As I think I’ve mentioned a couple of times before, I sadly ride little enough nowadays that I usually tell people that cycling used to be one of my hobbies. But every once in a while, I feel some nostalgic longing to be back on the bike, to feel a gentle breeze across my face as I glide along the pavement. There are few pleasures in life as simple and pure as exploring the world on two wheels, and that simplicity can be comforting amidst the complexities of life.
Finding myself with a free Saturday, this nostalgia brought me to finally check off a New York bucket list item: completing the classic loop up along the Hudson to Nyack and back. This is probably the definitive NYC-area bike ride; I doubt you’ll find many serious cyclists in the city who have not done it before. I actually tried to do this route once before back in May, but I bailed and took the subway home at Van Cortlandt Park after getting caught in a torrential downpour somewhere in Westchester.
My overall review: the ride was slightly hillier than I’d expected, clocking in at 3,230 ft of elevation gain. Though not crazy by the standards of some of the rides I used to do back in Pittsburgh, my lack of cycling fitness stemming from years of not riding much made this very hard on my legs. The ride was also generally less scenic than I’d imagined, although I may have deviated from the typical route a bit. Anyway, below are some details on how the ride went.
I started off as I normally do on bikes rides these days: taking Riverside Drive up the west side of Manhattan, before crossing over to New Jersey at the George Washington Bridge. I actually prefer this route to the Hudson River Greenway, because you get to avoid the pedestrian traffic on the trail.
After crossing into New Jersey, there are two parallel routes north: Henry Hudson Drive (a narrow road by the river), and 9W (a highway). I generally prefer Henry Hudson Drive, as it’s a lot more scenic, but unfortunately, I found out that Henry Hudson Drive was closed from about half-way up, so I was forced to double back and take 9W instead. It’s a shame, because that road, sandwiched between the sheer rock walls of the Palisades and the wide Hudson River, is one of my favorite places to ride in the entire New York metro area.
I stopped for a burger at the classic roadside market on 9W, just north of the New York–New Jersey border. It’s a very popular spot among local cyclists; if you go basically anytime on a weekend with good weather, you’re bound to see other cyclists. The burger was good as usual, but I learned from last time and passed on the fries. (Last time, I was so ridiculously full after eating all the fries that I had to sit and digest for a bit before I could continue the ride.)
I also learned from last time and did not make a wrong turn onto the highway when approaching the Tappan Zee Bridge.1 I found the correct route onto the bridge via the trail, and rode it back across to the east side of the Hudson. You know, that bridge has always confused me: it seems to have been built on the widest part of the Hudson, whereas I intuitively would’ve expected that you’d want to build a bridge across the narrowest part of a river.
After getting back over the river, I rode back down toward the city through Westchester and Yonkers, mostly taking Broadway down. I honestly don’t really enjoy this part of the route that much (it’s mostly boring suburban riding), but I’ve since found out that the South County Trailway runs more or less parallel to the road and is supposedly quite pleasant, so maybe I’ll try taking that next time.
Finally, I arrived in the Bronx, where I rode underneath the 1 subway line (which is above street level in the Bronx) all the way into Manhattan. This majorly sucked, and I will probably try to find an alternative route next time. From there, I basically reversed the riding from earlier in the day, heading down Riverside Drive to midtown. This is typically a very pleasant ride with fresh legs, but my legs had been gone since Yonkers, so I was severely suffering. But, I managed to make it home, where I proceeded to experience a craving for fresh fruit so strong that even before showering, I had to head over to Whole Foods to buy some apples. Sometimes cycling-induced exhaustion leaves me with the strangest cravings.
No, I’m not calling the Cuomo Bridge.↩︎
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