Hey everyone,
I've been out of the cycling world for about four years now. Don't know if its watching the tour lately or what, but I've got an itch to get back into it lately. One of the main reasons I quick back when, and one of my biggest deterrents now, was a lack of close riding areas that were safe and relatively traffic free.
When I started riding, I was in San Antonio where we had a 10 mile loop along the highway access roads that was relatively safe with few lights and high speed limits. Now, living in Manhattan, I'm worried about the obvious difficulties of finding somewhere to settle into a groove and go for a long ride. I've been reading about the issues in Central Park (which would have seemed to be the obvious answer).
Is there anywhere else convenient where you can ride for miles without much hassle?
Where do you go to lay down some miles?
DON'T GO TO PROSPECT PARK!!!! BROOKLYN IS DANGEROUS!!! STABBINGS... SLASHINGS... BOMB-BLASTIN'-BLOCK-BUSTER-DJGRANDMASTERFLASH'INGANGSTA'PUMP-ACTION REBEL-BASE-FACTION rapp'in
where in manhattan are you living? upper west side has nice access to the path and to the GW. where you could do river road up and back.
>Is there anywhere else convenient where you can ride for miles without much hassle?
Hi Danny,
In short, no. But we are New Yorkers, we are tough, we ride through traffic. But riding for miles without much hassle? I would say no.
But all is not lost! Just take a club ride--they're a lot of fun and the leaders will pick the route for you--all you have to do is ride. It helps if you're at about the same level as the other riders and use the same biking etiquette and skills, etc. Since you're new to the area, just watch what everyone else is doing on the ride (or try to figure out who the good/experienced riders are) and watch them. Also, you can take a SIG (training class) in the spring--it's a wonderful program. The club stresses safety and skills. We are a cooperative group, not competitive.
So welcome to NYC biking! You will have a lot of fun.
Best regards, Chaim
Whether in a group or by yourself, the key to riding in this city is time -- the time of day and the day of the week. Many arterial streets that are fetid canals of traffic during business hours and evenings are wide open very early in the morning. That's the reasons you will find many club rides starting at 8 or 9 in the morning on a Saturday or Sunday. During the week, you'll find no shortage of cyclists on the road at 5 or 6 in the morning.
"Despite postings to the contrary, central park is an awesome place to ride when the cars are out. Six miles of safe traffic free bliss. Where else can you find that in the entire country?
Yes, tourists from Kansas cross the road without looking when they have a walk signal, and joggers turn right in front of you every now and then, but I would rather take a chance with them on foot instead of when they get in their SUV and turn without looking. Having to sit up once or even twice every six miles for a clueless person really isn't that bad.
Weekend afternoons or rush hour when cars are in the park are best avioded, but otherwise, not many better places to ride.
Beyond that, ""river road"" and rout 9 in NJ just over the GWB are both pretty nice riding."
you can also take your bike on a train getting out of the city and get some great riding in. I've gone out to Montauk and up to the Berkshires in CT. Berkshires has lots of rolling hills, few cars and quaint little towns. I have only been to Sailsbury, Limerock and Lakeville. The closest train on the Harlem Line is Wassaic.
Anytime i want to get some uninterupted miles that cannot be done in central park i head up and over the GWB through palisades park and back down 9w to the GWB. Palisades park is awesome, hilly at the end. Very few cars, and the few that go through there are pretty cautious.
There's also great riding closer in... the Hudson Highlands north of the city are magnificent, and you can get in rides with plenty of hills - even mountains - if you want them. One common thing to do is ride out the GWB - up US9W (or parallel roads) and into Rockland Cty and the Bear Mtn Bridge and then end up at a train station like Garrison or Cold Spring.
Also, check out the wonderful ride library on the NYCC site. I think the variety of riding opportunities around NYC is quite amazing.
Go to the NYCC Ride Library, under Rides and click on Richard Rosenthal's River Road, Bradley, Tweed ride: http://www.nycc.org/rl_db/ride.aspx?id=118
This is the happy hunting ground of NYCC riders for nearby training rides.
Thanks for all the responses! I'm still trying to decide if I want to put the money into a new bike, etc, but these ideas will help me very much in my decision. Maybe I'll see you on the road soon.
