Originally Posted by
MinnMan
Some of my earliest cycling memories are of riding in Prospect Park when they closed the road (was it/is it Saturday mornings?). We moved away from Brooklyn when I was 8 years old, so it was before then. I remember having a hard time getting up that hill until one of the adults showed me how to paperboy. I had a Schwinn Stingray single speed with a coaster brake. Wow. Memories. I will look for it on Zwift!
The road has been closed to cars completely for years now. It was last open to cars in the rush hours, in the morning from Park Circle to Grand Army Plaza, and the evening the other way, and it was always one way only. This stopped at least 15 years ago as so few cars were using it anyway. The huge traffic jams predicted when they proposed closing the park never materialized either so it was a win for everybody. The roadway itself is still 3 lanes wide, with 1 lane for runners, one for cyclists and the third used mostly by cyclists too, with the occasional Parks Dept or Police car.
The hill is a 3-4% grade, the thing about it is that it is longer than you think it'll be. I used to be able to sprint up it but I can't seem to do that anymore, something about being 70.