Now that the Mario Cuomo Tappan Zee Bridge bike path is open, more folks seem interested in riding up the west bank of the Hudson to Nyack, crossing the bridge and exploring Westchester. But then they are stuck; no idea where to go.
I can help with that. I’ve been exploring Westchester for years. I’ve created five routes that will help you explore Westchester without getting lost. When you purchase a ride, you get two files, a PDF file with information like turns and terrain, a GPX file with a route that you can view on your mobile phone, on your computer, on your tablet, or push to a GPX-enabled bike computer.
The Westchester Rides are as follows:
W01 Trailway Up, Water Down. This is a version of the first route I mastered. It heads north to Pleasantville, takes in a loop east of Tarrytown and then tacks along the Hudson much of the way back. The ride starts and finishes in Harlem, is 56 miles long and takes in 3,187’ of climbing.
W02 Trailway Up, Inland Home. This is for people who want to go straight up from the city into the heart of Westchester and then head east before going south to return back to the city. The ride starts and finishes in Harlem, is 54 miles long and takes in 2,605’ of climbing.
W03 The Tarrytown Rockefeller Loop. This is for people who want to do a simple loop in Westchester before heading back over the TZB home. It’s a bit over 16 miles, with nearly 1500’ of climbing.
W04 Tarrytown to the Upper West Side. This is the least-trafficky way back to Manhattan from the TZB. It’s a bit over 29 miles, with over two-thirds of it on paved, off-street bike paths. There’s 1,400’ of climbing, but the biggest hills come at the start and the end.
Seasonal Sunday Spin Special
W05 Bronx River Parkway Loop. This is a seasonal bike ride, only good in Sundays from the first weekend in May to the first weekend in October. Starting and finishing in Harlem, the 40 mile ride takes in the portion of the Bronx River Parkway that Westchester closes for cyclists.
I’m using the mark of my Just Riding Along website for these rides, as the JRA rides are different than the WTBNYC rides. Generally, they’re a good bit longer, and the point of the ride is time on the bike, so I’m not recommending side trips or suggesting how you can get to the start. Yes, there are often places to stop in the middle, but there’s joy to be had pedaling for hours; good eats can always be found at or near home.
More Rides Are Better (lots of rides at a steep discount)
I suggest downloading all five rides, as part of the Wormhole Rides bundle. For one thing, you get a nice price break along with lots of rides in North Jersey. More importantly, it helps give context, kind of in the way that a paper map provides context. One of my frustrations with downloading routes in areas I’m not familiar with is that I feel like I’m in a trench and can’t see what’s on either side of me, creating a little anxiety if, or when, I get off track. By having these different rides, you can see where you are both on the route and relative to other rides. The world is a bit more complete that way. By having multiple rides, you can also explore the area and keep riding fresh.
Your site is confusing. Are the routes really for sale? I can’t find descriptions of the individual routes. Lots of broken links. If you’re really in business, please write me back, and fix your website.
Thanks for reaching out. Your message, along with this page, seemed to have gotten lost for a while.
I did a redesign of the site. That necessitated going through lots of pages and changing/fixing/checking innumberable links. I clearly missed several pages. Thanks for the checking and testing.
With this page, at least, I went though it and think I fixed all the links. Now, I need to go through other pages like this one and check all the links there. Thanks for the heads up.