Northeast - NYC Bike tour in 5 hours?

I only have 5 hours available next Sunday to do a tour of NYC on my folder. I found this route on bikely.com :

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/NYC-Bridges-Ride

Anything to add/subtract to it? Is there a trail parralel to River Road on the New Jersey side? Or should I just come back through Hudson Parkway trail? How about Coney Island, is it worth riding to ( I am guessing no because of the weather )?

If you're going to be in the city, and with a folding bike, I think you're better off just following the existing greenway, rather than venturing into New Jersey and the Bronx. Circumnavigating Manhattan could easily take five hours - there's lots to see. There's no bike path in New Jersey and River Road can be busy, though not on Sunday.

The Transportation Alternatives site has maps of the bike paths in the city and surrounding areas:

http://www.transalt.org/resources/maps

Cutting out that entire NJ section, as well as the Bronx, might be a better idea. Having never done the NJ section of that ride, im going to venture spending more than half of your trip on it to be pretty much uninteresting. If it was a summer day, I might say go for it, but it's calling for 32degrees and snow showers (with little accumulation) tomorrow. Also consider that you do not have an easy way back to the city from that portion of Jersey should you suffer a mechanical issue - as opposed to being in the city and just walking some blocks to the nearest bus or subway.

Do the zig-zag over the Brooklyn and Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges. BE CAREFUL on the Brooklyn Bridge - pedestrian tourists often step without looking into the bicycle lane - and also, the surface of the pathway is mostly wooden slats, which might be slick and icy from the snow. The same conditions might be found on the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges, but the lanes are better marked/frequented by better peds.

Anything you want to see or eat? If you do the B-M-W bridges, you have everything from big architecture, cheap chinese, chic soho, Industrial DUMBO, cool Williamsburg to check out. Its your vacation - but i'd spend an hour warming up somewhere tomorrow instead.

-sick in bed still.

I'd skip NJ unless you want to go to Target and see no scenery at all. Coney Island's worth a trip for some hotdogs and frogs legs at Nathans. On the way back, pass by the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, the sculpture garden at Pratt, etc. You could also ride north into Queens from Brooklyn and go to PS1. If you want to be adventurous, you can also ride into the Bronx and go to City Island for seafood and check out the NY Botanical Garden.

I would stick to Manhattan and Brooklyn if you want to experience NYC. The only place I'd ride in NJ if I had limited time would be River Road from the GWB up north to Alpine, but while this is very nice it isn't in NYC. Besides, at this time of year it is closed.

The west side bikeway, Central Park and maybe some of the east side bikeway are good, and the bridges can be fun. The 59th St bridge is a good one to ride as well. In Brooklyn, Williamsburg is cool, Bedford Av and N. 7th ST is the center of the hip universe. Prospect Park is a great place to ride and if you wanted to ride out to Coney Island you can take Ocean Parkway, but it wouldn't be on my list.

I guess my question is whether you are touring NYC on a bike, or touring the NYC bike scene?

Thanks for all the replies, very helpful since I know so little about the place. I will skip NJ. My trip isn't planned till next Sunday, so my fingers are crossed the snow is gone and no rain!

My main goal is to just to see as many sights as possible that are kind of off the beaten path!

There are plenty of bike paths in the Bronx. Check out Transportation Alternatives and get a free bike map at any shop

ed

Skip NJ... I used to do a ride similar to that up Kennedy Blvd From Bayonne to the GWB... not great neighborhoods to be riding in...