# How to ride from NYC to CT?



## rushbikes

Does anyone have any advice on bike routes to take from Manhattan up to CT? There are some sites that list bike paths around NYC, but I can't seem to find anything beyond Pelham. I suppose I could just make my way to US1 from there unless people know of a better way up through New Rochelle, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Rye, etc.


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## Ken Roberts

One of the New York City clubs has some routes on www.nycc.org from Manhattan to Greenwich. Those routes stay mostly _away_ from the shore and rt 1 - (which suggests to me that some experienced local riders have concluded that the few nice shore-sound views thru there are not woth the traffic hassle)

East Coast Greenway has a route that tries to stay close to the shore thru Westchester, but I was not impressed by the section that was around the area I explored.

I once found some pretty nice shore riding from Darien CT east toward Bridgeport.
How about taking the train out to Darien (or Greenwich?) and start riding from there?

Ken


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## rushbikes

Hey Ken, thanks for the sage advice! I'll take a look at the NYCC site and see what they recommend up to Greenwich. From there I should be able to wind my way up to Fairfield, which is my ultimate goal, perhaps along the Darien to Bridgeport route that you suggest. I have a house in Fairfield and have wanted to make the trip via bike for some time now.


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## Ken Roberts

Once you're in CT, there's some bike route maps on some state govt website, including some ideas for _not_ riding on rt 1.

For that Sound shore part of Westchester, I wish I did have some "wisdom" -- and could talk about some nice route I know that visits some pretty shoreline views, and with most of the connections between the viewpoints avoiding non-pleasant traffic situations.Maybe some experienced local could share some ideas, even for just part of the way.​But so far, while I have heard some people say they survived riding thru that section of Westchester, I haven't heard from anyone who _enjoyed_ riding there.

Ken


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## Shaggybx

I live by Pelham ,I'm in the Bronx.I cut through New Rochelle up through White Plains to get to Conn.I never go on US1 ,I take the back roads.There are some really nice roads.If you look on a map you'll see by Iona College there's a bike route.I think it's Beechwood.I take that and cut through Saxon Woods Park,after that it's Kennilworth Rd,which will put you by Purchase.Connecticut is right around the corner from there,so is Bedford ,Armonk etc
Hope this helps


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## Ken Roberts

I did some more riding around that part of Westchester. Here's some things I found . . . and I'd be glad for more ideas.

_inland_ -- The inland route I got from the NYCC.org website basically worked for getting from NYC to Greenwich CT -- and I give the club ride leaders good credit for working to create the route.But most of it was not that interesting for me -- not that different from lots of riding which is closer to me - (why not just take the train out to Greenwich or Rye and start riding from there?) I think what's going to motivate me to want to _ride_ thru Westchester county there is . . .​_shore views_ -- There's a number of water views of the Long Island Sound which I checked out. Here's some that I liked from the perspective of "view quality" versus "additional riding effort": 
(a) Horseshoe Harbor + Umbrella Point in Larchmont (accessed from W by Dillon Rd + Pryor Manor Rd, from N by Ocean Av or Larchmont Av).
(b) Five Islands Park in New Rochelle (a.k.a. Oakwood / Harrison islands) -- short ride SE fr rt 1, a little walking on bridges among islands.
(c) there's a county park, but it's for Westchester county residents only, and only good for riding at uncrowded days + times.
(d) Kirby Lane, off Grace Church St on the north end of Rye.more to consider . . . 
* Rye Playland has a boardwalk near the entrance near Forest Av (which is worthwhile road to make miles between NYC + CT)
* Mamaroneck Harbor Park is nice on uncrowded day + time, but it's not near much other nice views or good roads.​_traffic_ -- The biggest danger is lots of parked cars, any one of which might open their door into the traffic lane. Critical for this area is to have a strategy for not getting "doored".

The big question is Route 1, because it's the most direct road. Much of rt 1 thru Westchester county has two traffic lanes in each direction with cars parked on both sides. If you don't have a good strategy for dealing with that, then likely riding along the shore here is not for you -- since avoiding _some_ sections of rt 1 gets complicated, and while some of the alternatives are better, others are not.I saw official greens signs on Route 1 thru Larchmont + north New Rochelle saying that it's a "bike route" - (didn't see those signs in Mamaroneck). I guess whoever put up those official signs didn't think it was worthwhile for bicyclists to try looking for alternate roads - (Maybe they figured that two traffic lanes with parked cars is better than only one traffic lane in each direction with parked cars?)​Notes on some alternatives to rt 1: 
* New Rochelle + Larchmont: Palmer Av had worse + better sections for parked cars and road width.
* Larchmont: Dillon Rd > Pryer Manor > Park Av > Ocean Av has nice riding + views.
* Mamaroneck: Prospect Av > Tomkins Av > Melbourne > Brook > Barry worked well for me riding N-bound (but a steep-uphill intersection S-bound).
* Mamaroneck + Harrison: Halstead Av had worse + better sections for parked cars and road width.
* Rye: Forest Av was nice for me (and the section of rt 1 at the south end of Rye was nicer than other sections) 

I'd be glad for more ideas about riding thru there.

Ken


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