On my recent trips to East Asian cities I’ve started to include a bike ride; I thought I’d continue this trend in New York, although I’ve always found the local traffic and driving style pretty alarming. I also realised that I’ve devoted too much time to Manhattan, at the expense of Brooklyn, on previous trips.
The Bike And Roll location just off the Bowery is easy to find and Mark was an excellent, enthusiastic and very well organised guide, preparing the bikes, helmets and water for us in good time and with no fuss. Mark was also full of useful information, stories and opinions. He’s clearly someone who knows his city and its history very well.
The ride took us through the Lower East Side, over the Manhattan Bridge, into Brooklyn and back over the Brooklyn Bridge and through Battery Park. We called in at two Brooklyn neighbourhoods, the preposterously-named, recently gentrified and very attractive DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) and the older, ‘upscale’ Brooklyn Heights, for some excellent photo opportunities across the river to Manhattan. As I’ve learned on this trip, though, Brooklyn is a very worthy destination in and of itself; it’s not just somewhere to look across the river from.
The tour would be worthwhile just for the two bridges, although there’s so much more to it. I’ve walked across the Brooklyn Bridge many times but don’t recall crossing via the Manhattan Bridge before. Obviously, the views from both are spectacular. They each have enough of an incline before the first tower to make you feel like you’re doing some real exercise, and you’ll have a degree of fun dodging the many pedestrians, scooter riders etc who are incapable of following the rules.
There’s no point where the traffic feels dangerous. Surprisingly, I found most vehicle drivers to be considerate (I didn’t get beeped once) and many parts of the route have dedicated bike lanes.
Strongly recommended if you wish to take a break from walking or the acquired-taste Metro system...three hours of fresh air and less familiar views, a fair degree of exercise and some great local knowledge.