatic. We finished our sweetened cold-cream confectionery sandwiches and headed back home. It wouldn't have been nice to have pool splash around in at some point during our little adventure, but that was not to be. Alas, maybe next time.

And if next time the trip to the city pool is bonkers, I guess we're heading back to Yonkers!

The familiar face of the 4 train greets us back home!