I have been dreaming about the almost-completely-separated bike paths from the Upper West Side to Orchard Beach, in the Bronx, for months now. Today I tried to take them there, and failed. I am much less excited about the route now; it is very haphazard going through the Bronx.
For a little variety, I took Riverside Drive uptown instead of Riverside Park. From 90th Street most of the way to 120th Street, and again from 135th to about 142nd, there is a little service road the separates and rejoins the street, making for little traffic (on top of the little that was there since it was a weekday). Anyway, it is a lightly-traveled road with a pleasant view. At 160th street, you have to take a sharp right and go up a steep hill next to Columbia Presbyterian to avoid getting on the highway (I’ve done it! It’s terrifying!). I then followed this road into Fort Tryon Park, back down the hill there (avoid this on the weekends or in good weather as you will have a lot of “obstacles”).
From there, I was at Dyckman Street and Broadway. I took Broadway up into the Bronx; this is an awful route, with some of the most aggressive drivers New York has to offer. A good alternative I took last month is to go west to the river one block up. You will have to carry your bike up stairs over the train tracks, but you will also be in Inwood Park, which is beautiful but hilly, and this takes you right under the Henry Hudson Bridge (and, some day, over it). You’ll come out of the park at the tip of the island, and then just head east to Broadway.
Once over the Broadway Bridge, I made the 2nd left onto 228th and then followed the on-street bike path along Tibbett Avenue to Van Cortlandt. I actually made the first of many wrong turns, this time going east to Broadway when Tibbett dead-ends in an athletic field, and then along Broadway and then into the park. Nothing wrong with it except that I hit a busy intersection. The official bike map has you go north and west before coming back again. Then into the park. I would probably actually recommend avoiding the park if you’re taking this route, as it is hilly, roundabout, and not designed with bikes in mind.
My first interaction with the park was seeing a man peeing on a tree near the entrance. My second was that the marked trails are not bike trails at all. My route took me past the entrance to the golf course, in a loop around a cloverleaf (like I’m a car!), and up a big hill alongside the Moshulu Parkway south again. This landed me, after going twice as far as necessary, back at the southern edge of the park (hence my recommendation to avoid). I then rode on the service road of the Moshulu, since the “separated bike lane” appeared to be a sidewalk.
Once the parkway hits the Bronx Park just beyond the Botanical Garden, I had to cross the dead-end Moshulu (I recommend you cross over to the north/east side of the street before this happens, as one turn lane has no stop light or stop sign and I just had to jump in front of a car to cross.
Continuing the trend, there was a short dedicated bike path that turned back into a sidewalk across the Bronx River Parkway, and then another sidewalk-cum-bike path south through the Bronx Park. Finally, east on Pelham Parkway on yet another sidewalk. Unfortunately, this sidewalk is well-trafficked (who can blame them for the lovely scenery!). Your best bet here is to stick to the service road on the south side of the parkway.
However, instead of taking that advice, I bailed and took Lurting Street south. The weather was getting bad and it looked like it might rain, and I was already about 15 miles into the ride with only a crummy and round-about route back. Therefore, in my wisdom, I took a completely unfamiliar route back to “save time”. My route took me generally south and west, however my sense of direction does not carry over from Manhattan, as I ended up almost directly south in Castle Hill; I was under the impression that Zerega and Havemeyer Avenues in Castle Hill (in the little peninsula west of the Throgs Neck and Whitestone Bridges) go east-west. However, the map indicates they go north-south; perhaps the beginning of my trouble was taking a Branch in the curving Westchester Avenue despite its being a north-south road in my mind. In fact, the best route back is either along or parallel to Westchester Avenue or East Tremont Avenue.
Regardless, I discovered the lovely, isolated neighborhoods of Castle Hill and Soundview. They have spectacular views of the Whitestone Bridge and of Manhattan, respectively. I also rode several miles through Soundview Park on a solitary bike path along the Bronx River. Finally, I found my way back to the Bruckner Expressway and across the Bronx River. Unfortunately, the Bruckner also had a flat tire in store for me. Once I discovered I was riding on rims (there was no blowout; my tire just had a puncture that gradually ran out), I walked my bike a few minutes to the 6 train at Hunts Point. I got probably the last express into Manhattan at this point (bypassing half a dozen stations), and got the flat fixed on the Upper East Side before riding home.
I was very lucky the flat came so close to an escape route; had I gotten the flat in the park in Soundview, I would have been several miles from the train and from a bike shop. That’s a real downer when the weather is about to change or if you’re in a crummy neighborhood (as Hunts Point is generally recognized to be). As a result, I just got a flat-fix kit: a spare, tire irons, and a canister of pressurized air (since a pump won’t attach to my frame). Since my back tire is not a quick release, I also went to the hardware store and got a 15mm wrench and cut off one end so it would fit in the bag. (Perhaps it would have been better to get an adjustable one so I could fix other people’s tires.) As a bonus, the seat bag also has space for a digital camera: just another thing to purchase!
