Don't try this at home

Hard to believe that this is located in New York City. But, it is. Along the scenic and seemingly under-utilized Shore Parkway Greenway. Granted if you turn your head 180 degrees, you'll be able to see the traffic jam that runs on the Belt Parkway out to JFK. But, when you're biking you don't have to turn your head that direction at all and you can pretend you're out in some kind of beachy keen seaside town. Of course, that illusion is broken severely by the fact that the NYC greenway system is somewhat flawed. For instance, breezing out past Pennsylvania Avenue and 278, you'll find yourself on a chunky, nearly unpaved little bike path...that surprisingly leads you directly onto the freeway. I stood at the shoulder of the Belt Parkway and wondered what happened to my bike path. A trip in through town, circling through Howard Beach, Lindenwood, and other demure water bordering communities will take you a fair amount of time to circumnavigate. Though, the bike path into Broad Channel is almost worth it. Imagine a town that hangs American flags on every single house. It's like I died and ended up in some kind of weird Pleasantville inspired psychotic 'burb. Truly a burbling little community, which on the day of my ride was busily raising money for the volunteer fire department. If I weren't choking on the saccharine aftertaste, I'd almost think it was quaint. Across the bridge is the sleepy beach community of something. I'm not sure. I think it's called Cross Channel or Beach Channel or something like that. Jacob Riis Park is somewhere on this strip of land. And again, the NYC greenway fails the test (and the NYC bike map, as well), as it seems to recommend taking a road that is not terribly wide and features some crazy, fairly fast paced cars. Not for the fainthearted at all. Then, when it does connect with the "greenway," you get treated to a barely paved (does gravel and sand count? -- That's the featured surface covering at several junctures) road that does finally lead up to the Marine Parkway Bridge.

The bridge (which features a sign -- universally ignored -- that tells you to walk your bike across the bridge) is one of those lovely metal grate surfaced ones (thankfully, not where the bicyclists and pedestrians are. Expect to hear strange whirring sounds and watch the guardrail bars shake back and forth with some kind of resonant frequency motion. Fun!

All told, quite the ride. Flatbush Avenue, which jacknifes straight from the Marine Parkway greenway is not terribly bikeable until you get closer to Avenue Q (oh, excuse me "Quentin Avenue"), at which point it resembles biking on any large 3 lane thoroughfare that you might experience in the middle of the northside of Chicago, which is to say, also not for the faint of heart or not so fleet of feet. Expect bus exhaust and erratic SUV driving. Flatbush hits Bedford Avenue, which has a decent bike lane, though might be the slower, more hilly route (it climbs up through Crown Heights a bit on its way to Bergen Street bike lane).