Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5 Recreation in the City
Bike Gangs
Biking makes a virtue of New York's hard paved surfaces, turning our miles of roadway into recreational op-
portunities. One of the best ways to take advantage is by banding up with fellow riders. If you're not yet of the
wheeled class, consider checking out
Recycle-A-Bicycle.
This nonprofit sells refurbished rides at low prices from
two retail locations (p. 206).
Bike and Roll
(
212/260-0400;
www.bikenewyorkcity.com
) holds down prime loc-
ations for picking up rentals. A full day of basic-bike pedaling is $25 on Governors Island, and $34 to $44 in parks
around Brooklyn and Manhattan. (The weekly rate of $130 is more cost-effective.) Even cheaper wheels come
from
Citi Bike
(
www.citibikenyc.com
)
, a new program designed for short-ride access all across the city, which
was set to premiere in the spring of 2012, then summer of 2012, but as of press time still hadn't kicked of. As we
went to press, the yet-again-revised date for the rollout was March 2013! (We'll believe it when we see it.) There
are supposed to be 7,000 self-serve bikes scattered around 420 city stations. To keep bike hoarding to a minimum,
there's no additional charge for rides of 30 minutes or less. (Keep the bike an extra half-hour and it's $2.50 to $4,
depending on your membership level; any longer than that and the penalty gets pretty stiff pretty quick.) Access
passes run from 24 hours ($9.95) to 7 days ($25) to a full year ($95, or just a tad more than a quarter a day). The
one catch is that you've got to tool around town with the Citibank logo on your ride. At least on a bike, it's easy
to pass for a member of the 99%.
Fast and Fab
Whether you're a fast rider or a fabulous rider, or both, this LGBT biking group will welcome you.
Annual membership is $30 ($20 if you join after May 1, and only $10 after Sept 1), but it'll get you invites to a
series of rides around the city and out of town (say, a day trip to DIA Beacon). Intermediate cyclists are the target
group. Meals and socializing often follow the rides.
212/567-7160.
www.fastnfab.org
.
Five Borough Bicycle Club
This friendly club hosts a slew of day trips in and around the city. Beaches,
the Bronx greenways, and Woodlawn Cemetery are among the attractions. The club runs some great tune-ups
(as long as 90 miles) leading up to the 100 miles of the annual Montauk Century ride in May. Registration for day
rides isn't necessary; just show up with water and wheels (the trip is free except for lunch money). A year's dues
to join the club aren't particularly onerous at $20.
347/688-2925.
www.5bbc.org
.
Warriors, Come Out to Play
“Geek Olympics” is probably an unfair way of summarizing the
Come Out & Play
street game festival. Technology does
lend a major hand, with laptops and cellphones performing various tracking functions, but the event is more about playful
use of public space than Internet addicts blinking their eyes against the harsh imposition of daylight. Urban minigolf, human
Pong, and citywide scavenger hunts are among the draws, which fill a long weekend, usually in July. Check
www.comeoutandplay.org
for a schedule of games, or to volunteer one of your own.
646/807-8131;
various locations.
TIME'S UP!
This environmental group sponsors several well-organized rides. The most well known
is
Critical Mass,
held on the last Friday of every month and taking place simultaneously in over 300 cities world-
wide. The ride is designed to raise consciousness about environmental alternatives and biker rights. It's fun for
sidewalk spectators, too, who can watch every kind of bike and bike-rider pedal past to a chorus of perversely
gratifying taxi horns. The route varies, usually starting from the north side of Union Square (the Brooklyn ver-
sion goes of the second Fri of the month from Grand Army Plaza). TIME'S UP! also hosts rides on tri-state rural
routes, but the best trip to the country comes on the first Friday of the month. The
Central Park Moonlight Ride
shows of the water and trees and general tranquillity of the park at night. With guides riding point and taking up
the rear, it's a safe and leisurely pedal. Rollerbladers with at least intermediate skills are welcome, too. The ride
