24
Sep
12 Minute Read
12 Minute Read
When most people think about New York City, I don’t think “ride your bike” is one of them. But that doesn’t mean it is a bad place to ride your bike. It’s actually kind of awesome.
NYC truly has something for everyone, whether it be the food, the endless nightlife, the broadway shows, or any thousand other things going on there on any random day.
I happened to be there in August 2025 for a tech conference, GopherCon (a conference dedicated to the Golang programming language, which I am a huge proponent for), and opted to extend the trip a bit more to explore the city, mostly by bicycle.
Over the past few years, the city has been really aggressive in expanding its bicycle infrasturcture network. And it shows. The NYC DOT (Department of Transportation) has bunch of active cycling projects listed on their website, and this, along with the network I witnessed, was far more comprehensive than I expected it to be!
There were just SO many people out riding their bikes - most weren’t of the road bike or even mountain bike variety, it was clear that most were simply commuters or joyriders. It made for a chaotic cacophony of sound, smells, and interesting visuals, and it all just simply worked. Fascinating!
I found this really interesting because most of my exposure to traveling with my bike has been to destinations where people go to ride epic routes and explore. This time, however, I was sharing the road with a bunch of locals who were using the newly created infrastructure to simply get around.
I felt initially quite apprehensive about riding in NYC, since “the yellow ones don’t stop” and there are pedestrians, bikes, cars, and noise everywhere.
During my first ride, however, after some time getting into the swing of things, I acclimated quickly. I found myself becoming far more aware of potential blind spots, pedestrians making certain decisions or moves, and seeing behavior that could help me quickly understand if these were tourists who were making far less predictable moves than the locals.
It’s funny how that works. In the big city, people get used to a certain rhythm, and they have their own “code” or rules that you see when it comes to navigating the busy sidewalks. It translates to how they drive and how they ride. Surprisingly, I found it easy to pick up on and I also found myself becoming annoyed at “all the damn tourists” when navigating the more particularly touristy spots like Times Square or the Financial District.
While the conference was amazing, the bagels were “chewy” enough, and getting stuck inside a stairwell at the Empire State Building was mildly terrifying, I want to stay on topic. I mean, this is a bike blog after all!
One of the experiences I won’t ever forgot was at dusk during the last part of my first day of riding where I found myself riding down 7th back to my hotel. Little did I realize that it would take me straight through the heart of Times Square with approximately a billion other people.
I followed a few food delivery cyclists (a common thing there) and began to take courage and, dare I say, enjoyment in pacing them a bit. With so many people lining the sidewalks and spilling out over into the bike lanes, I actually felt far safer being in the middle of the road, taking the lane in one of the busiest streets in one of the busiest cities in the world. Lit up by the massive LED advertisements of Times Square, it truly was an experience, one that I’m so glad I had.
Biking in large, crazy cities is enthralling once you get a hang for how the city functions a bit. It’s an interesting social dynamic that I’m sure I could go on and on about.
I definitely want to shout out to the folks running the Rapha shop in NYC!
Everyone I interacted with were so friendly and really loved that I was renting a bike from them as a fellow ride leader from another Rapha chapter. It was genuinely inspiring to feel part of a community, one that we have here in SF, but to a far lesser extent.
Let’s also not forget to mention that my bike rental from Rapha was truly spectacular - a brand new David Carson edition of the Factor Monza that had literally just come out. I was actually the first one to rent this bike, as previously the only riders on it were for photo / demo purposes to showcase the uniqueness of this particular frame.
It was set up with SRAM, meaning that I would use my left shifter to shift down to an easier gear, while the right one shifted into a harder one. Clicking both shifts the front cog. An interesting set up that I think is quite intuitive, considering that I tend to think that way for several days after riding a bike equipped with SRAM.
I opted to join a Saturday “newbie” ride (I wasn’t up to riding 100 miles to [Bear Mountain(https://maps.app.goo.gl/pBeB1RF42VHnxydM6)] that day!) and was immediately met with chatter in the app welcoming me to the city amongst offers to provide recommendations on where to eat, what to see, etc. The ride leader that day, Angelo, proved to be very friendly and helpful in ways that were both bike related and not.
Since the ride started just across the George Washington Bridge over in New Jersey (as most do) at Strictly Bicycles, I also had several invitations to meet up near Central Park to help shepherd me to the start so as to not get lost. I would have been fine to get there on my own, but it was really nice to have the locals take me their preferred way, which is always nice.
From there, we spent the majority of the day riding together, chatting and discussing what life is like out there, what people do for work and for fun, that sort of thing. The ride took us north through New Jersey, following the Hudson river, up to a Coffee Ride Cafe in Nyack. This coffee shop had probably the most bikes I’ve even seen occupy the outside of a coffee shop anywhere I’ve ever been. Pretty crazy.
Along the way I got to know a new friend who is, curiously enough, moving to Orange County soon. My old neck of the woods! I always love finding commonality with people in new and interesting places - it’s something that helps you realize that in today’s modern society, the world isn’t so big and divided as we all think it is.
Since there is so much city to get through in New York, there aren’t really a lot of places to go for longer, more extended bike riding without having to stop at traffic lights or for pedestrians. This is where Central and Prospect Park come in!
Sadly enough, I don’t have many pictures of these from when I rode through them both, but let me just say this about them both - they’re hilariously fun to ride on a bike! And if you stop for a bit, you can even see the famous Central Park Zoo.
You ride counter-clockwise through both parks, and you can legitimately bike them without stopping. And as many times as you want. Central Park is of course far more crowded, but if you ride it during the magic 7-8pm hour in the summer (as I did), you won’t see any cars, nor will you see too many pedestrians. It’ll just be you and hundreds (yes, hundreds) of other riders! It was like riding a formal, organized event in a way. The few pedestrians I saw looked out of place and seemed far more terrified of us than we were of them.
Prospect Park is a slightly smaller, but nearly equivalent situation over in Brooklyn that the locals like to do when they need a good workout.
What makes both parks fun besides their unobstructed lanes and their natural beauty is its undulation. On the way south to north, both parks gradually go uphill, whereas on the way back around north to south, it generally goes downhill. You can get some really good speed through here, and with the very gradual 4-5% gradient, you can basically ride as hard or as easy as you want.
I thoroughly enjoyed both parks, and made an effort to ride each of them more than once.
Oh, the bridges of New York City. I find them so fascinating because, while we have one really iconic one here in the Bay Area, NYC has several.
Most of the popular ones connect the island of Manhattan to the other burroughs of NYC, most notably Brooklyn, where a lot of people choose to live and has its own vibe. A lot of brownstone housing and slightly more of a suburb compared to Manhattan. I was impressed by how well connected all the bike paths are through there, and just how seamless it is to ride through to each of them - assuming you know where you’re going of course!
Each bridge has its own “style” to it, some wider than others, each with varying degrees of how approachable its entrances are. I personally liked the Queensboro bridge the most, but the eastern approach (going west) of the Brooklyn Bridge was spectacular, too, because of the iconic view of the bridge itself while riding towards its pillars.
Take note though, the “original” bike path that traversed the top span of the Brooklyn Bridge is now pedestrian only, which helps with traffic flow much better. So no need to sing the Bike Lane Song as you navigate the masses of people!
At first it was a bit confusing to me, despite having familiarized myself with the region via Google Maps, but the distances in NYC are actually quite small. This meant me stopping a lot to check to make sure I hadn’t missed something! And in fact, on the final day of riding where I rode a bit further out east, I decided to wander a bit off course, which took me through to some spots that I really enjoyed in Brooklyn.
There truly is so much to experience in NYC!
Even further out, when following a route a buddy of mine gave me, I was impressed by just how many bike paths existed, despite the annoying headwind I had that day. A few spots, despite having to rattle along old cobbled streets, took me to really interesting lookout points in generally empty areas with no tourists or traffic.
Writing all this out makes me wax poetic - what are the stories associated with each of these places? How did this train car come to be here, at its final resting point? Why all the graffiti on it? What stories do these petroglyphs contain?
Okay, petroglyphs is just hyperbole at this point. But my general point remains!
Regardless, riding out to Coney Island was an interesting adventure that day, one that I’m glad I experienced!
I chose to not put these first (like I normally do) because I was hoping to convey a certain vibe or feeling I had from this trip.
Since New York isn’t exactly the first on cyclist’s mind when it comes to riding, I found myself pleasantly surprised at how well it all just works together. I’ve recently become quite interested in city infrastructure design and transforming any American city is a task unto itself these days.
But in transforming NYC, given how old and entrenched I thought it was, I was really shocked how well designed it felt. Mind you, it isn’t Amsterdam of course, so there are tons of spots that showcase weird chokepoints or unclear signage, but for a US city, it really is quite a commuter’s dream. Especially so when coupled with its world-class subway system!
Regardless, I’m also a guy who likes analytics and maps, so below are all the details directly from Strava for the three different rides I did over that weekend.
This was the day where I picked up the bike from the Rapha shop and then rode from there, small backpack in tow. I don’t think I expected to ride as far as I did that day, but it was a great introduction to the area!
Basically this is a great route if you want to hit all the major bridges, see some great views of Manhattan, and explore just a little bit of Brooklyn.
Starting from my hotel in Midtown Manhattan, I rode up to Central Park to meet a few Rapha folks, taking a half loop through Central Park. On that particular day, there was an official 10k run going on, done in preparation for the more formal NYC Marathon. The energy was palpable that morning, and we spent time dodging a few runners and a couple others who chose to swim upstream to the pack.
They took me up past Harlem Hill and over the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey where we met at Strictly Bicycles, where we were joined by several other riders. It was from there where we rode all the way up to Nyack, a very quaint, Americana town with a fabulous coffee shop and beautiful views over the Hudson river.
Just make sure to ride single file along the water on the way back from Nyack, apparently it’s something you can be cited for not doing!
In the true sense of exploring, this one took me over both the Brooklyn and Queensboro bridges and went deeper into Brooklyn, following a bike path along the waterfront all the way to Coney Island. It’s an interesting place that reminded me a lot of the Santa Cruz boardwalk, but with a few stereotypes in full force.
And, of course, the famous Nathan’s hotdogs.
New York City is really quite a unique place, especially when explored by bicycle. Riding / racing there may not be the typical adventure you’ll find in Europe or in the Bay Area, but it has its own heart and soul, with a frenetic pace that weirdly puts you at ease. Everyone is doing everything everywhere all at once, so it’s up to you to decide what pace you want to take and when - someone will be there to match you.
So with that in mind, if you explore the city by bike with some good people, the Big Apple doesn’t seem so “big” after all!
