GlennR

Another early morning. Weather was awesome.. i'm beginning to see a pattern.

GlennR

HOT

Decided to do the MPBC "B" ride to Kings Park. It was slooooow but OK. Unfortunately because of the lower speed and a flat at the bakery for one of the riders we didn't get back 1:00pm. The 85*F temps was just baking my head half way home I picked up the pace. I ran through both water bottles and stopped at the park at Old Country and Wolf to get a refill. I caught up with the group and a few of us again picked up the pace. I was already in the car heading to the SOB when the back half of the group passed on their way to the parking lot.

It would of been much cooler if we left early and not at 8:30am. It's just too late to leave on a 4 hour ride.

Had my biggest week of 190 miles over 4 rides.

Steve B.

Yes it was hot, though maybe not quite as humid as some days.

A Westchester buddy and and I did the Duchess Rail Trail from Hopewell Junction up to and over the river to the village of Highland, had a nice lunch at a taco place, and back we went. The Walkway Over The Hudson is seemingly not as mobbed with pedestrians as when I was last here. The heat and sun took its toll on the return as the grade is ever so slightly uphill back to HJ, but we didn’t get started till 11.

Wonderful trail though, maybe the nicest rail trail I’ve ever ridden. Shaded for much or the distance.

EDIT: Also stopped and chatted with a couple from Belgium doing a self supported bike tour from Toronto to NYC. They had ridden the Erie Canal trail, then roads south of Albany to the Walkill Valley Rail Trail to New Paltz, then the path east of NP and over the river, down to HJ, roads to Carmel and will ride the Putnam Trail, then the North and South County trails to The Bronx. So essentially a huge chunk of NY State on bike trails of some sort of another. The husband thought this was remarkable.

GlennR

I did that trail last fall. It was a lot cooler and the trees were in full bloom.

GlennR

been doing early morning rides to beat the heat but today i did a later afternoon, early evening ride. Headed out at 5:00pm when it was 74* and it dropped to 68* by the time i got home.

Very refreshing.

kaos joe

Perfect summer afternoon for my first ride in 2 weeks, a leisurely afternoon 50 to Caumsett. I spent a bit over half of that 2 weeks tramping about in the Ice Age, so I'm unfamiliar with this watery stuff running down my face......do some call it sweat?

Saw a couple of neat bikes while acclimating to altitude for a day in Pinedale, WY. I thought this thing might be good for my wife's first solo bike, but my buds talked me out of it......



The riders of these 2 were refueling at Wind River Brewing (highly recommended) while doing the Great Divide Bicycle Route. Really serious machines, these...



And heres a few more just cause they're pretty.


Mt Helen & Fremont Peak


Camp, Titcomb Basin


Continental Divide, Knife Point Glacier


Indian Basin

Steve B.

Took my buddy Roger out to Manorville for a nice 32 miles. It was actually cool at 65 when we started. First time I've felt cold in a few months. This is likely the most empty area to ride a road bike on Long Island. This loop has 1 traffic light. ONE. Great roads, mostly roads thru state and county parks and preserves. Saw a large flock of turkeys, a buffalo, and 2 bulls.

kaos joe

Nice heads up Steve. I gotta get serious and check out the Wahoo GPS you recommended so I can follow these routes.

Oddly enough, on this years trip out West, we used a GPS a number of times to confirm our position, even though we spent much less time navigating cross country off trail. Go figure.

Steve B.

Or look at the Garmin 530. A bit more money but has color and better maps. Brands has this in stock and if you’re a CLIMB member you get 10% off.

The 530 and other Garmin units have a feature called Connect iQ. It’s an app from a 3rd party that loads onto the device. I use the RideWithGPS app as it allows me to pre-plan and create a route online. Those routes are then shown on the Garmin device app and I just download to the Garmin. Takes a minute and I then have the route to follow and as it uses RWGPS if you get something like the Hamptons tour in that format it’s easy to download and follow.

ChiroVette

A Question about Long Island riding:

I love riding from Brooklyn, through either 5 Towns and then Far Rockaway, Rockaway, Riis, then back over the Marine Parkway Bridge. I also love to go through Oceanside, then ride into Long Beach, maybe going East to Point Lookout, before coming back west again, onto the boardwark in Long Beach, then through Atlantic Beach, then over the little bridge to the Rockaways, and rinse and repeat the above course. Its really awesome riding along all those boardwalks. But my question is, how far east can I go staying by the water on the South Shore?

In other words, can I ride my bicycle over Loop Parkway, then the Meadowbrook South, toward Jones Beach, and through West Gilgo and Gilgo State Park, then over the Robert Moses Causway southbound to Solitaire, then Fire Island? Even if I can, looking at Google Maps, it seems like there is no bridge leading from the easternmost part of that area back onto the mainland, say Smithpoint Park, or the other more eastern island around West Hampton Dunes. Its hard to tell, but if I had to guess, I would say that staying on the beaches, it looks like I may not be able to go any farther than Gilgo-Oak Beach-Captree, and would have to take Robert Moses Causway back to around West Islip?

It also looks like I may not even have a viable bicycle route from Point Lookout, over Loop Parkway and the Meadowbrook. So how far can I go this way?

Steve B.

Easy answer. No. The assorted parkways are off limits to bikes - I.E. you cannot ride a bike in the traffic lane nor on the grass, as that would require you to ride the traffic lane on bridges. This includes the Loop Parkway, Meadowbrook, Ocean and Wantagh parkways.

Only option from Long Beach is north thru Oceanside to assorted roads thru S Nassau, then east to Wantagh where you can access the bike path along the Wantagh south to Jones Beach. You can then go west along the boardwalk 4 miles to West End bathhouse, or east 3.5 miles along the Ocean Parkway bike path to TOBAY beach. That’s the current end until they finish the pat out to Captree State Park. There you will turn around as they have no plans to allow bikes over the bridges on the Robert Moses causeway north or south.

But all is not lost as there a a lot of viable routes on the south shore that’ll get you as far as Montauk Point. Some are shown on the link

https://longislandstreets.org/new-page-2

ChiroVette

Thanks for all the detailed information!

I had a feeling that all of this was the case. The couple of times I made the left at Long Beach to check out Point Lookout, instead of the right heading west, back to my area, I scoped out the circular highway entrance/exit roads for the Meadowbrook, and while I didn't look too hard, I got the sense these were not meant for cycling at all. When I looked at the other areas I asked about on Google Maps, it didn't look like there were a lot of places to ride, and none at all in the beach areas of Fire Island and east of that point.

I downloaded the map you send and will check that out. I already knew that you could get to Montauk via mostly streets and some cycling paths. I did a ride out to Manorville for a family party a month or two ago, and it was very easy to find mellow, residential areas to ride through as well as lots of bike paths/lanes. I wasn't so much worried about not being able to get to Montauk, but I wanted to see which of those southern, beachy outskirt areas were cycle-ready.

Its a shame that they won't let cyclist on the Robert Moses Causway, as it looks like it would be a beautiful ride to add that whole complex from the Wantaugh, through Jones Beach, all the way to Captree State Park, then back onto the main part of the island via West Islip.

Steve B.

Fire Island has a few sections that are boardwalk, mostly in the developed areas, but is really just all sand, and once you are onto the actual Nat’l Seashore property and east of the Watch Hill campground, might be off limits to bikes, not sure what the regulations are. There’s an active L.I. Fat bike club that rides the beaches all the time. And of course with the breach west of Smith Point, you can’t get back to the mainland.

Theres some riding east but there are enough inlets to break up any kind of continual beach riding.

I doubt that the Robert Moses causeway will ever allow bikes. It would cause all kinds of crap for the state planners to carve out a bike lane so they’d have to re-build the 2 bridges. Maybe in 50 years when they are in dire straits they’ll do like the Tappen Zee and had a lane.

qajaq

Took a ride today, Saturday, on the Massapequa Bike path north of Clark Street. The area between Linden Street and Bethpage Park is littered with debris and fallen trees. Must have been a nasty storm Thursday night.





No bunny hopping those things! That's just a sampling. I must have carried the bike a dozen times like cyclocross. From Bethpage State Park to Woodbury Rd there is almost nothing on the path. Very localized damage.

ChiroVette

Not the end of the world, and I can see based on your posts that there is no way a Robert Moses cycling lane will come any time soon. I will lobby for the 50 years, though! lol

There are enough places on Long Island to ride without me needing to access all those off-mainland islands. I just have such a nice, hedonistic time whenever I am doing some kind of a loop from Brooklyn out to the Island, then back again. I usually time the ride so that I take, say the Belt Parkway path from Canarsie into Howard Beach, then Linden Blvd out east to Merrick sometimes, then Merrick through Oceanside, via Lincoln Ave. This is about the halfway point for me, and 90% of the rest of the ride is on boardwalks, first Long Beach, then Far Rockaway, Rockaway, Riis, and back over the Marine Parkway Bridge to Flatbush Ave. Its like working half the ride to get a nice, peaceful, waterfront boardwalk for the last half. I know its weird, but there is something I really enjoy about riding along the beaches, even with the often annoying wooden slots vibrating my tires.

Anyway, yeah, now that I know this, I will definitely eventually add Jones Beach, Gilgo Beach, and Captree State Park when they open the path that goes there which you were mentioning. Any idea when that will be done? If I added that island from Jones through Captree, the only bummer is having to then ride the length of the island back to the Wantagh, but such is life in the big city, I guess.

Steve B.

The Captree extension has a completion date posted for summer 2020, but I’m certain there were delays. Thus I doubt next summer, but they did lay in the existing 3.5 in a hurry so who knows.

A nice loop loop for a city located rider is going to be LIRR to Wantagh, a mile on streets down to the Farrant bike path along the Wantagh to JB, head west and back, than east to Captree and back, return to LIRR. Probably 40 miles, 2 of it on street. And there’s a 2 mile in street section from Wantagh that gets you on the Bethpage Bike Path, that goes north for 13 miles, for the adventurous.

As well, I’ll post a RWGPS link of my route from the B9 Rockaway boardwalk to the NY State on street bike route that runs along the south shore.

ChiroVette

Steve, this is awesome info, and lol not to sound ungrateful, but could you please clarify this route a little? I don't know the Long Island roads like you do, and your shorthand, while probably very clear to someone who does, is confusing me.

Steve B.

Anybody on a path doing 22 is asking for trouble. IMO. 15 is about tops for me

GlennR

This was in the east/west section of the Jones Beach MUP that goes from parking lot 5 to Tobay. It's perfectly flat and straight. You have to ride 5 files just to get to it and many time triathletes train on it since there's not really any intersections.

Steve B.

I hear you Glenn, I see Tri's doing this all the time, and on this stretch sight lines are better. But still it's a Sunday and there's ALWAYS some folks doing more casual rides who will do some unexpected things, as you observed.

Steve B.

Which part to clarify ?, the Jones Beach from the LIRR ?, or the Beach 9 to the south shore L.I. routes ?

ChiroVette

For one thing, I wasn't sure what the LIRR had to do with anything. I would be riding out there. Or were you suggesting I take the train to that area and start riding in Long Island, rather than Brooklyn? Also, your shorthand was probably perfectly clear. I think I was just being a little lazy because it was right before a gig I was playing when I read it, and I probably just need to look at a map and fill in the blanks myself. I didn't know there was a Bethpage bike path, so I just need to sort of look up all the stuff on a map. I wasn't sure where on the Wantagh you were talking about, and I never heard of the Farrant bike path, all things I am sure I could find easily if I looked at a map, which I will do, thanks!

Steve B.

Yes, I was suggesting the taking the LIRR to Wantagh as to ride from Brooklyn is likely 33 miles one-way to Wantagh, not sure you want that as a route suggestions.

The Ellen Farrant Bike Path is the official name for the section that runs from Cedar Creek Park in south Wantagh, 5.5 miles to Jones Beach along the Wantagh State parkway. Not to be confused with what is sometimes referred to and known as the "Wantagh Bike Path" which is a narrow broken up asphalt path that runs north on the east side of the Wantagh Parkway from about Sunrise Hwy. to the junction of the Northern State Parkway in Jericho. This northern path isn't really a bike path nor easily ridable, but it sometimes comes up on a Google search and can be confusing to people. Not recommended.

Note that by taking a LIRR out to Wantagh, then riding all of the potential paths to and from and in Jones Beach and TOBAY, than heading north on the Bethpage to Syosset LIRR you could do 45 miles, 85% on paths.

ChiroVette

I had a feeling you were getting at something like this. lol As opposed to the 110+ miles it would be if I rode to and from Brooklyn to the course you suggested. I really have to dissect this info and create a course for my Garmin based on this, as it looks like the 45 mile ride you are recommending is really nice. Also, I have a bike rack that comes on and off my car, s if I went that route, I would likely just drive out there. LIRR is a pain in the ass to get to and from as I live in South Brooklyn. Its doable, of course, but driving would likely be easier. Also I have friends in Long Island who would gladly let me crash. So I could also ride out there, one way to Wantagh, the 33 miles you recommended, do the 45 mile course, and then just stay on the Island, with a much more manageable 78+ mile ride. Either way, I will definitely check out the course you are suggesting. Thanks!

kaos joe

Northport Harbor/Asharoken


What. A. Day.

Even Long Island can sometimes almost rate a "10".