Roland, I understand your hesitation to riding in traffic and breathing exhaust and resentment to being barred from riding in Inwood Park. I'd like to offer 2 suggestions:

- Ride with a group. Check out the group rides that the NYCC and 5BBC.org have to offer. They normally pick relatively quiet, safe and scenic routes. Rides are open to all.

- Get active. Transportation Alternatives TransAlt.org is NYC's leading local bicycle advocacy. Its professional staff has years of experience in advancing the rights of cyclists and building coalitions for a more livable city. Please join them.

Happy riding.

Why not contact Transportation Alternatives about this issue? They are NYC-based and have been very effective in lobbying for increased rights for cyclists. Tel. 212-629-8080, email [email protected], web site www.transalt.org.

Laws don't lapse for want of enforcement, and now you've been warned. Still, six years and one warning is pretty good odds. Sounds like the Park Ranger was telling you not to worry too much. In the same way that a lot of us run red lights (whenever possible and sometimes carefully), it might make sense to maintain a low profile on the issue and keep riding. The likelihood of an immediate cure via political action is pretty slight, and there are policy reasons (not necessarily sympathetic to cycling values) in favor of restricting the paths and the unpaved terrain to pedestrians. The bicycling speed limit on the roads in Central Park is purportedly 15 mph, but so long as cyclists don't do anything noticeably stupid affecting pedestrians, that restriction is ignored. Stay away from that rookie.

"Just to put in my 2 cents. We moved to New Mexico, after 100 years
between wife and self, in Manhattan, where we lived less than a mile
from Central Park. For some years I took drawing classes on East 89th
while we lived at 68th and West End. Great bike ride, short and easy,
as long as I rode on the sidewalks crossing the park.

Note that I also biked to work at 23rd and Madison for most of my adult
life, and while I was occasionally doored by a taxi or cut off, I
survived without a trip to the hospital. And enjoyed the ride,
especially when the West Side bike route was open. And of course, the
ride across CP was like one of Ripley's 10 great wonders of the world.

But those last few years, going to class, my choices were (aside from
public transportation) ride on the walks in CP going W to E, or ride
the wrong way on 72nd street, which felt VERY dangerous; or worse yet,
take the 79th or 86th street cross town routes, with the cars and
busses and potholes. There were stenciled signs on the park walks: No
Bike Riding.

Finally I was ticketed by a new officer from the Park Precinct. It was
a very cold day in January, and the park was empty, but he told me that
some buggy pushers had complained about cyclists. He told me that I
wouldn't have to pay, but he didn't really understand. A month later I
went to ""court"" somewhere near Broadway and Canal, stood in line for
almost an hour, and eventually got into the courtroom, and some three
hours after leaving home, was next in line, behind an also retired
gentleman, who pleaded with the magistrate (not a judge) not to fine
him for an infraction of the law like mine. The fine was $75, with a
surcharge of $50; he promised the magistrate he'd never do it again,
that he couldn't afford the fine, living on Social Security, etc. And
he was sent home with a warning. The direction had been set, and my
case, pleading, and result was much the same.

From that time on, I rotated between riding against traffic crossing
the park on 72nd street, taking the cross town routes, using public
transportation and sometimes walking.

I remember September 11, 2001, when I was in the office early, on 23rd
Street. By 10:00 we closed, and I chose to ride home instead of in the
direction of the WTC. Later I learned that the bridges were shut down
so we couldn't leave Manhattan.

Three years and one month later we left New York.
"