(Photo: Hannah Whitaker)

Think you’re winded after chugging over the Williamsburg Bridge? Clinical social worker Joe Simonetti rides three hours (it’s 44 miles) from Westchester to his midtown office-apartment twice a week. Here’s what it feels like:

“I get up at 7:30 a.m. and have a bowl of cereal, put some air in my tires (I ride a road bike), fill up two water bottles, and leave by 8:30. The moment I start pedaling, there’s this incredible release. The first highlight is an illegal shortcut through a private community in Connecticut, which has a beautiful little lake. After eighteen miles, I stop for breakfast at the Rock Ridge Deli in Rye; I order egg whites and Swiss on a whole-wheat roll. The low point is the South Bronx. It’s like running a gauntlet. When I make it over the Madison Avenue bridge into Manhattan, I’m a Tour de France rider seeing the Champs-Élysées. Even though my shoulders are aching, I’ll blast through Central Park. When I arrive at work, there’s always a sense of victory. It’s been ten years, and I still like when people say ‘Wow.’”

Related:

• Archive: “Guides”
• Articles by David Sax
• Table of Contents: Oct 12, 2009 issue of New York | Subscribe!