Long Island ride

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>I've always wanted to take the LIRR to Montauk, then visit/overnight the

town and cycle back to, say Ronkonkoma or such. Is this doable or
advisable? How about links or resources? Can you take a bike thru Penn
Station?<<<<

Bill:

First, I guess it depends on where you're coming from. Montauk is a popular
cycling destination from points west on Long Island, as it can usually
constitute a century with full bragging rights. It's about 100 miles east
of Syosset, where I live. Ronkonkoma is roughly 30 miles east of where I
live.

Personally, I don't think the ride between Montauk and Ronkonkoma would be
all that interesting, unless you're doing it for the mileage (about 70?).
I've ridden as far as the end of the LI Expressway, which is still a great
distance from Montauk. That ride felt great for the exercise and sense of
accomplishment, but I don't have any great memories of sights along the way.
And the stretch from there to Montauk is only spotted with things for a
cyclist to see and do.

I don't want to shoot down your dream, but I think there are some better
Long Island rides to consider. For one, if you're set on Montauk, start
there, but detour from the south shore of LI via Sag Harbor, then take Rt.
114 (complete with a bike lane) to the South Ferry terminal. From there,
take a ferry to Shelter Island and continue on the bike route through that
cool little summer retreat. At the north end of Shelter Island, get on the
North Ferry to Greenport, which is a cool little town (during the summer and
fall) in itself. From there, you can either head east to the northern tip
of Long Island (then ferry to Connecticut???) or head west along the north
fork toward one of the LIRR stations up that way. In my opinion, the north
fork is much nicer, as there are some long stretches of farmland and tons of
wineries along the way. About 80 miles west of Greenport, you'll hit Port
Jefferson, which is a very lively waterside village. From there, you can
also ferry to Connecticut - or just a catch a train home.

Regarding Penn Station, you can carry a bike on the train, but you'll need a
$5 bike pass during the week (although the conductors never seem to check
them). I believe you can still ride the LIRR with a bike on the weekends
without a pass.

If you let me know where you're leaving from, I may be able to offer some
more advice. For a little more detail on that bike/ferry route that takes
you from the south to the north forks, check my website at
www.geocities.com/NYRides and click on the link for ROAD RIDES.

Have fun.

"NY Rides" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>>I've always wanted to take the LIRR to Montauk, then visit/overnight
>>the

town and cycle back to, say Ronkonkoma or such. Is this doable or
advisable? How about links or resources? Can you take a bike thru Penn
Station?<<<<

http://www.billcotton.com/activities.htm Some of the link are broken on this
page. but paging down pass the Boy Scout picture are detail of my second
Long Island Bike camping trip. From Philadelphia PA using commuter trains
that allows bicycles to Penn station. We use the LIRR to Ronkonkoma. We also
use LI bicycle maps http://www.transalt.org/info/maps.html
Long Island has bicycle camping hostel and signed bicycle routes. We use
three bicycle camps on our way to Orient point to use a ferry to New London,
bike to New Haven We use the Montreal with roll on bicycle, but that no
longer runs. On a previous trip we used the Metro North to Grand Central and
bicycle through town to Penn Station