The Best Places to Bike Outside the City

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. In our few remaining minutes today, we're going to follow up on the way we ended the show yesterday with the uncontroversial aspects of riding a bike, or at least one of them. It's going to be your calls on the best places to ride a bike outside of New York City. If you want to get away, and I don't mean down the streets of your particular suburb. I'm sure there are nice places to ride around Montclair, around Huntington, wherever you are. This is about where to get out of the city and ride your bike. 212-433-WNYC 433-9692 call or text. Why are we doing this? Because we had a short segment yesterday on the Rails to Trails movement because of the new documentary that's going to air next week, Wednesday night on PBS called From Rails to Trails. We had Peter Harnik, co-founder of the Rails to Trails Conservancy, on the show. The segment was really short. I'll take some responsibility for maybe mismanaging the clock a little bit yesterday.

The fact is, we had so many calls and texts from you that we didn't get to take specifically recommending rail trails outside the city, that we thought we would spend our last few minutes today just going back to it and letting you share your favorite bike routes outside the city one more time. We just have five minutes for it today, but we'll get a lot in here because this will be boom, boom, boom when you call in or text 212-433-WNYC 433-9692, and it doesn't have to be rail trail today. Yesterday, it was specifically rail trails.

They can continue to be, but they can be other things as well. 212-433-WNYC. Best places to ride your bike. We'll just get you back on here with some of the ones that we left on the table yesterday, because there were so many good tips. This is also going to be one where I know some of you bike riders are going to take notes and say, "Oh, I didn't think about that place in Brewster," or whatever it is. 212-433-9692. We'll go to those texts and calls right after this.

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Places to ride your bike outside New York City, Dan in Sleepy Hollow. You're on WNYC. Hi, Dan.

Dan: Hi. I love taking my bike on the train to Poughkeepsie, and then you have unlimited riding in Ulster County and Dutchess County, and especially on the Empire State Trail. You can go to New Paltz, totally unencumbered by cars. You can bike all the way back to the city from there, you can go up into Minnewaska State Park and bike up. [crosstalk]--

Brian Lehrer: Yes, agree. Poughkeepsie is a great place to pick up that trail. You can go across the river like you're saying to the New Paltz side, or you can go back toward Hopewell Junction on the Empire State Trail. I've done that one. That's a really nice route. Thank you. How about Ed in Manhattan? You're on WNYC. Hi, Ed.

Ed: Hi, how are you? I've been biking for 35 plus years, and virtually every serious cyclist leaves Manhattan on Saturday and Sunday goes over the George Washington Bridge and up 9W, first maybe stopping in Sparkill at the market or in Bunbury's in Piermont, or finally maybe up to Nyack, where there's a great French pastry place called Pâtisserie Dumas.

Brian Lehrer: Places to eat along the bike route north of the George Washington Bridge. Oh, and look, Santos in Park Slope. You go across the bridge, but then you go south the other way?

Santos: I sure do. I've gone up 9W many times, by the way, but yes, I go left. If you go left off the bridge and you go maybe, I don't know, half a mile at the most, on the left-hand side, it's all downhill from there, you'll hit River Road, which is an undulating path. It's actually two-lane road, and it goes undulating, and it follows the Hudson River all the way up to maybe Nyack.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much. Going back up. Yes, and unlike the rail trails, those are on road quite a bit, I happen to know, just for the information. Some coming in and texts on Long Island. Listener writes, "There's a great bike path from Robert Moses State Park to Fire Island." He says, "Nice, easy trail. Has done with the kids." Another one, Cedar Creek Park in Wantagh, running along the Wantagh Parkway to Jones Beach. Brian in Springfield, you're on WNYC. Hi, Brian, at Springfield, New Jersey. There's one in every state. What you got?

Brian: Thanks, Brian. I will tell you that the South Mountain Reservation in Essex County and the Watchung Reservation in Union County are really great. I'll throw in a pitch for the Great Swamp up in Morris County. Lots of good riding, boats trails, and also paved areas. If you're not a super strong rider, there's still plenty of paved paths for you to go on, and really very enjoyable. I like to go up to Washington Rock in the South Mountain Reservation. It's a nice, easy ride, just a dog park.

Brian Lehrer: Brian, I got to cut you off there because we're out of time. Thanks for some more out-of-the-city bike riding tips. Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Stay tuned for Allison.

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