Northeast - A little help finding my way...NYC-Long Island

I live in Brooklyn and want to start riding to work in Syosset. I saw a link somewhere that showed a way to get from at least queens to long island, searched for, and couldn't find it.

So, any suggestions on a route to take that wont get me run over by a truck on the LIE service road would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hard to answer the question without knowing what part of Brooklyn or where in Syosset, but will make a general recommendation that can be modified. . .
I'd suggest to leave Brooklyn on Metropolitan (or a quieter parallel street) into Forest Hills, get onto Yellowstone Blvd, Jewel Ave, then to 73rd Ave. bike lane to end then onto L.I.E. Service Road.
If destination is northern side of Syosset, then Wheatly Rd, Brookville Rd., Eastwoods/Muttontown Road, and if southern side, then exit L.I.E. service at Jackson Ave or continue to Woodbury Rd, and turn at Piquet's Lane/Southwoods Rd.
I used to commute from Great Neck to Melville during the time of the H.O.V. lane constuction and even the service road is OK during rush hours, but gets messy into Queens --fortunately, you get off soon.
But you'd need to give more details to fine tune this.

Hard to answer the question without knowing what part of Brooklyn or where in Syosset, but will make a general recommendation that can be modified. . .
I'd suggest to leave Brooklyn on Metropolitan (or a quieter parallel street) into Forest Hills, get onto Yellowstone Blvd, Jewel Ave, then to 73rd Ave. bike lane to end then onto L.I.E. Service Road.
If destination is northern side of Syosset, then Wheatly Rd, Brookville Rd., Eastwoods/Muttontown Road, and if southern side, then exit L.I.E. service at Jackson Ave or continue to Woodbury Rd, and turn at Piquet's Lane/Southwoods Rd.
I used to commute from Great Neck to Melville during the time of the H.O.V. lane constuction and even the service road is OK during rush hours, but gets messy into Queens --fortunately, you get off soon.
But you'd need to give more details to fine tune this.


I would be leaving from the Marine Park Area. I am about 5 minutes away from the belt parkway mup. I would going to the area of Jericho and jackson ave.

I'd defer to others here who might know southeast Brooklyn / southwest Queens better than I, but IMO you are still best to head north into Forest Hills area and pick up route as described.
My estimate is that to go east into Nassau and then north is longer and rather more unpleasant.
I'd still propose the Brookville / Muttontown Road access into Syosset. Turn right when you get to Jackson Avenue (aka South Oyster Bay Road to the south of Jericho Tpke). Between here and Jericho there is a decent shoulder (NOT the case if you ride on South Oyster Bay Road), plus you pass Roadworx Long Island, a top notch bike shop.
This might be refined further when yo know exactly where you are going, as the L.I.E. service road is pretty good in both directions to the west of South Oyster Bay Road.
Anyhow, you will test fly this some weekend to see what happens, so good luck.

Are you in a hurry for a route ?, as I have this detailed all on a set of cue sheets (at work computer) I can post.

In the spring/summer/fall I do a Freeport to Brooklyn College bike commute, using the Rockaways, 25 miles ea. way I'm guessing your commute is going to be probably 35-40 miles ea way, minimum, staying off major roads. I say this as from Freeport to Emmons Ave. at Knapp is 21 or so. Freeport to the LIE Service Rd. at Robbins Lane is another 15.

I avoid the area of Linden Blvd and/or Aqueduct Racetrack, as well as JFK as it's a pain and maybe a mile shorter.

In general the route is Bike Path to Flatbush, over the Marine Prkwy bridge, Rockaway Blvd. east to Shore Front, then Edgemere and Seagirt to Beach 9th. Then Empire to Broadway, then a bunch of back streets to avoid Woodmere, thru parts of E Rockaway, Oceanside and Baldwin to Freeport. From Freeport it's roads that are north of and parallel to Sunrise (Seaman/Smith/Meadowbrook) to a route up thru E Meadow and Levitown, then east Hicksville to the LIE service rd., at which point your only decent choice is S Oyster Bay Rd.

Not short and certainly longer then 2 hrs. ea way. If it was me, I'd be doing it as a drive to work, leave car overnight, bike home, back back in AM. Or maybe drive part way, maybe to the GreenAcres Mall in Valley Stream, where you could leave a car all day and bike from there, probably cutting the distance in half

There are variations, but this route is not a heavy car commuting route, but will take a bit longer due to the many turns, stopping, etc...

Here's a MapItPronto map link to the route. I'll post cue sheets ASAP

http://www.mapitpronto.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=routePlanner.viewDBRide&rideID=3335

FWIW, I ride these roads all the time and I searched for roads that have less traffic, even if it adds a mile or 2. In general, the route others have suggested is OK, but I HATE the area around Linden Blvd, thru E NY, though the Belt Path to Howard Beach, then north to the hills around Forest Park, then assorted NYC bike routes to the LIE Service Rd. around Lake Success is an option. Note however that the LIE Service Rd.. from Little Neck Parkway east OR west to Glen Cove Rd. is a terrible route at rush hour in either direction, with all 3 travel lanes used by cars and truck going 60, often with a disappearing shoulder, if one exists at all. Often your choice is to take the lane, which is very dangerous on this road and I stay away from the service road in western Nassau at rush hour. That puts you somewhere thru central/eastern Nassau and in truth, it would take a lot of searching to find an east/west route on local roads between the Southern State and the LIE, thus I tend to use the route as on the map.

Steve B

Bro, I've ridden the roads you might be taking, lived for years near both your start and destination, and I think its going to be impractical as a commute. A weekend ride, yes, but as a commute . . .

I think you'll be much more successful with some train travel in the mix. Like ride to Jamaica and take LIRR to Syosset (with the option of getting off at a different station if you want to get some extra riding in).

i live next to syosset and the roads and motorists are very unyielding, it's pretty dangerous. high speed limits and little to no shoulder. don't bite off more than you can chew.

Hey Stock

"i live next to syosset and the roads and motorists are very unyielding, it's pretty dangerous. high speed limits and little to no shoulder. don't bite off more than you can chew. "

I have to take issues with statements like this.

1) You need to be specific about which roads you find dangerous with no shoulders. Certainly the LIE service road is a reasonably safe road to ride as for much of the entire length from Glen Cove Road to Woodbury Rd. as there's a very wide shoulder that is pretty much safe to ride at any time. So what exactly are you warning us about ?. Possibly S Oyster Bay Rd. ?. Enlighten us.

2) How do you define "biting off more then you can chew". 20 miles ?, 30 ?, 50 ?, each way ?. Wouldn't you agree that this is for each and every individual to decide ?. I have a buddy who's done 2 Ironmans and should he decide to commute, 40 miles each way, 3 - 4 days per week would be a perfect training regimen for him.

I had a lot of folks, family, friends and co-workers (who didn't ride) who advised my that 25 miles each to Brooklyn, thru the Rockaway's (gasp !) was suicidal. I was very apprehensive the first couple of times. 10 years later I'm of the opinion that I am much more likely to get killed in a car on the Southern State or the Belt Parkway then commuting by bike to work.

Steve B.

My ride is slightly north (Queensborough Bridge to Roslyn), but it's similar. I usually carry a detailed map along with the NYC Cycling Map and ride a fairly eclectic route by consulting the map when necessary. Queens seems to have a lot of variations, and I don't mind trying different routes (i.e. other than the designated cycling routes). The eventual goal is how long I can stay off the L.I.E. Service road, mainly because the cycling gets less interesting there.

I've found recently that the drivers on the service road, especially in Nassau County, seemed to have picked up in speed & impatience since gas prices dropped, and I'm probably going to start using a reflective triangle and rear flasher, even in the daytime. Many of them appear to be going at least 50 MPH, and I like to give them as much warning as possible.

If you're a fan of Lebanese bread (pita, Zataar, etc.), I highly recommend Mt. Ararat Bakery on Horace Harding Boulevard (the LIE Service Road in Queens) about 50 yards west of the intersection with Springfield Boulevard. Great spot and friendly proprietor, and they're always amused that I've ridden a folding bike from Manhattan.

Good luck.

http://www.mapitpronto.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=routePlanner.viewDBRide&rideID=3335


Steve B

Thanks a lot for this. This is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Much appreciated.

Be careful about taking the LIRR to and from work, they randomly enforce the "no bikes on peak hour trains" rule.

I left Penn Station once with my bike, had to transfer at Jamaica, and was told there no bikes on peak trains. I told them they got me half way, what would they like me to do. They told me I could take the first non-peak train, a wait of about 2.5 hours. It just didn't seem worth the fight.

You got on a train during peak hours KNOWING they can say no and you complain about it ?.

I am of the opinion that the peak/no peak rules are too restrictive and would wish that all the commuter RR's would do a better job accommodating cyclists, but given existing conditions, I have absolutely zero sympathy for your plight as it's a well known rule that is on the documentation they gave you.

SB

Last time I checked, the no-peak rule is only for the rush hour direction trains. The poster would be going the opposite way.