Hello,
I just heard this week, I will cycle the New York- Five boro bike tour:) ...it was a lottery system this year. http://www.bikenewyork.org/ride/five-boro-bike-tour/
It's the first time for me visiting New York. And this way of sight-seeing and meeting other cyclers will be great. Of course I will stay some more days in New York.
Well, I'm wondering if anyone will do this tour, too? Maybe it's nice to do a part together or to meet the day(s) before/after this day and spend some more time around in the town, together.
Or maybe you're living in New York and you like to be "a guide", showing not only the famous places but also other interesting local things. I like to have cycling trips and meet other enthousiastic cyclers and/or local people.
Besides this, it's worth thinking about doing a cycling trip, too, in this part of the States.
The flight is long, so if I will be there, it will be nice to see some more.
I'm thinking about doing a cycling trip somewhere around New York.
So if anyone has a suggestion/information about a nice trip for 2 weeks, please let me know. Maybe cycling a part near the Atlantic coast, or going to the Nigarafalls?
(Except for Washington, I've never been in the States...so there will be enough interesting places. This time the easiest will be to discover this part by bicycle and maybe parts by train to leave and return New York. I can imagine leaving New York by bike isn't safe because the traffic?)
Thanx!
Astrid
Hi, I'm from New York but am planning to be cycling in Europe around this time. I was part of the bike tour last year and its a good way to see all 5 boroughs by bicycle, but be warned it will be very crowded and breezes past many of the great sights in an effort to make it to Staten Island.
Getting around NYC is easy on a bike, so long as you're comfortable riding in traffic; but traffic in Manhattan moves slow and its easy to get used to. There are good paths over many of the bridges and along the east and west sides of Manhattan.
As for local tours, I can give you some advice. For two weeks, a good option would be to follow the Hudson River north out of the city and follow NY Bike Route 9 to Montreal and take a train back. Getting out of Manhattan this way is extremely easy, over the George Washington Bridge and north on Route 9. There are also paths that diverge in Albany following the Erie Canal to Buffalo and Niagara Falls. All these routes nearly parallel rail lines, so its easy to get back.
http://www.bikemap.net/route/107651#lat=42.43967&lng=-76.15723&zoom=6&type=2
Also doable are going to Washington DC, you can take a ferry to northern New Jersey and head south to the Cape May Ferry and cross Delaware. If you plan on heading Northeast, a good option is to cross Long Island to Orient Point and take the ferry to New London. Trains and ferrys are helpful for getting out of the city for other routes.
Oh, another option is the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal path connecting Pittsburgh and DC. Its all off road and mainly gravel but both locations are also accessible by train. I've never done it but it on top of my list.
http://www.atatrail.org/
Hope this helps!
Hello Dan,
thank you for the information. It will help to make plans.
Meanwhile I've had more contact, with cyclers from Holland (who've been cycling there already) and another person from New York.
The route to the Niagrafalls I heard more often, and also to Washington DC.
Can you tell me if it's worth thinking about the wind. Someone told me, it's better to cycle for example from Toronto to New York.(my first idea was to go from NY to Toronto and fly back from there to Amsterdam; but maybe I prefer one of the other routes you write about).
And did you know in wich trains I can take the bike? I heard Amtrak is difficult, but the "forens" (commuter?; train for people travelling home-work and back) is no problem.
Did you know, what kind of trains, so I can recognise them?
And you, are you going to cycle from Lissabon to Istanbul or another Europe trip?
Thank you very much for information.
Astrid
Hi,
Toronto sounds like a good idea, the best way I know how to get there is to follow the Erie Canal to Buffalo (NY Bike Route 9 to Albany and 5 to Buffalo)which is the water level route. Otherwise you can cross through Pennsylvania though I don't know any straightforward routes:
http://www.dot.state.pa.us/bike/web/tour_routes.html
As for trains, Amtrak is the only train that will take you any considerable distance. The commuter lines out of NY take bikes (NJ Transit, LIRR, Metro-North) but stop about 60-80 miles away from the city. Amtrak has an annoying policy where bikes need to be boxed and checked for a fee, and only some stations handle checked baggage and some will sell you a box to put the bike in, so check the stations beforehand. There are also buses that run that route which may be able to take your bike.
I got on an Amtrak in Montana once with my bike without a ticket and at a station that does not handle checked baggage. The conductor let me stow the bike in a cargo hold until the next major station, where I was able to check the bike tofor the rest of the trip Seattle.
Also, I believe wind in Northern NY tends to blow from the west. Yes, I'm looking Western Europe (Lisbon, Madrid, or Amsterdam) to Istanbul, following the Danube for most of the route once I get to Germany. Still planning though.
Hello all,
About 3 weeks I will be in New York:)
Both from warmshowers as from a Dutch "worldcyclers" forum, I got enough ideas.
Because I prefer not to take the train back to New York (because it can be complicated taking the bike in the train), I decided to do a "loop".
The idea now is cycling to Albany. From there I've 2 options. Going to Cape Cod, following more or less the coastline back to New York. Or from Albany I will do the Adirondackpark route (from cycling adventures/ACA)and going back to New York.
If someone is cycling after the 6 of May also in this part, maybe it would be nice to spend some cycling miles together.
Maybe I met some of you during the Five Boro Bike Tour in New York.
Have a good cycling season.
Astrid