Short Bike Rides in and Around New York City


Book Description

For the avid cyclist or for the family planning a weekend activity these carefully slected well-researched routes are appropriate for everyone




Bike NYC


Book Description

With an average of 236,000 New Yorkers biking per day, Bike NYC is the definitive guide to bicycling culture in the city’s fastest growing mode of transportation from the authors of the popular BikeBlogNYC.com. Part guidebook, photo essay, history and human-interest story, this book offers instructions for a dozen rides led by seasoned tour guides through all of the five boroughs. Rediscover the city and its biking culture through: • A scenic trip up the Hudson during the peak of the fall foliage • A Halloween night ride through the brownstones of Brooklyn to the parallel universe of the Kensington mansions • NYC bike clubs such as the Classic Rider • Front row seats to the Alley Cat races With extras such as maps, safety tips, bike shop rankings, public bathroom locations, accessories, and fashion dos and don’ts, Bike NYC is the essential guide for urban cyclists.




On Bicycles


Book Description

Subways and yellow taxis may be the icons of New York transportation, but it is the bicycle that has the longest claim to New York’s streets: two hundred years and counting. Never has it taken to the streets without controversy: 1819 was the year of the city’s first bicycle and also its first bicycle ban. Debates around the bicycle’s place in city life have been so persistent not just because of its many uses—recreation, sport, transportation, business—but because of changing conceptions of who cyclists are. In On Bicycles, Evan Friss traces the colorful and fraught history of cycling in New York City. He uncovers the bicycle’s place in the city over time, showing how it has served as a mirror of the city’s changing social, economic, infrastructural, and cultural politics since it first appeared. It has been central, as when horse-drawn carriages shared the road with bicycle lanes in the 1890s; peripheral, when Robert Moses’s car-centric vision made room for bicycles only as recreation; and aggressively marginalized, when Ed Koch’s battle against bike messengers culminated in the short-lived 1987 Midtown Bike Ban. On Bicycles illuminates how the city as we know it today—veined with over a thousand miles of bicycle lanes—reflects a fitful journey powered, and opposed, by New York City’s people and its politics.




Take Your Bike!


Book Description

Enjoy safe bicycling, away from cars, on 40 trails among the lakes of upstate New York. Ride deep into forests or explore forgotten paths on hard-packed abandoned railroad beds, remote forest service roads, and paved bike trails.




Cycling the Erie Canal, Fifth Edition


Book Description

The Erie Canalway Trail is a cycling destination for riders of all abilities. Following one of the world's most famous manmade waterways, it spans New York State between Albany and Buffalo. Whether enjoying a leisurely ride from one village to another, or spending a week completing the entire 360 miles, the Erie Canalway Trail offers endless adventures exploring the charming towns, living history, scenic beauty, and cultural attractions of New York State. The trail route follows both active and historic sections of the Erie Canal. For several decades now, state and local governments have been transforming the old towpath and abandoned rail corridor into a 360-mile multi-use pathway. The guidebook is designed primarily for use by bicyclists, but it is also useful for those planning to enjoy the trail on foot, travelling the canal system by boat, or visiting the Canal corridor's many sites by car. The fifth edition includes information on the statewide 750-mile Empire State Trail, which the Erie Canalway Trail is now part of; updated maps, trail routing, and surface conditions; and an updated, comprehensive listing of attractions, historic sites, visitor centers, public transportation options, easily accessible lodging, bike shops, parking, and other services. This guide is an indispensable resource for dedicated cyclists planning to bike across the state or the casual rider looking to take the family out for a couple of hours.




Best Bike Rides New York City


Book Description

Best Bike Rides New York City describes more than 40 of the greatest recreational rides in New York City. Road rides, rail trails, bike paths, and single-track mountain bike rides all get included. Most rides are in the 5 to 30 mile range, allowing for great afternoon outings and family adventures.




Best Bike Rides Long Island


Book Description

Best Bike Rides Long Island describes 40 of the greatest recreational rides in the Long Island area. Road rides, rail rides, bike paths, and single-track mountain bike rides all get included. Most rides are in the 5- to 35- mile range, allowing for great afternoon outings and family adventures (though there are plenty of challenging rides in the mix as well). Best Bike Rides Long Island includes a map of each ride, a log of significant mile points, a text description of the ride, a start-finish point with nearby motor vehicle parking, the GPS coordinates of the start-finish point, and color photos of one of the rides features. Also included is information on local restaurants, lodging, maps, bicycle shops, other facilities for cyclists, and community resources.




Life Is a Wheel


Book Description

"Based on his popular series in the New York Times chronicling his cross-country bicycle trip, bestselling author Bruce Weber shares his adventures from his solo ride across the USA. Riding a bicycle across the US is one of those bucket-list goals that many dream about but few achieve. Bestselling author and New York Times reporter Bruce Weber made the trip, solo, over the summer and fall of 2011--at the age of fifty-seven. Expanding upon his popular series published in The New York Times, Life Is a Wheel is the witty and inspiring account of his journey, where he extols the pleasures of cycling and reflects on what happened on his adventure, in the world, in the country, and in his life. The story begins on the Oregon coast with a middle-aged man wondering what he's gotten himself into and ends in triumph on the George Washington Bridge, wondering how soon he might try it again. Part travelogue, part memoir, part paean to the bicycle as a simple and elegant mode of both mobility and self-expression--and part wry and panicky account of a fifty-seven-year-old man's attempt to stave off mortality--Life Is a Wheel is an elegant and entertaining escape for any armchair traveler"--




Bike Snob


Book Description

“Equal parts critical manifesto and tender mini-memoir about a boy and his bikes” from Eben Weiss, blogger and author of The Enlightened Cyclist (GQ). Cycling is exploding in a good way. Urbanites everywhere, from ironic hipsters to earth-conscious commuters, are taking to the bike like aquatic mammals to water. BikeSnobNYC—cycling’s most prolific, well-known, hilarious, and anonymous blogger—brings a fresh and humorous perspective to the most important vehicle to hit personal transportation since the horse. Bike Snob treats readers to a laugh-out-loud rant and rave about the world of bikes and their riders and offers a unique look at the ins and outs of cycling, from its history and hallmarks to its wide range of bizarre practitioners. Throughout, the author lampoons the missteps, pretensions, and absurdities of bike culture while maintaining a contagious enthusiasm for cycling itself. Bike Snob is an essential volume for anyone who knows, is, or wants to become a cyclist. “This is a social manual that should be bundled with every bike shipped in America.” —Christian Lander, author of Stuff White People Like “I like to think I know a thing or two (or three) about being ruthless and relentless—either trying to win the Tour or fighting cancer. The Snob knows it too. Keeping us dorks in line is tough work. I take pleasure in getting picked on by the Snob, slightly more pleasure in reading his writing, but take the most pleasure punishing his ass (my payback) on the bike either in Central Park or on 9W/River Road. Long live the Snob.” —Lance Armstrong




Connecticut by Bicycle


Book Description

This is the first full-color guide to the state of Connecticut by road bike for the moderate-level rider. It will also be useful to anyone looking for scenic routes throughout the state, although bicycle riding affords the luxury of a slower pace in the open air. With an introduction to riding and to the resources available, the book covers six diverse geographical regions of Connecticut in fifty rides. Each ride is represented by a four-page spread with color photographs of the sights, a narrative description, a map, and a concise cue sheet with directions and mileage. The rides focus on the rich historical sites; the enterprise of Connecticut's people; and the great natural resources of the Long Island Sound, Connecticut's rivers, lakes, creeks, and the hills of the Berkshires. Routes also take you through farms, picturesque small villages, city streets, forests, and bogs to view the flora and fauna of the state.