mforrington

Hi all,
I'm leaving in a few days to bike from southern Maine to Long Island. I'm meeting up with my dad once I get there, but the maps I have for cycling only get me as far as Summit, NJ. From there, I need to get to Uniondale, in Long Island. I am about as unfamiliar with the area as is humanly possible, and am basically clueless in regards to bus, subway, and train systems. To add to it all, I'll have a fully loaded tour bike that I'll be carrying around
So, I've determined I can take the NJ transit system as far as Penn Station, or the World Trade Center PATH Station, but these still drop me a ways from the Brooklyn Bridge, which is what I was planning to take to get into Brooklyn.
Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get from either station to the bridge, or from the bridge to Uniondale? Or does any of this sound like an extremely bad idea to anyone who knows the area? Any help would be REALLY appreciated. Thank you!

dendawg

I don't know how you're winding up in Summit NJ, its south and west of NYC. You should make your way over the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan at least. You could take the LIRR to Uniondale if you don't feel like riding the last 40 miles or so, but you will need to get a $5 bike permit - good on the LIRR and Metro North, and be aware that there are bike restrictions on certain trains and certain days and times. Maybe someone else will be able to give you a specific route.

Lightingguy

I would suggest using the NYC bike map(s) to plan the route from the GW Bridge to the Brooklyn Bridge and then into Brooklyn

https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bic...bikemaps.shtml

Here's a RideWithGPS route from Prospect Park to Uniondale Ave. at Jerusalem Ave., 34 miles one-way

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/1691120

I've only started at Prospect Park as I don't know lower Brooklyn all that well and would suggest the NYC map to find the route. It's not that complicated. The park is a good way to get from the Heights to middle Brooklyn. Ocean Parkway to Ave. I is the best route from the park to Bedford Ave., which has a bike lane all the way to Emmons. The Belt Parkway bike path then takes you over to Flatbush, you need to detour around the sand at Plumb Beach. On Flatbush, sidewalk ont he wst side, or crossover to the newer bile path on the east side to the bridge. The bridge path is on the east side. From the Rockaway's it's all my commuter route the rest of the way. Take the boardwalk from B124 east if it's a nice day, it ends at B9.

dendawg

Another option that would avoid NYC altogether would be to take the ferry from Bridgeport CT to Port Jefferson and ride from there.

Stacy

I'm sure Papa Tom has a route than runs along the Connecticut coast. Then you could take a ferry, as dendawg suggested, to Long Island. Taking the ferry could easily knock a day or two off your trip and is probably much more pleasant than dealing with NYC traffic.

Lightingguy

Possibly the OP has a reason for going to Summit,NJ,. that he/she has not shared with us.

I knw most of us cannot fathom wanting to ride from Maine to NJ, detouring around the city to the north, then have to finish by going INTO the city and out to Uniondale.

A follow up by mfottington might shed some light.

mforrington

What is the LIRR?
Also, I think I end up in Summit because the map was trying to take me around the city. I don't know that the cartographers were planning on my wanting/needing to ride through the city to Long Island.

mforrington

Also, thanks for the NYC bike map! I didn't even know those existed! The ferry sounds promising as well. Thanks for all the suggestions

dendawg

The LIRR is the Long Island Railroad. The commuter line that runs from NYC to Long Island.

https://mta.info/lirr/

Lightingguy

If your destination is to be Uniondale, I would certainly not be going to New Jersey en-route !.

As others have stated, either the Bridgeport - Port Jefferson ferry, or the New London - Orient ferry would be your best options, if you want to ride to Uniondale. Lot's of good routes from either ferry, some that Papa Tom has knowledege of, both in NY and in CT.

Let us know your plans and we can help further.

njkayaker

From Maine, you can hit CT easily. You can take a ferry to Long Island. LIRR == long island railroad.

If you go west, through MA or CT into NY, you can go south (west of the Hudson river) into NJ and cross into Manhattan across the George Washington Bridge (GWB). People ride across the GWB and in Manhattan, and across the Brooklyn Bridge all the time. Obviously, if you are going that route (through Manhattan), you have to be comfortable riding in heavy urban traffic. But it's doable (with some patience).

You need to consider where you'll end-up at night (regarding hotels and such).

aixaix 

There's also a ferry from Newport, R.I. to Montauk.

The riding on Long Island is less stressful (eastern L.I. is particularly nice) than the Connecticut coastline (not many alternatives to US 1 in many places), Westchester, NY (ditto), through the Bronx (some bike paths, true, but some pretty dicey areas as well), into Manhattan, out through Brooklyn & Queens to Uniondale. A whole lot shorter, too.

Unless you relish getting your urban cycling fix in the mean streets of NYC, you'll be happier missing the city and taking a ferry.

zacster

You should go down through CT and through Westchester and the Bronx. If you are going to ride from Maine down to NYC, you really really have to go through NYC. What would otherwise be the point?

There are lots of routes to get you there. Don't take a ferry and miss the best part of the ride, even if riding isn't really ideal. Is that the point of the trip, to ride smooth, traffic free roads? Or is it to get the thrill of riding the streets of NY. It really isn't dangerous, the Bronx is fine, just don't go through at night as you'll get lost.

Whatever you do don't come through New Jersey. Once you are in NJ you're kind of stuck except for the GWB, in which case you shouldn't have come that way anyway.

Here's an idea, the North and South County trails run all the way to Brewster NY. You could pick that trail up and ride it down to the Bronx, take a short section on the streets from Van Cortland Park to the bridge into Manhattan, and pick up the West Side Greenway at Dyckman/200th Street. That'll take you all the way downtown on a safe mostly non-street route. I just did that on the NYC Century yesterday, except we ended up on the East Side Bikeway, which isn't as nice.

WSKB

So as I understand if you need to know how to get from the world trade center PATH station to the base of Brooklyn Bridge. THis is in fact incredable easy and short!! Get out of the path station, ride up Vesey Street until you hit Broadway. Take Park Row (a slight left turn) and then you at the base of Brooklyn Bridge. Make sure you ride up the middle of Brooklyn bridge with all the pedestrians otherwise you'll end up in the traffic lanes which would not be fun.

Seriously, it's very easy. Just two streets.

ratdog

Use Google Maps and their "street view" option to help you outline a route from the Brooklyn Bridge to Uniondale if you intend to bicycle all the way out. Also keep in mind there are bicycle restrictions depending on which days and hours you are trying to bring you bike through on the PATH trains.

zacster

I have a feeling giving this guy directions from the Path station is totally besides the point. Anybody that can end up in Summit NJ when they are coming to NYC from Maine can't read a map. why would anybody even think to go to NJ to get to NYC from Maine?

I call Troll.

ratdog

Zacster,

The fact that e OP is looking to take mass transit into Manhattan leads me to believe it was not his intent to bicycle all the way to Uniondale so I am assuming there is a reason he is going to Summit, NJ. That's why I am recommending he look at Google Maps which shows streets, bicycle routes and street view to give him a better idea of what these streets look like to put the ball back into his court. If he is a troll, he won't invest his own time in the research, if not then the only additional information he would need is if anyone has a preffered route from the Brooklyn Bridge to Uniondale.

zacster

So, this guy is clever enough to post on a forum this question, but such a bumpkin that he can't look at a Google map? And he has all of 6 posts, 3 of which are in this thread. If he had a good reason, or even a bad reason to go to Summit I'd have thought he'd mention that, but he says "the maps I have for cycling only get me as far as Summit, NJ." All roads lead to NYC, not around it (except for 287).

I'm not trying to be a pita, but we all answered and something didn't make sense.

aixaix 

Zacster, you make a good point. The original post didn't make sense (though that is not unusual here): it is odd the OP would find a route to NY that involved a hook through NJ. I mean, how do you even GET from Maine to Summit, NJ without going through NYC? Go to Toronto and hang a left?

Is this just a ploy to find out who spends way too much time on this forum?

ratdog

Zacster,

We're saying the same thing, my modus operandi though is to put as only as much effort into the answer as the OP as into his own research. It's now on him to take the next step and continue participating if he is not a troll.

njkayaker

Easy. There's no requirement to go through NYC to get to Summit, NJ.

The Summit, NJ thing is odd, since it's way out of the way.

Clearly, he should take a ferry from CT or RI to get to Long Island (if he doesn't need to go to NJ).

bktourer1

Also look into the Rubels Bike Maps for Mass., the free RI bike map, and an online map from Ct. DOT
Check out the NYC Transportation Alternatives site fro maps and bridge crossings.

ED

aixaix 

You are right.
Right again.

You and I need to get away from the internet for a while...

mforrington

So for those of you that offered real advice, thank you. As it ends up, I changed my route to stay in new England for a few extra days, and I'll be taking the ferry from bridgePort on the way in.
For those of you that have been using this as a forum to criticize my intelligence and map reading skills, wow. Not why I posted in here. The maps I was using to get to summit were/are adventure cycling association maps, and I can read them just fine. What you can't see on google maps are which areas are not safe for a young woman to travel thru alone, or which mass transit systems allow bikes (or are even navigable with a fully loaded tour bike), or if there are bike paths that go thru safe areas or some roads that are less well known but great for biking. Also, I'm not trying to explore the city on a fully loaded bike-lll have plenty of opportunities to do that once I meet up with my family in long island. I'm just trying to get there at this point.
I was looking for advice from some helpful locals who know the area, and I appreciate what I got from those people. Those of you that simply used this as a place to criticize me and feel better about yourselves, get a life.

mforrington

I've been on a bike in the mountains all week. Excuse me for not getting back to you soon enough