1. East Coast Greenway Presents:
4 New York Metro Area Greenway-
Focused Rides for 2016
http://www.greenway.org/
2,900 Miles from Maine to Florida. The East Coast Greenway is a developing trail
system, linking many of the major cities of the Eastern Seaboard between Canada and
Key West.
To register for events, go to Eventbrite.com & search for “east coast greenway”
2. The 5-Island Tour
Ride the 5 Islands of New York City (Manhattan,
Ward’s/Randall’s, Queens, Roosevelt Island): 29 miles
Event Start: Dog Run at 60th and East Side Greenway.
Sunday, May 15 (rain date May 22): 9:00am
Event End: Roosevelt Island with connections to Tram
and F train. ~1:00pm
For Advanced Beginner or better-conditioned riders.
3. The 100th Anniversary National
Park Service Tour
Ride from Castle Clinton to St. Paul’s Church in
Westchester, stopping at Grant’s Tomb. Guides available to
discuss each site. Colonial Day Celebration at St. Paul’s
Church: 12-4pm: 26 miles.
Event Start: Entrance to Castle Clinton, Saturday, June 11:
9:00AM
Event End: ~1:00pm, with optional Colonial Day festivites at
St. Paul’s. #5 MTA train back to Manhattan, Metro-North, or
ride the Greenway back!
For moderately or better-conditioned riders.
• Historic children’s games and toys
• Colonial music by acclaimed
balladeer Linda Russell, and
dancing, too
• Historic crafts & cooking
• Performance on the historic Erben
pipe organ
• Colonial military living history
• Talks explore colonial life
Colonial Day Celebration
4. The Manhattan Loop Ride
Ride the Manhattan Greenway Counterclockwise all the way
around Manhattan - including gaps! 32-mile Circle Route
includes: Greenways, Bike lanes, and On-street but no bike
lanes. Photo-ops and break for lunch.
Event Start: Dog Run at 60th and East Side Greenway. Sunday,
August 14 (rain date August 21): 9:00am
Event End: Glick Park: 37th St. & East Side Greenway: ~1:00pm
For moderately or better-conditioned riders only.
5. The Hudson River Loop Ride
A 22-mile loop from Manhattan’s Pier 84 along the Hudson River Greenway north,
across the George Washington Bridge (challenging hill climb to bridge!) into NJ
and then south along the Hudson River Greenway's NJ sections down to Hoboken.
The Route: This year there will be two starting points -
For NJ residents: Meet at the Hoboken 14th St. Ferry at 8:45AM to get the 9:02
ferry to NY (note, maximum of 10 bikes per ferry).
For NY residents: Meet at Blazing Saddles at Pier 84 @ 43rd St. and 12th Ave in
Manhattan at 9:00AM. We will leave from Pier 84 at 9:30AM.
Event Start: Sunday, October 9 (rain date October 16): 9:00am
Event End: Hoboken Terminal or Ferry ~1:00pm
For moderately or better-conditioned riders only.
Blazing
Saddles
Hoboken Terminal
Notas do Editor
Intro: I got into this from a local activist’s position, wanting especially to close the 1-mile greenway gap past the United Nations. One year we had State Senator Liz Krueger speak about closing the gap at the beginning of our annual Manhattan Loop ride. And the same complicated mitigation plan to Close the Gap (https://www.change.org/p/close-the-gap-2) is still pending at the U.N, going on 20 years now, but in the meantime, I’ve learned to appreciate what we already have and are slowly getting more of. It’s never fast enough, but there are over 200 miles of Greenway in the 5 boroughs, out of 350 planned (http://bikeroute.com/NBGBikingCities/NewYorkCity/NYCBiking.php). All the rides are available by going to Eventbrite.com and searching for “east coast greenway.”
Let’s explore…
This year will be the second year of the 5-Island Tour and it’s already one of my favorite rides. For one thing, if you tell people you biked the 5-Island Tour in just the right tone of voice, they’ll think you rode all 5 boroughs of Manhattan!
Well, we actually only ride through 3, plus Randall’s and Ward’s Islands – technically 2 islands – and Roosevelt Island. But this year we added the exciting South Bronx when two new bridges opened up – the High Bridge up north, which is a great photo stop – and the Randall’s Island Connector linking the Bronx to Randall’s Island. Both are walking/biking only spans. How many of you have ridden on Roosevelt Island? It’s really fun, with great views of Queens and Manhattan. Plus, you get to take the Tram back to the starting point at the end. Don’t forget your metro-card!
The NPS anniversary tour is brand new and may be done only this year, so you don’t want to miss this one. We will start at Castle Clinton, with a probable ranger-led tour for the first 30 bikers at 9:00am, TBA. Then we will ride up to Grant’s Tomb, where you will have time for a self-guided tour. The ride is more than ¾ on the greenway, but we do go on-street briefly in the Bronx, before finishing up on the official East Coast Greenway route through Pelham Bay and ending at St. Paul’s Church in Westchester around 1:00pm. There will be Colonial Day celebration events this year, which you can stay for before returning by subway or Metro-north.
The Manhattan Loop is the first ride I co-led for East Coast Greenway and this will be my sixth year doing it. This is a fantastic ride with great river views almost the whole way. It goes counter-clockwise around Manhattan, and it ought to be on everyone’s bucket list. It’s our longest ride, at 32 miles, but we stop for a nice lunch at Hudson River Park near the Fairway supermarket at 125th street. This is the ride for activists to get excited about, and to learn where we still have to petition our electeds to Close the Gap.
See one proposal here: http://www.slideshare.net/ScottOnTheSpot/land-value-tax-gap-closure-proposal-29529037
The joint NY-NJ Hudson Loop is one of the oldest rides offered by East Coast Greenway and the last one we offer in the season. Hopefully, by October, you’ll have your biking legs at their maximum strength to ride up the 179th street hill to the George Washington Bridge! Fortunately, it is literally almost all downhill to Hoboken on the other side after that. This is one of the most interesting rides with unparalleled views on Manhattan and because of the varied ways the Hudson River Bikeway has been completed, and every year there is a little more on-path and off-street riding. This is truly the ride that gets better every year! Return to Manhattan if you need to by ferry or PATH train or just bike or drive home if you live in NJ.
Thank you and I’ll be available for quesitons later.