Originally Posted by
Route 66
Putting NYC in first place confuses me. I've never ridden a bike in New York City, but I been there on vacation several times and love the place. Having said that, I'd be a little nervous to ride a bicycle there with all those crazy cab drivers everywhere.
I'm not bashing NYC because as I've said, I really like it there. I just don't get how it can be called the most bicycle friendly of any city in US.
The Greenways on the shorelines of Manhattan have already been mentioned. While they are good, they also feel very remote. For my money, the best riding in Manhattan is on the avenues.
Several avenues have bike lanes for much of their length: 1st, 6th, and 8th/Central Park West going uptown (CPW is two-way, but has a bike lane only going uptown); and 2nd and Columbus/9th going downtown. (Though 2nd Ave. should be avoided between about 100th St. and about 60th St., as the construction of the new subway line removes the bike lane and makes the street very narrow.) And north of Central Park there's the two-way St. Nicholas Ave.
And a couple of avenues are very good to ride on despite the lack of bike lanes. I particularly like Madison Ave. going uptown and 5th Ave. going downtown (which does eventually pick up a bike lane for the last few blocks of its run).
Most spectacular of all is Riverside Drive. If you get on it at 165th St. near Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, you can enjoy a delightful right down to its end at 72nd St. The lights are far apart, and the entire run has a noticable downhill grade. (The street is two-way; but I ride it only southbound.)
So, while I'm glad the Greenways are there, I think that a cyclist cannot really get the feel of the City on them. If you want to do real New York riding, you gotta be in the streets.