# Moving to Staten Island



## jpdigital (Dec 1, 2006)

After having been in Brooklyn for a while, my wife & I are moving to Staten Island. Can anyone give me a sense of the cycling scene out there? As I've lived by Prospect Park my time in Brooklyn, the vast majority of my rides have consisted of mindless laps around the Park. But I also lived in other areas of the country where I enjoyed open space, and a lot of rides consisting of 2 stop lights for every 40 miles ridden. I know those days are effectively over as long as I'm in this part of NYC, but how "urban" is Staten Island riding compared to other parts of the region? I'm already looking forward to the hills, and I've already been warned about the motorists unfriendly reputation especially in S.I., but I'd like to get a further idea of just what I'm getting myself into.


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## NJBiker72 (Jul 9, 2011)

Not sure about Staten Island - only biked there for the 5 Borough. But if you can get out to Jersey you can get some great long rural rides in.


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## stoked (Aug 6, 2004)

I don't know much about road riding in SI.

Get a MTB and hit the trails. It is kinda short but good work-out(we used to pull 10 min laps).

Other option is to ride up north across the bridge to Bayonne,Jersey City, Hoboken ,Weehawken, Edgewater,Fort Lee and finally some open road


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## Climbing_Clyde (Jun 16, 2007)

I am actually a native. 
You want my advice, get a mountain bike and hit the greenbelt. There is a nice network of trails connecting Pouch camp, Kaufman camp, Latourette, and on the other side of Rockland ave. You can ride out to the Mall and as far as the college once you know the trails. 

Of course it's not entirely "legal" to ride some of those trails, but that is a discussion for another day. 

I had a road bike when I lived there, these days the island is too small, too crowded and the streets are a mess.


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## jpdigital (Dec 1, 2006)

I'll be living in St. George, would you say the [potential] road riding gets any better once I venture out to the more southern part of the island? And if I were to get into cyclocross or mountain biking, what areas should I look into (aside from the ones mentioned above)?


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## stoked (Aug 6, 2004)

Lewis Morris in Morristown is probably the closest trail for CX and MTB, If you really get into MTB then go to Ringwood, Allamoochy, cannonball. Check out mtbr.com mtbnj.com for more info.


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## rfomenko (Feb 15, 2009)

jpdigital said:


> I'll be living in St. George, would you say the [potential] road riding gets any better once I venture out to the more southern part of the island? And if I were to get into cyclocross or mountain biking, what areas should I look into (aside from the ones mentioned above)?


I live in St. George and the only route that I ride is down Bay Street towards the beach, Great Kills park & back. The rest of it is too much traffic plus narrow & bumpy streets (translation: no fun). Here is the map of rides from SI cycling association:

Staten Island Bike Map

P.S. I'll take the "mindless laps around the Park" any time over any route in SI.


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## jpdigital (Dec 1, 2006)

*Where in NJ?*



NJBiker72 said:


> Not sure about Staten Island - only biked there for the 5 Borough. But if you can get out to Jersey you can get some great long rural rides in.


What parts of New Jersey are rural and relatively accessible from Staten Island?


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## jpdigital (Dec 1, 2006)

rfomenko said:


> I live in St. George and the only route that I ride is down Bay Street towards the beach, Great Kills park & back. The rest of it is too much traffic plus narrow & bumpy streets (translation: no fun). Here is the map of rides from SI cycling association:
> 
> Staten Island Bike Map
> 
> P.S. I'll take the "mindless laps around the Park" any time over any route in SI.


On further review, I'll actually be living in Stapleton. I've had a chance to drive around the island for work this week and have been trying to guage what potential there is for road biking. I've noticed/admired some of the hills around my way, and can't wait to come up with a loop close to home taking in some of the steepness. I'll be satisifed if I can come up with a 5 mile loop I can do five or six times.


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## NJBiker72 (Jul 9, 2011)

jpdigital said:


> What parts of New Jersey are rural and relatively accessible from Staten Island?


I live in Mountainside. Maybe half hour drive from Staten Island and there are great roads heading west from here. Basically the key to NJ is head west or south. I hear the area by Sandy Hook is good to ride but I am not familiar.

Depending how far you want to ride, cross the Goethals and head to Cranford, Westfield or Mountainside. Ride through the Watchung Reservation and go west or nw. The Great Swamp National Park is nice. Peapack, Liberty Corner and Bernardsville have great areas. To really push it head out towards Pottersville and loop back through the Swamp or Jockey Hollow.

Look at a map. Feel free to boubce ideas off me.


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