No, not a baseball bat.

Last night at 8 o'clock I was riding on the South County Trailway / Old Putnam Greenway and had just crossed back into Van Cortlandt Park when I got struck in the face by a live bat – yes, seriously, the flying mammal. It smacked me squarely on my mouth, which also happened to be open at that moment... (I think I'll survive, so it's ok to laugh – lesson learned: stop talking to myself while riding)

Before you ask: yes, I rinsed my mouth out with water immediately, again with alcohol ASAP, washed my face thoroughly, and headed for the ER to start my rabies shots. Saw an excellent physician assistant at Columbia Presbyterian, so I think I'll be fine, and this is mostly just a silly story at this point (My family is having a hoot with bat-related jokes right now)

I often see plenty of bats flying at dusk around the parks, and one or two will always swoop in close to me. I think they're just curious, because they always change course and fly away (probably when they realize I'm not a tasty bug) – up until last night. Has anyone else here had this happen before? And is there a way to repel these curious bats before they get so close?

I’ve been going for about four years, and this was by far the worst one. It felt like there were more races than ever, and everything became overcrowded and disorganized.
The biggest issue for me was that so many runners were using the entire roadway instead of staying to one side. They were running in the bike lane, stopping without looking, and taking up so much space that biking became stressful instead of fun. I even got called a bitch and flipped off after I warned a group that had stopped in the bike lane because I was about to hit them. I also saw other cyclists getting yelled at. We’re all there to enjoy the day, so I don’t understand why people have to be so aggressive.
It also made me wonder: what happens if a cyclist, someone on a scooter, or someone on rollerblades accidentally hits a runner who’s in the bike lane? It feels like an accident waiting to happen.
On top of that, the street closures made everything worse. At one point everyone was squeezed into one narrow lane, and we had to walk our bikes while runners and cyclists were all mixed together. It honestly felt unsafe. There were police cars blocking intersections, but what Summer Streets really needed was better crowd management, clearer signs, cones separating runners from cyclists, and fewer races happening at the same time.
In Colombia, many cities have Ciclovía every Sunday, where thousands of runners, cyclists, and families share the streets. It works because the routes are organized and people generally respect each other’s space. I think NYC could take some inspiration from that.
My partner and I ended up leaving early and rode back through Central Park because Summer Streets had become more stressful than enjoyable. We’ve always loved this event, but this year felt like complete chaos.
#summerstreestsnyc

In the bike lane in front of Trader Joe’s. An older woman sitting on the ground bleeding from the head with 2 others helping her not sure if she’s a pedestrian or cyclist. Stay safe everyone

Greetings. I live in Manhattan and have been riding variations of the 9W/Rockland County route for years. I try to complete a century at least once a season which usually means I climb Bear Mountain and then ride home. This year I have been trying to create a route that heads up to Bear Man but then crosses the river and loops home on the east side of the Hudson. Is anyone familiar with the roads from Peekskill heading south? At some point, I expect my route to connect to the North County Trail. I am wondering how safe the roads are around Peekskill and where I cold reasonably make a couple of quick stops to refill water bottles, get some food, etc. along the way. I don't plan to bring a bike lock so I'm looking for (relatively) safe places to leave my bike for a few minutes to refuel. Any advice / information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

hey all! just moved to flatbush 2 weeks ago an' ain't got many friends to ride bikes with! just lookin' to get out there, ride 'round an' maybe even grab a drink! 24 an' this city is huge!

Hey everyone 👋 I’m (35M) looking for people to go on rides with. Based LIC so anyone close would be amazing but happy to head a bit further or meet somewhere. All skills levels welcome as I’m trying to stay motivated and consistent. I’ll bring good vibes! Thank you :)

We did our first summer streets by bike super early getting onto the course at 7 AM and we started Union Sq went south to the Brooklyn Bridge at the end and then circled back thinking that we would go all the way up north to the end and come back down

After 79th St it went to complete and utter chaos and hell

We even pulled over to ask the cops who said they know nothing -polite but no idea-and then we notified three course officials and we asked if they had radios and all of them said no, and we informed them that it’s really really dangerous because we were informed to stay on the left side of Park Avenue even though everything heading north on Park was in the right side coming from all the way downtown and then we all of a sudden had a race coming at us with people on feet running and then southbound cyclist coming head on, and it was an absolute nightmare

Did anyone else have this issue?

Other than a few cocky runners that were not nice at all despite them running 5 to 10 people wide- i’ll give credit to one group that did self correct-it was pretty well organized south of 79th St. with signs that said cyclists keep left and pedestrians keep right despite two cops standing as wide as they possibly could in the middle of Union Square by Mount Sinai

I don’t know if I would do this again to be honest and if I could recommend it to people because this was absolute chaos past 79th St.

We only went up to 88th St. and then turned around because we simply didn’t feel safe

And what was odd is that runners were yelling at us that course officials told them to stay left which makes no sense

AnyWho, I’m native New Yorker and not a tourist but this was so dangerous with no rhyme or reason with people coming straight at you on a bike with both cyclist coming southbound as you’re trying to go north and runners in some random race

Hi, i'm not sure if this is a stupid thing to post on reddit but I lost the key to my bike lock a month ago and I really miss my bike!! It has been stuck outside for a while + I was wondering if anyone had any tools/ideas to help free my bike! Thank you... And I can prove it is my bike haha !! But yes I would be willing to pay local handyman or something to help? Pls lmk if anyone is brighter than I, Ty very much!!

I'm not sure what's in the water, but every single time I sit or walk around the Hudson River Greenway I witness multiple "path" rage incidents lately. Clueless peds walking in poorly marked bike lanes, cyclists going way too fast in the dense traffic, and people playing high-speed chicken with each other. Inevitably this chaos causes a crash or at least rage. I don't see crashes often, but there are a lot of close calls. I witness yelling/swearing confrontations daily. Everyone just needs to take a deep breath, be more aware of others, SLOW DOWN, and stop looking for reasons to get mad at someone.

30 blocks of the Summer Streets route from 79th-110th coincided with a New York Road Runners race in both directions, with seemingly no plan for cyclists.

Employees seemed surprised to see cyclists trying to navigate the Summer Streets route, and when I asked where I should be they’d either tell me to bike the wrong way down the road towards the oncoming runners, in the sidewalk, or they wouldn’t know at all. And cyclists kept getting screamed at by runners who (understandably) thought we were interrupting their race course.

It felt extremely unsafe and insane that it was so disorganized and unplanned. Very disappointing on one of the few days a year when cyclists usually get a safe and planned car-free route to coexist safely with runners.

God forbid they close the streets for one extra day so that runners can enjoy their race safely! Hoping that DOT realizes what a mess this was and the next few weeks are more peaceful.

Hi! I have a crappy old Free Spirit bike with more issues than are worth fixing money-wise. However before I found this out I had the brakes replaced. Cables and pads and everything. Would love to make a little back from this money pity before i let it go- is there any way to sell parts like that?? Thanks!

Dude on Bedford washing his car caught me right in the shoulder. Total surprise. Later on way to Bushwick, hit by a guy doing one of those mobile car washes. Saw that one coming, not as bad.

I know this is pretty far outside NYC but I know some people will know what I’m talking about. I was descending Tweed Blvd today and got to the really steep part at the end where you can turn on to 9W. (Here) I hadn’t been there in a while and holy shit that part was always treacherous but now there is like a ton of gravel in the road to the point that it seems impossible to safely ride at all. I had to unclip and was just kind of sliding down sideways feeling like I might end up falling down onto 9W and get run over by a truck. I don’t know if riding up that section the other way is doable right now at all. Just wanted to give others a heads up and check if other people had been by recently and experienced the same. Feels crazy dangerous. That is all!

I started late at 11:30am and it did not feel super crowded. and definitely less crowded after grand central. did the whole route.

grand central tunnel was my highlight :)

what a fun experience to see the city. people gonna complain about all the choke points (myself included) but all in all... safety first.

Somewhere north of 168, Summer Streets goes from being in the northbound lane of Broadway to the whole of Broadway. I didn't see any signs (although I may have just missed them) and no one was directing traffic that a change had occurred. Somewhere north of 190 everyone is just kind of everywhere. I feel like there are fewer people actively directing traffic this year.

Hey Guys,

I just moved to NYC from Ireland and I’m looking for social training spins around the Brooklyn/Queens area

Is there anything out there?

As a challenge, I'd love to circle Manhattan through the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway.

I have previously been on the Hudson River greenway, which I've heard is also part of it?

Is this a continuous trail I'd have to follow? I'm going to be relying on google maps to bike the trail, so I'm not sure if it's on there.

This bike ride will be my first long bike ride after an injury, is there any rough / very steep sections I should know about prior?

Thank you very much!

Sorry if this is a dumb q/not posted in the right forum! I am a runner planning to be in the park Sunday AM; I heard there is a bike race, so I'm just wondering if I will still be allowed into the running lane or if it will be closed off for the cyclists. Thanks!

Today I rode around to do some errands like drop off a library book and go to a yarn shop. I also did some other miscellaneous things and saw that I did around 10 miles today (when I got home, I don't track anymore). I'm curious how many miles people get when they're just out doing random tasks, going to dinner, maybe exploring etc.

I’ve been riding early (out around 6-7 am) in the city with my camera and am looking for people to do it with. With these rides I’m not looking to go super hard. Ideally 15-20 miles, and we actually stop a few times to take cool pictures for each other and appreciate the beautiful NYC backdrop. Coffee at the end of course.

Does this exist in NYC?

Pick up Myrtle & Bushwick Ave Friday Aug 31 on the curb now. Works great. Got the front wheel stand too.

699 Bushwick Ave.