BBR_NewYork-22

Start: Under the Manhattan Bridge, where Pike Street hits the waterfront

Length: 15.3-mile loop

Approximate riding time: 2.5 hours

Best bike: Hybrid, road, or mountain bike

Terrain and trail surface: The trail is paved throughout. The ramps on and off the Manhattan, Queensboro, and Pulaski Bridges ascend and descend. Otherwise the route is flat.

Traffic and hazards: The ride leads along separated waterfront bikeways that are entirely car-free and on-road bike lanes where traffic is mostly light. There’s moderate to heavy traffic along the on-road portion from the East River waterfront to the entry to the Queensboro Bridge. Stay especially alert here.

Things to see: East River Park, United Nations, Queensboro Bridge, Pulaski Bridge, East River State Park, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Building 92, Manhattan Bridge

Map: New York City Bike Map

Getting there: By public transportation: Take the F subway to the East Broadway stop. Bike west on East Broadway 1 block. Turn left onto Pike Street to reach the waterfront bikeway. GPS coordinates: N40 42.572’ / W73 59.449’

THE RIDE

Your starting point affords a unique perspective on Manhattan’s southernmost bridges—an eye-level view of the Brooklyn Bridge’s pillars and the Manhattan Bridge’s underbelly—that neatly frame Downtown Brooklyn across the water. From here, head north along the waterfront esplanade, with warehouse depots obscuring your water views a short stretch before you turn to reach the East River Esplanade. Going north, you’ll pass a string of ball fields, playgrounds, and sculpted gardens. Across the water you can spot Brooklyn’s near-equivalent waterfront hangout, the East River State Park. (You can visit it later.) Continuing northward, you’ll go through Stuyvesant Cove Park up ahead and slowly approach the Queensboro Bridge. When you reach the ferry docks, use the traffic signal on your left to traverse the road and go west on East 35th Street. At the end of the block, a bikeway along the west side of 1st Avenue then leads you past the United Nations toward the Queensboro Bridge, which you’ll access on the west side of 1st Avenue at East 60th Street.

Going uphill toward the bridge’s midpoint, spot the Roosevelt Island cable car on your left, but stick to the right side of the bikeway, staying out of the way of Manhattan-bound cyclists. After passing Roosevelt Island, the bridge then glides downhill to Queens. Slow down toward the end of the bridge to make a sharp left-hand U-turn at the end of the bikeway toward the waterfront. Vernon Boulevard then leads you south toward Long Island City, where cafes and diners line the way. The Pulaski Bridge then carries you across Newtown Creek, an East River estuary that separates Queens from Brooklyn here. Slow down as you approach the end of the bridge in Greenpoint as the bikeway spills directly onto the street.

Franklin Street then takes you through Greenpoint, past an amalgam of Eastern European eateries, secondhand stores, trendy boutiques, and hipster cafes. As Franklin Street becomes Kent Avenue, you’re entering Williamsburg. To check out East River State Park on your right, dismount and walk your bike. (Biking is prohibited.) The site was a shipping dock in the nineteenth century, and certain remnants remain—the cobblestone road, the railroad tracks—making for a slightly rugged park experience. To proceed en route, remount your bike and continue south, heading underneath the Williamsburg Bridge. The terrain soon becomes more industrial here as you head toward the Brooklyn Navy Yard. A separated greenway, though, allows for a lovely car-free, uninterrupted ride southward.

Up ahead, stay alert for oncoming cyclists as you approach the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The bikeway narrows and veers right, with a cement partition on your left between you and the road. Flushing Avenue then takes you past Building 92, a visitor center and exhibit space that sheds light on the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s development from past to present. Stop off for a visit or continue west to the Manhattan Bridge. Use the bike-pedestrian crossings (and signals) to access the bridge ramp, which loops around, going uphill and across the East River. Stick to the right along the bridge bikeway and slow down as you near its end. The bikeway veers sharply right and descends onto Canal Street, which brings you back to your starting point via Pike Street.

MILES AND DIRECTIONS

0.0Bike north along the water.

0.7Before entering the gate to East River Park, turn right and down to the water’s edge. Follow the waterfront esplanade north.

2.8 Veer slightly left to continue along the bikeway, with the Water Club on your right. Then veer right to continue along the water.

3.5Turn left onto East 35th Street.

3.6Cross 1st Avenue and turn right, going north along 1st Avenue’s bikeway.

4.7Turn right onto East 54th Street, followed by a left onto Sutton Place.

5.1Turn left onto East 59th Street, followed by a right onto 1st Avenue.

5.3At East 60th Street, access the bikeway to your left to cross the Queensboro Bridge.

6.7At the end of the bridge ramp, make a U-turn, following the greenway to your left (heading west).

7.0Cross 21st Street and catch the greenway on the other side, next to the public housing development.

7.3Turn left onto Vernon Boulevard.

8.2Turn left onto 49th Avenue and access the Pulaski Bridge at the end of the block.

8.9Slow down as you approach the end of the bridge. The bikeway spills onto the road. At the end of the block, turn right onto Freeman Street.

9.2Turn left onto Franklin Street. Franklin Street becomes Kent Avenue.

11.9Follow the bikeway, veering right onto Flushing Avenue.

13.0Turn right onto Navy Street.

13.1Turn left onto Sands Street. Access the bikeway along the median.

13.4To access the Manhattan Bridge bikeway, cross the road straight ahead at the traffic signal. Then use the traffic signal to cross the road to your left and access the bikeway to your left. It then loops to the right and uphill across the water.

14.8Exit the bridge ramp, turning right onto Canal Street to go east.

14.9Cross Allen Street to turn right onto the greenway along the median. Allen Street becomes Pike Street.

15.3Arrive at your starting point.

RIDE INFORMATION

Local Events/Attractions

Bldg 92: A Navy Yard visitor center and exhibition space. 863 Flushing Ave., Brooklyn; (718) 907-5992; bldg92.org

East River Park: A narrow swath of city-owned park space with an amphitheater, bike paths, playgrounds, sports fields, gardens, and more alongside the East River in Manhattan. www.nycgovparks.org/parks/eastriverpark

East River State Park: A 7-acre state park of historical, environmental, and recreational import, opened in 2007. 90 Kent Ave., Brooklyn; nysparks.com/parks/155

Restrooms

Mile 1.8: There are restrooms in East River Park in the park building.

Mile 7.3: There are restrooms and water fountains in Queensbridge Park to your right when you reach Vernon Boulevard in Queens.

Founded in 1977 by a New York City schoolteacher and called Five Boro Challenge at the time, the Five Boro Bike Tour began as a bicycle safety program. Eric Prager had been commissioned by the city’s department of education to develop a program that would help young people acquire safe cycling practices. The program he designed included cycling clinics and repair workshops, and culminated in a city day trip around the five boroughs during which students could put their newly acquired skills into practice. The ride was unique in that most other organized recreational rides at the time led into the countryside, not the city. About 200 bike club members and 50 to 60 students participated in that first ride, which covered 50 miles and was free. There were rest stops, too, with hot dogs and soda at one.

Since then, the ride has expanded considerably, with 32,000 riders participating in a given year and 2,000 volunteers guaranteeing a smooth run. Other things have changed, too. The route is now 40 miles and entirely closed to traffic, with rest stops serving more nutritious snacks along the way. All registrants must now also pay a required charitable donation as entry fee. The route begins in Lower Manhattan, and then goes north to Central Park, historic Harlem, and the Bronx. From there, it goes southward along the FDR Drive before traversing the East River into Queens and then Brooklyn. It then goes along the BQE before crossing onto Staten Island via the Verrazano-Narrow Bridge otherwise inaccessible to cyclists.