To Manhasset NY via Manhattan

May 15, 2024

We don't have big tourist plans in New York City, just a ride through on the way to visit with a friend on Long Island. My granddaughter Juliana really wants to visit the city. I hope to be back here in a couple years with her for a longer visit without all the bicycle baggage.

I did have one romantic notion to do a loop through Central Park before continuing on through Manhattan. God is laughing at my plans this morning. It's raining, and the forecast looks wet for most of the day.

Puddles in the motel parking lot from the steady rain

The Seastreak Ferry in Highlands leaves for Wall Street at 8 am. My intended 6:45 departure time from the hotel slides to 6:51. We'll have to ride 10 miles fast in this mess to get there in time. I forgot to adjust the route to start from the motel, so instead of following black arrows on the Wahoo gps, we're figuring out how to get there on the phone map. Once we join the planned route I have to put the phone away before it gets any wetter.

On Ocean Ave as we ride north by the shore the road is mercifully empty. That's helpful because it's hard to see anything in my rear view mirror with all the water on my glasses. It's all I can do to steer the course and dodge the big puddles.

Just before Sandy Hook where we turn west off the shore road there's an extra loop to get to the steep bike ramp over the road. It might be shorter and easier to stay on the road with the cars and walk the crossings, but under the circumstances I'm not going off script. I'll just keep following the black arrows on my gps.

At the ferry I'm thrilled to find the ticket booth right at the entrance to the boat so we don't have to hunt for it. Tickets in hand, we muscle our awkward loaded bikes up the narrow ramp and board the boat at 7:57. Whew! The next one doesn't leave until 3 pm.

From the looks of things we're the only tourists in a crowd of commuters

This is easily the fastest ferry crossing we've done. It takes just 40 minutes to travel the 22 miles across the bay to Wall Street. Back in North Carolina the ferry to Okracoke took 2 hours 15 minutes to cover 25 miles.

A check of the weather map shows a large rain system extending from Delaware to Vermont, moving northeast. That extra loop through Central Park doesn't sound like such a great idea at this point.

The boat churns up surf as we motor up the bay to Manhattan

At the dock we wrestle the bikes back down the skinny ramp and duck into the ferry terminal. Here there's a dry place to regroup with heat, a table, bathroom, and a little shelter outside above the bikes. Now the weather map looks like the rain might ease up in an hour or two. We'll just wait here until the worst of it moves off.

The Central Park loop is officially off the agenda now. Instead I plot a route directly from the dock to the Williamsburg Bridge. Much of it runs on the East River Greenway. We'll cut 17 miles off the day, leaving just 33 miles to cover from here.

Surprisingly, within an hour the rain has mostly dried up. There might be a short window before it starts up again so we start off for the greenway. We're not on it much more than a hundred feet. The area around the greenway is closed for construction, and detour signs send us back to the streets.

Even with all the bike lanes here, Manhattan is an obstacle course of potholes, cars, trucks, detours, vehicles parked in the bike lane and so many traffic lights. You have to hunt around for the bike lanes that hop from one side of the road to another. Most drivers are considerate. They wait for us and give us space. Just one car honks at me, for good reason when I start up the car lane to the Williamsburg Bridge instead of the bike path. Mike likes all the challenges; he finds it interesting. Barry and I are happier when we leave the streets for the bike path on the bridge.

Quick peek at Wall Street before we move on

Lots of delivery trucks double parked over the bike lanes

Mike starts up the ramp on the Williamsburg Bridge bike path. Bikes and pedestrians have their own lanes here on the deck above the cars and the subway.

Navigating in Brooklyn is tricky on the bike paths that zig zag in different directions. We wander around looking for the entrance to the Kosciuszko Bridge. The K Bridge takes us into Queens where the traffic and chaos settles down.

I like Queens. We're riding on quieter streets through some nice neighborhoods. On 34th Avenue there's a two-mile stretch that's nearly car-free. Local residents can only get in at the block where they live.

Hmm, somewhere there's a path to get up there on the K bridge

Calvary Cemetery and the Manhattan Skyline, from the bridge

Can't pass up a French bakery. They have my favorite muffins - cranberry-orange.

By Flushing Bay, not far from the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center

Quick stop for a yogurt with 10 miles to go

While I'm at the store getting a snack, Mike calls. He is three miles from the hotel and has discovered that the seam on one of his panniers has split open from top to bottom. All the contents are exposed, including his computer. These panniers are nearly 20 years old and due for replacement. Today's the day.

Out of seven bike shops he's called, four of them don't know what a pannier is. The fifth has a pair for $80. Those aren't likely to last very long. The Trek store sounds promising. They have two brands of panniers - Bontrager of course, and even better, Ortliebs. He has to backtrack seven miles to get them, coming close to the original mileage estimate for the day, but is happy to find high quality bags.

Mike isn't sure how long that bag was split open before he noticed it. Lucky he didn't lose anything.

Bonus - the new waterproof Ortliebs are a little roomier than the old panniers.

Passing the Throg's Neck Bridge to the Bronx, one borough we won't be visiting today.

Looking at Willet's Point near Fort Totten

On the last two miles into Manhasset we find the first really steep hills of the trip. There are plenty of these at home in Missouri, but I've gone soft after 2,000 miles of mostly flat coastal terrain. There will be more hills on the final phase of the tour through New York and New England. Better get over it. Pretty houses in the shady neighborhoods offer some distraction from the work to get up the hills.

Climbing up the path on Northern Boulevard in Great Neck

It's been mostly dry since we ventured out into the streets of Manhattan this morning. I guess we could have ridden through Central Park after all, but I've had plenty of adventure for today.

Our tiny room at the dingy Travelodge in Manhassat can't hold all the bikes so Barry and I lock ours together outside the window. We don't worry much about the recumbents getting stolen. I think most people wouldn't know what to do with them.

We chose the route through Long Island to see our friend Curt Trinko who lives just north of here in Port Washington. Curt says Barry was his first friend when he moved to Minocqua Wisconsin in third grade. We meet up with Curt and his former wife Donna for a wonderful dinner at Gatsby's Landing in Roslyn. Visiting with good friends and family has sure been one of the great pleasures of our trip.

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Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 2,155 miles (3,468 km)

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Rich FrasierYou are very brave people! What an epic day!
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5 months ago

Kelly IniguezI wouldn't even dream of making that ride. You are much more adventurous than I! My helmet off to you.
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5 months ago

Scott AndersonCongrats for having the gumption to do this! We biked NYC a decade go, at the end of a ride that started on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The city was just trying to become bike friendly, opening up Manhattan with bike lanes and their first bike share program. We felt like pioneers, and were surprised at how much we enjoyed it - thrilling really. Once was enough though.
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5 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Rich FrasierThanks Rich. It was pretty satisfying to get through this one. Just keep pedaling.
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5 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Kelly IniguezThanks! I'm excited to follow your adventure in the cool Pacific Northwest. Great time to be there.
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5 months ago

Janice BranhamTo Scott AndersonIt really was fascinating to see how they have shoehorned the bike lanes in wherever possible. Once is enough for me too.
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5 months ago

James WilsonGeez! I was wondering how you would make your way through the NYC logjam (doing it in the rain is a testament to fearless perseverance). Having survived grown up in the area I was relieved when you passed on Central Park. Manhattan can be……..challenging. 😆
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5 months ago

Janice BranhamTo James WilsonWell now, I was feeling rather wimpy about skipping the Central Park loop. So nice to get affirmation on that decision.
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5 months ago

James WilsonTo Janice BranhamBuy me a beer sometime and I’ll tell you my Manhattan stories. 😊
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5 months ago

Janice BranhamTo James WilsonYou're on. I'd love any advice for the time I make a run at the city.
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5 months ago