MegaTom

I'm spending Turkey Day weekend in NYC, and will probably be bringing my bike and will probably like to ride said bike if the weather is decent enough. I'm looking for suggestions for some 40-50 mile solo rides.... preferably one or two 'out & back' that will take me out of Manhattan. I have no car nor any desire to ride the public transpo. with my bike, so I'm limited to starting my rides from my hotel next to MSG. Thanks for your input.


--Edit--

P.s. I will have Saturday and Sunday mornings (not too early though, I am on vacation after all.....) and early afternoons dedicated for bike time.

ninjump

First thing that comes to mind is a ride to Nyack, NY, about 55 miles, some decent climbing, but mostly rolling hills. Very pretty this time of year. Headed to work but maybe i can work up a cue sheet later.

BillyD

That Nyack ride immediately comes to my mind as well for what you described.

Don't overlook Central Park for a real taste of NY, NY . . . or that west side greenway thingy that goes all the way up to the GW bridge.

You might also inquire or search in the Northeast regional forum . . . NY has a large presence in there as would be expected.

dmcdmc

+1 to nayak. just hop over the gw via west side bike lane and go straight up 9w. There are other more interesting roads off of 9w which you can take also.

Central park is good but part of the "taste of ny" is **** alley (where the horses poop) and I'm not sure if you want to do that.

I would recommend nayak for earlier in the day, before there is heavier traffic. For mid day and easier riding, central park is good but can get crowded. Prospect park can also be nice but it is a much tighter loop than cp (between 3-4 miles each loop).

sherpakid

+1

Taking 9W to Nyack is a great ride. Some nice rolling hills. You should include River Road in your route. Basically, instead of turning right after crossing the GW Bridge, go left, down the hill and take the first left you can. Eventually you'll climb back out and be back on 9W and you can make your way on to Nyack. Stop at Bunbury's coffee shop in Piermont to mingle with some of the regional cyclists. On the way back, you should check out Strictly Bike Shop. A lot of riders make a pit stop there to meet up or buy some fuel/gear. They have a coffee shop in the bike store - and some really nice gear! It's very close to the George Washington Bridge and you'll pass it on your way in if don't do River Road or on your way out if you do River Road.

thehammerdog

Riding in NYC is great very exciting and some very good riders. Go into the Park it is great, also ride up and over the GW bridge a must do.
Enjoy the food.

MegaTom

Thanks for the tips thus far. I have read of the Nyack ride before... mostly through Pcads ranting and raving. Didn't know that the GWB was bike/ped friendly, so that's really good to hear. A cue sheet or even links to some specific MapMyRide or Garmin Connect rides would be more than welcome. Through some cursory searching on Google Maps, it seems that they want me to ride up the Hudson Greenway to the bridge and then something called the "New York State Bicycle Route 9" (I assume that this is the same as 9W for the most part?) most of the way up the Jersey portion of the route. Based on my local experience Google's bike route suggestions should be taken with a grain of salt.... so does that sound accurate?

Also, for the sake of taking in the entire city (or as much as I can in two mornings) on bike for the first time, I may want to ride toward Brooklyn as well. Any advice for that end of town would be awesome.

WhyFi

I'll say this - if you're at all skittish with heights, the first time over the GWB can be a little hair-raising. But yes, worth it to get to the other side.

As far as Brooklyn... if you want to peep different urban environments, sure, take a trip over one of the bridges and have fun... but do so knowing that it's going to be a lot of stop and go, stop and go, stop and go without much unbroken pedaling in between.

Bob Ross

https://nycc.org/node/49078

qqy

Do exactly this. Precisely what I was going to say. Be careful getting to the GWB, though - people will walk right in front of you without looking, esp on the west side bike path. Don't race through Manhattan.

NYRhyme

+1 on 9w.....I was on the palisades PW and exited onto 9w....I wish queens had roads like that.....:l......

1nterceptor

I know you said you wanted to go solo but I suggest
give these folks a try: https://5bbc.org/rides.shtml
I rode with them for the 1st time last Sat. and they
seem to be a friendly bunch. Ride with them a bit,
if they're too slow - drop them; if you want to take
your time to smell the flowers - just let them drop you.


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Day Ride
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Essex

Not to be negative - but it gets darn cold around Turkey Day here. I think last year I could barely do a lap around Central Park before I gave up. Gloves, ear warmer, layers etc made no difference. I would definitely check the weather reports to see if it is worth hauling a bike. Also, there are multiple bike rental facilities around Central Park and it's not too hard to rent some beater and get a good look at Manhattan that way.

rangerdavid

NY at Thanksgiving is awesome fun!!! enjoy !!!!

2ndGen

9W rocks if you want to get out of the city.
It's a completely different riding experience.
City: Crowded. Noisy. Lots of road hazards.
Anywhere in the city is going to be stop and go.
You'll be lucky if you break more than 20mph for a 1 block stretch.
Suburbs: Clean. Nice scenery. Good roads.

Then, there are my stomping grounds: Westchester County.
Anywhere North of the city limits (or out in Long Island)
is going to get you some great riding. Don't get me wrong,
I love riding in the city, but for what I think you want,
the suburbs are where you want to be.

Here's what you can expect:

City...

Suburbs...

Here are a couple of pics I took right off of The George Washington Bridge:

NY side of The Hudson River...


On the bridge...

1nterceptor

[QUOTE=2ndGen;13470028]9W rocks if you want to get out of the city.
It's a completely different riding experience.
City: Crowded. Noisy. Lots of road hazards.
Anywhere in the city is going to be stop and go.
You'll be lucky if you break more than 20mph for a 1 block stretch.
Suburbs: Clean. Nice scenery. Good roads.

Then, there are my stomping grounds: Westchester County.
Anywhere North of the city limits (or out in Long Island)
is going to get you some great riding. Don't get me wrong,
I love riding in the city, but for what I think you want,
the suburbs are where you want to be.

Here's what you can expect:

QUOTE]

It's all about timing That Central Park ride was probably on the weekend in the pm.
If the OP wants a few laps in the park with little traffic, he should go early in the am.
Here's me riding in the park in the middle of July w/ very little traffic, Friday 2:30pm.

MegaTom

Last time I was in NYC (this past summer) there was a big to-do about cyclists getting ticketed for running red lights even though the roads were closed to auto traffic. Is that nonsense still going on?


Thanks for the tip, but I'm perfectly fine with the cold as long as it's not wet. I'm a Philly native so I can definitely appreciate how cold it can get around this time of year. About hauling the bike with me..... my hotel is directly across the street from Penn Station where I will be arriving via Amtrak, so there will be minimal hauling and, last I checked, they don't charge extra to bring a boxed bike on the train so it will be cheaper (and obviously more fun) to ride my own bike.

2ndGen

You're absolutely right! Nice vid.
I was thinking like someone who's usually "working" at that time in NYC.

Essex

Right on! Philly guys are tough!

If you're coming by train it's certainly easier than dealing with it on the airlines. I just imagined the hassle with baggage claim/taxis. Have a great time in NYC and hope you have a blast riding it about.

Cheers,

Essex

BrassBuns

Definitely going to agree with everyone else on this one. Take 9W over the GWB. Beats the hell out of Central Park, which is way too crowded, plus horses and such, it's stop and go while you are swerving to avoid pedestrians. The Westside Hwy bike path isn't usually too bad, and once you make it over the bridge, it clears out fast. I'll usually see a dozen people (usually in pairs) total over the 55-60 mi to/through Nyack

in0va3

The places that other members have said are great and I have yet to bike there too! A place in Brooklyn I would suggest is Rockaway Beach over the Marine Pkwy Bridge.

stevelogic

+1 for riding Rockway.

There's always 3.4 mile loop of Prospect Park in BK aside from the many greenways throughout the borough.
I start out from near Coney Island, up Ocean Parkway, through PP, then off to wherever feels right. Alot of times it'll be through downtown, then Williamsburg and Greenpoint into Long Island City, over the Queensboro/59th street bridge which leaves me in the city and again, whatevers clever from there. Enjoy your stay.

https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/download...11_bikemap.pdf