Northeast - Good route from Nassau County to the city

Anyone have a good route from northern Nassau County into the city? The LIE service road seems the most likely possibility, but I know from experience that this can be a somewhat harrowing path to tread. Getting buzzes at 65 mph, etc...

Thanks in advance.

Seems we went through something like this a while back . . .
But where from, where to and are we talking commuting hours?

I tried to find discussions about it, but might not have been searching the right terms. From - Glen Cove/Westbury Area, but it's not that relevant as I can somewhere and park the car. Probably not commuting hours, more of a weekend trip in to meet a riding buddy and then back out.

As another member said, your exact destination in Manhattan would be useful.

The few times I've bicycled into Manhattan, here's what I did:

• LIE to Douglaston Parkway. Make right to Northern Boulevard.
• Left onto Northern Boulevard and continue to Cross Island Parkway (entrance to path)
• At end of path, make left on Utopia Parkway and go up hill to Cross Island Service Road.
• Make right and take Cross Island Service Road to 147 Street.
• Make left and cross over the parkway parkway.
• At 14 Ave, make right and cross over the Whitestone Expressway.
• Make left onto westbound service road for Whitestone Expressway and take it all the way to College Point Blvd.
• Make left onto College Point.
• When you reach the overpass for Northern Blvd. Make a left onto small road marked “Northern Blvd.”
• Go to the end of this road and make a sharp right (actually a U-turn) to get on the bridge.
• Cross the bridge on the sidewalk and bear right at the end of the ramp. You’ll end up in an industrial area (don’t know the street).
• Continue heading west (straight / bear left) and you’ll shortly reach the entrance to the Flushing Bay Promenade.
• Take the Promenade to the end and cross over Grand Central Parkway (overpass) to Ditmars.
• Make a right onto Ditmars and continue to 82nd Street. (This will get you past the airport)
• At 82nd Street, make a right to cross the GCP again and make a left onto Astoria Blvd. (the westbound side)
• Take Astoria Blvd. To 31st Street and make a left.
• At Queens Plaza North, make a right and cross to the eastbound side of the lane leading onto the 59th Street Bridge. Auto traffic will be heading toward you, but this is the side of the bridge that is open to cyclists.
• Cross the bridge

Now, the section that includes the Northern Blvd Bridge near CitiField may cause a bit of a problem for you, as I believe they may have forgotten to replace the path that leads off the bridge and toward the Flushing Bay Promenade. Here, you may have to improvise a bit; perhaps stay on the bridge until you reach CitiField (on your left) and make your way toward the promenade (to your right) by crossing some busy streets.

There must also be a better route through Flushing and Astoria between the end of the promenade and the 59th Street Bridge. The overpass that crosses the Grand Central Parkway from the promenade dumps you out on 27th Avenue, which can lead you toward the bridge, but not all the way there. This is where Google will help you out.

Regarding the LIE service road, I've ridden it many times to many different places. If you've got a strong enough stomach to handle cars going way too fast and kids yelling and throwing things at you from their windows, it's still one of the best ways to get from here to there.

Jericho Turnpike/Jamaica Ave. or Hillside Ave. to Metropolitan Avenue to Grand St. to Borinquen Pl. to the Williamsburg Bridge will get you to lower Manhattan. You could also take Metropolitan all the way to the bridge.

I live on the border of Queens and Nassau and that's my preferred route. There are some backroads you can take along Jericho and Jamaica, especially around Jamaica center where it gets really congested with buses and pedestrians. It takes me over an hour on my comfort bike. A roadie could probably get there in half the time.

From the South Shore I take Franklin Avenue to Dutch Broadway, then Dutch Broadway under the Cross island then take the service road that runs along the South bound side of the Parkway to around Belmont Race Track. From there I head North, there is a marked bike route that I follow, not sure of the street but I work my way over to Douglaston Parkway and the park. Transporatation Alternatives has maps of these bike routes.

From Nassau get to Douglaston Parkway. Take Douglaston Parkway to Alley Pond Park. Behind the tennis courts enter motor highway (A Pedestrian and bike path). When you exit the park on motor highway head over to 73rd avenue. it is a marked bike route. Take 73rd avenue all the way to Main street. Main Street over to Jewel Avenue then Jewel avenue into Flushing Meadow Park. Exit Flushing Meadow Park head around City Field parking. There is a path that leads out to 111 Street. Go to 34th Avenue it is a marked bike route. From there you head down 34th avenue and have the option of heading over to Northern Blvd and go to the Queensboro Bridge OR Astoria Boulevard and head to the Triboro. Use MAPMYRIDE to mark and print out a ride map with turn by turn directions.