Long Island Question?

[Likes2ridefar]

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[peanutgallery]

On the way to my summer weekend compound...central islap is merely flyover country

[MerckxMad]

From Central Islip, head north through Happauge to Smithtown to Nissaquoge. Stay off the main roads. Once you’re on the north shore you can head east for flat, suburban/rural roads ands water views. Going in and out of the many harbors makes for fun weekend rides. During harvest, be careful of the winery traffic on the North Fork.

[htwoopup]

To start with the bad..even though my Mom taught me if you have nothing good to say don't say it. And, it is all ATMO...

I lived in Babylon for a few years. Long Island is the single flattest/ ugliest places to ride in the world. That and it is absolutely taking your life in your hands on the road. No lie, I once got hit by a guy in a BMW who was texting and driving...WHILE HE WAS IN REVERSE BACKING UP...and he yelled at me for not getting out of his way...in front of the Babylon Bike Shop. Oh, and Long Island has more trash thrown on the roadside and in the road cloverleafs of any place in the world I have ever been so be careful running over it on the too small (if even existent) shoulders or actually being hit by someone throwing a bag from McD's out the window (ask me how I know).

Oh, and did I mention that it has the highest per capita number of lifted pickup trucks who think it is fun to roll coal at every cyclist they pass of anywhere in the world that I have ever ridden? And they also think it is fun to make sure to cut in front of you with literally a couple of inches to spare even if you are on a shoulder (there are a few roads with potholed shoulders here and there).

But as, @verticaldoug said above, go out east to Riverhead and pick North Fork or South Fork. But be careful..the drivers are totally not paying attention and also feel very entitled and that cyclists belong in playgrounds (as I was yelled that on several occasions).

And, Krebs bike shop (as noted above) has some serious cyclists and good group rides. They are in Bellport so not too bad from CI (drive to it which is sacrilege but safer and saner). Also, try Suffolk Bike Ride Association (https://www.sbraweb.org) which has some routes plotted out and organized rides.

[fmradio516]

dont hold back! tell us how you really feel!

[fiamme red]

Originally Posted by htwoopup

Oh, and did I mention that it has the highest per capita number of lifted pickup trucks who think it is fun to roll coal at every cyclist they pass of anywhere in the world that I have ever ridden? And they also think it is fun to make sure to cut in front of you with literally a couple of inches to spare even if you are on a shoulder (there are a few roads with potholed shoulders here and there).

I've ridden many times on the island, and have never had anyone in a pickup roll coal at me. That's much more likely to happen in a rural area, in my experience.

I'm not saying that Long Island is one of the best places in America to ride. It's crowded for sure. But there are many cyclists, and there's always a good way to get from one place to another by bike; you just have to know which roads to avoid.

[htwoopup]

Originally Posted by fiamme red

I've ridden many times on the island, and have never had anyone in a pickup roll coal at me. That's much more likely to happen in a rural area, in my experience.

I'm not saying that Long Island is one of the best places in America to ride. It's crowded for sure. But there are many cyclists, and there's always a good way to get from one place to another by bike; you just have to know which roads to avoid.

You are lucky. Have had it happen on Union Blvd in Bay Shore, Brentwood Road in Bay Shore, Union Blvd and Montauk Highway (27A) in Islip, Montauk Highway in Sayville, East Islip, Patchogue. I wouldn't consider any of those rural. And, Union Blvd is a marked shared bike route as is Montauk Highway east of Islip near Great River. But, it may be a South Shore Suffolk County thing. Oddly, I have never had it happen out on the East End which is more rural and can be beautiful (as opposed to the suburban sprawl/ strip mails of the aforementioned towns).

Actually, typing Great River...there is another place for the OP to ride...go down past Timber Point Golf Club (it is a pretty residential area near there) and down into Hecksher State Park. You can do loops around the park. Flat but safe and kinda pretty. And in one direction or the other you will be riding into the wind which on some days can be like riding a hill I guess.

[fmradio516]

Originally Posted by htwoopup

You are lucky. Have had it happen on Union Blvd in Bay Shore, Brentwood Road in Bay Shore, Union Blvd and Montauk Highway (27A) in Islip, Montauk Highway in Sayville, East Islip, Patchogue. I wouldn't consider any of those rural. And, Union Blvd is a marked shared bike route as is Montauk Highway east of Islip near Great River. But, it may be a South Shore Suffolk County thing. Oddly, I have never had it happen out on the East End which is more rural and can be beautiful (as opposed to the suburban sprawl/ strip mails of the aforementioned towns).

Actually, typing Great River...there is another place for the OP to ride...go down past Timber Point Golf Club (it is a pretty residential area near there) and down into Hecksher State Park. You can do loops around the park. Flat but safe and kinda pretty. And in one direction or the other you will be riding into the wind which on some days can be like riding a hill I guess.

I was gonna say, it definitely sounds like a suffolk county thing. Lot of young people in pick up trucks with trump flags waving in the flat beds.

Stick to either nassau county or further out east.

[jemdet]

I grew up on the north shore. You can rack up elevation on the steep north shore hills. Snake Hill, Mill Hill, etc. Plenty of steep 100-200 footers.

The area between Roslyn and Northport is good for riding. Ladentown, Sea Cliff, Mill Neck, Oyster Bay, Cold Spring Harbor, Huntington, even a little trip up to Lloyd Harbor or Asharoken.

Middle / south island stuff just sucks. Windy, traffic, flat as a pancake. It's the worst of all worlds. May as well go take a ride on Route 1.

[fmradio516]

Originally Posted by jemdet

I grew up on the north shore. You can rack up elevation on the steep north shore hills. Snake Hill, Mill Hill, etc. Plenty of steep 100-200 footers.

The area between Roslyn and Northport is good for riding. Ladentown, Sea Cliff, Mill Neck, Oyster Bay, Cold Spring Harbor, Huntington, even a little trip up to Lloyd Harbor or Asharoken.

Middle / south island stuff just sucks. Windy, traffic, flat as a pancake. It's the worst of all worlds. May as well go take a ride on Route 1.

Nice - i grew up in glen cove. Theres definitely good, scenic riding along the sound going from sea cliff to like port washington.

and yeah good hills around huntington

[veloduffer]

I grew up in Stony Brook and St James. You can do nice loops from Stony Brook/Setauket to Nissequogue hitting the beaches in each town. In Stony Brook, there's West Meadow Beach and the Old Field lighthouse as nice visiting spots. Coming from Old Field Lighthouse on Old Field Road is the Setauket Mill Pond, which has a path that goes around and has a nice bridge. From the pond you can head to Strong's Neck that has nice views of the harbor. Lots of woods and rolling hills, minimal traffic but no shoulders.

Here's a route in which you can just loop around the neighborhoods and hills of Stony Brook and Setauket for 32 miles.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/40481057

Here's a 29 mile route from Stony Brook's beaches to Nissequogue's beaches. Stop at the St James General Store for some candy.

A good place for lunch is to stop at the deli in Stony Brook on Main Street and go to the harbor and have lunch (or have lunch on the Village Green bench).

[dgriff]

I alternate between riding on the north shore or doing the Cedar Creek bike path in Seaford depending on if I feel like doing hills or flats.

The bike path is nice to ride later as it gets colder because usually the only people on it are other cyclists plus once you get onto the back stretch that goes from Jones Beach to Captree its ~15 miles each way of flat road with a handful of intersections where beach parking is (which also has almost no traffic when its colder) so if you're looking to do workouts and not worry about cars and traffic lights, thats a good place to go. The wind can be pretty bad though but fighting a strong headwind for ~45 minutes is the closest thing you'll get to a sustained climbing effort on LI.

Here's a couple century routes you can pick apart that cover most of the roads I ride on the north shore. These try to avoid busier roads and keep you on side streets. You can also add out and backs to Eatons Neck/Asharoken, Caumsett, and Centre Island off of these.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37841...zfdByRk2eOHhqY
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37740...uZTIhNPzXQh6MV