cybermike

Hi,
Currently I live in Riverdale bronx and commute to Midtown, NYC almost every day and love every minute of it. I am usually at work by 7/7:30


It looks like my wife might be getting a job on eastern long island so we might need to move to Syosset area to equalize our commutes (she will commute by car and I will by LIRR) ...

I understand that biking everyday is out of the question, but is anyone able to commute to NYC from Syosset area at least 2-3 times a week? Is there a commuter group I can join on LI ?
What the route looks like ? How long does it take ?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

Leisesturm

Google Maps. That will give you an idea of route, and your own experience with your ETA's on your present commute would give you an idea of how long it would take. Even here in Portland, OR where more people commute by bike than anywhere else in this country you would be hard put to find any that go over ~15mi. one way. You are talking about twice that distance one way. Isn't doable. Not 3x/wk, not 2x. I don't doubt that you could work up to completing the mileage, but what about the rest of your life? You are doing this so your wife could have a more reasonable commute? Well... you could basically push a button on an imaginary stop-watch counting down to the end of your marriage if you were to get involved in a 30mi one way 3x/wk. Me, I'd be mapping out 5, 10 and 15 mile routes from your new house to strategic LIRR stations. Around here they call that 'multi-modal commuting'. But that's me. YMMV.

H

lindyfd

I commute to Brooklyn from Lindenhurst (Suffolk County) and the train is the best bet. The caveat being you need a folding bike. LIRR sells bike permits but still doesn't allow any non folding bikes on peak trains. No permit needed for a folder. They consider the folding bike luggage and therefore do not restrict it.

I've found Long Island is not very bike friendly with regards to the drivers and road infrastructure. I actually feel safer riding up 4th ave in Brooklyn than Sunrise Hwy in my town.


Hope this helps, good luck!

cybermike

THanks for the reply -- Currently my commute is about 12 miles. I actually see people commuting on the same path from Irvington which is about 25 -30 miles away. I also know a whole group that commutes from Ridgewood also about 25 miles away --- so it is possible ...

As far as the wife goes -- it is a precondition to our move that I still get to bike. So it is ether a group ride on weekend which will take away more from a family life -- or waking up at 5am and biking 3hrs to work several times a week

Leisesturm

A peleton makes a 25 mile commute a very interesting concept. Still, I doubt many are doing it 5x/wk. My standards for a "commute" are that it be sustainable. No crime if it isn't, but it is no longer a commute. The group ride on the weekend is a big hit right in the middle of family time if no one else rides. A daily 3hr (how would you get back home?) seems better but is actually worse for family bonding. I suggest you get up at 5 am 3x/wk, do a 20 mile loop, and then grab the train or (shudder) car, in to work. The other poster is right, LIRR isn't that friendly to full size bikes during rush hour. On some weekends you can indulge in a group ride. Negotiate that with the wife, I'm sure it will go down better than what you have in mind. I see Northern Blvd. as the only road out of Syosset... ... I've seen what the close in portion of that road looks like. I moved to Oregon to get away from that kind of commute situation. I don't regret it.

H

vol

Post on the Northeast forum you may get more feedback.

Papa Tom

I live in Syosset and have ridden to Manhattan several times using the LIE Service Road to Douglaston Parkway to Northern Blvd to the Cross Island Parkway Bike Path and then some back roads to College Point, where I would get on the pedestrian/bike path along the Northern Blvd Bridge. From this bridge, there USED to be a little dirt path that would lead to an industrial area just shy of the Flushing Bay Promenade, which I would take all the way to LaGuardia Airport, cross the bridge over the Grand Central Parkway to Ditmars Blvd, then vary my routes to the 59th Street Bridge (I never did find the ideal one!).

If that little dirt path off the Northern Blvd Bridge was sacrificed during the recent reconstruction, you'd have to brave Northern Blvd a little bit around CitiField.

All-in-all, it was always a fun ride, but not one I'd like to do every day. Fortunately, Syosset has its own RR station, so you can experiment with training to different stations, then riding the rest of the way.

Whatever you choose, welcome to Syosset!

(PS: Two of my good friends own Long Island Village Realty in Syosset and can help you find a place.)

Papa Tom

Mike:

How did this turn out?

NABRXX

I ride by Riverdale a few times a week, I come into manhattan from scarsdale. bronx river road, up gun hill and down to broadway and take broadway into manhattan. You can do a 20 mile commute each way, three days a week easily...I've done it year round for almost 4 years, and I'm 50 years old. I will say if you try to up the days from 3 to 5, you'll start falling asleep during the day, but lunchtime naps are awesome !!!

ephin

Not sure why Leisesturm thinks this would be a marriage breaker. My commute into center city philadelphia is 24.4 mi each way. Door to door time is only 10-20 minutes longer than taking the train. I doubt driving would be much faster either due to rush hour gridlock. I commute by bike 1-3 days per week getting in a couple nice workouts without hardly taking any time away from my family. I don't catch any flak for commute rides.

cybermike

Papa Tom,

I just realized that I actually got some answers here. Thank you.

So we ended up renting in Northport ... which is even further out than Syosset ( My wife will be working in port Jeff)
currently I am still playing with ideas(in my head) to make biking part of my routine. We are moving in July so there is still some time left.

Here are current options:

1) Drive to Syosset, Bike from there to NYC using your suggested path -- on the way back take LIRR to Syosset and drive home -- I really would love to get some company on that ride for safety reasons.

2) Bike to Syosset, Take the train out to NYC. Problem is getting back -- a little worried biking at night through long island
-- this involves getting a foldable bike -- I heard "Bike Friday" can copy the geometry of a road bike....
3) Drive to some area in Queens Bike from there ...

Not sure -- really worried that I will stop biking ... need support .

andyprough

I think #3 might be your best bet, if you can find safe parking.

My county recently decided to tear up the roads on 1/4 of my commute and force me into traffic on a high-speed county highway. I tried several alternatives, including riding through the gravel/dirt construction zone for a few miles, but nothing was working for me. Finally one day I threw my bike in the back of my pickup truck and drove past the construction zone, parked at a free public park and enjoyed the rest of the commute from there. Worked real well and I've mainly stuck to that for a few weeks. I still get a nice daily round trip of 20 miles with a small drive of about 5 miles each way.

cybermike

One little problem -- from what I hear traffic is awful to get to queens, might cancel out the pleasure from riding

Papa Tom

>>>>this involves getting a foldable bike<<<<<

Are you commuting during regular peak hours? If not, get a $5 LIRR Bike Pass and you can bring your normal ride with you.

How would you plan to ride from Northport to Syosset? Take a look at Pulaski Road!

cybermike

Thank you for the tip , I will look at pulaski road. May be some store owner near syosset station will agree to host my bike ...for some nominal fee

.Unfortunately I have regular working hours i.e 7.30am to 5.30pm

TransitBiker

As i do not live there i could give you one bit of suggestion, and that is that you could ride to bethpage station on days you dont want to ride all the way in, and take the bike on with you. There is a 7-11 right there for any water snacks etc you might need as well. Good luck!

- Andy

Papa Tom

>>>>Thank you for the tip , I will look at pulaski road. May be some store owner near syosset station will agree to host my bike ...for some nominal fee<<<<

I'm a little unclear as to what your goal is. If you're going to take the train most of the way in, why not just ride from Northport to Huntington Station? It's the same line as Syosset and it's a direct run into Manhattan. You won't even save any money riding the two additional stops to Syosset because it's in the same zone as Huntington.

If the ride from Northport to Syosset is all you need to get your day off to a happy start, I understand. That's longer than my entire daily commute. Otherwise, I think you may find this whole ordeal to be a bit of a hassle. Riding from Syosset to Manhattan is something I've done for fun a few times, but I wouldn't enjoy it as a daily - or even weekly - ritual. There's no safe, peaceful, or scenic route, as I suspect you had from Riverdale.

I don't want to discourage you. What, exactly, do you want from whichever option you choose?

TransitBiker

I dunno why i said bethpage. I guess i was too tired to think properly. I meant mineola as it's in a cheaper fare zone...

Google says its about an hour, 12.4 miles. Lose 128 feet to, and gain 128 back from. Mostly gentle grades in between. My guess is that on a proper bike you may be able to cut that time down to under 50 minutes. I've gone lil over 8 miles on a "wall" route here in 40, the wall hill is in the middle with much lower elevations to either side.

If i had a bike more built for road/speed vs utility i'd hop up there and test out the route (syosset town center to mineola station) myself for you.

Elevation profile: https://prntscr.com/3gxdw8

- Andy

cybermike

I do not think it is about saving money

... it is about getting a work out while biking and keeping in-shape so that I can participate in charity events once in a while.

The ideal scenario would be is to have about 20miles safe daily ride that would not add much to my commuting time. The reason I picked Syosset as it seemed to fit that criteria --- I might be wrong though ...

PS I will miss my current traffic free scenic ride -- it would be nice if long island could get East to West greenway, but this will never happen.

acidfast7

I know several people that do 30km (roughly 20 miles) each way every day.

They have the help of these:

Papa Tom

Yeah, bikeways are very cool, when they actually lead somewhere people want to go. But here on Long Island, the closest thing we have to what is shown in the videos is the Long Island Expressway Service Road. Everything else is purely recreational.

JCNeumann

It can be done - I've tried it from the Stamford CT area.

You do need to consider you may be soaked in sweat, so having shower and a change of clothes is enormously helpful. Plus, consider what happens with things like flats. It you HAVE to be in, think very carefully about biking in that day.

I'm going to be doing it this summer, trying to kill two birds by training for a tri.

FWIW you will be wiped out at the end of the day. Some of comments about that were spot on.

cybermike

Hi thanks for support. I am doing 12 miles each way right now ... so my total is about 24 miles -- but that is about 3-4 times a day. I am more worried about safety than being tired. Tiredness I can manage but darkness + crazy inpatient people can be tough on nerves.

I think from Stanford it is easier than from LI -- much friendlier roads(from what it sounds like) + bike paths. My friend is actually doing Inwood (Manhattan) to Stanford about three times a week, so I know that can be done.

As far as flats -- I had a very good luck with Vredestein Fortezza TriComp tires pumped to about 110psi -- I hardly get any flats nowdays... much better than Gatorskins, Conti 4000 or Armadillos. These can be had for around 35$ a piece pretty regularly --- I scored them for 25$ once and stocked up on them.

Good luck prepping for tri. I wish I could run or swim

TransitBiker

Ok, so i am confused... You are riding now 24 miles round trip, and moving to syosset and you want to take the train & cycle.... But mineola is around same distance and cheaper than syosset..... I guess i'm not understanding the correlation between living in syosset and biking, because if you live there your ride is not going to be 12 miles unless you make the route longer intentionally? Am i missing something?

- Andy

acidfast7

Why would they be built otherwise.