MotorcycleNYCFilter: getting out to Long Island alive?

June 26, 2008 1:26 PM

I'm a fairly new motorcycle rider (MSF class, less than 1,000 miles so far), and I'm looking for a route out to Eastern Long Island that is both fun and not completely insane, especially through Queens & Nassau County. My longer rides to date have been up the Palisades to Harriman & the surrounding area. If I was in a car, I'd simply forgo the fun aspect & get on either the LIE or the Grand Central/Northern Pkway, but both of those routes are pretty dicey, and stress-inducing even in a car. My time is flexible - I'd plan on doing the trip during off-hours, both heading out & returning. Suggestions much appreciated. FWIW, I'm heading out from Park Slope.
posted by swngnmonk to Travel & Transportation around New York, NY (4 answers total)

How about Northern Boulevard/25A? It's a pleasant drive, if you don't mind riding through villages, especially once you hit eastern Nassau. Anything heading through Queens and western Nassau is going to be a bit of a shitshow, frankly, and 25A is no different, along that stretch.

If you decide to go the southern route instead, though, be aware that Sunrise Highway/27 turns into a real disaster in the middle of Suffolk. Average speeds when the traffic is light regularly push into the 80s. Montauk Highway/27A, though, is nice, again, in the many-small-villages sort of way. Another option for skipping a bit of Nassau and Suffolk would be to hit the Southern State or Linden Boulevard/Sunrise Highway/27 into Nassau as far as the Meadowbrook, take it south and ride along Ocean Parkway to Robert Moses, then come back north to Montauk Highway/27A. You'd get plenty of sea air that way, for sure, and there are usually plenty of bikes on Ocean Parkway on a nice day.

Have a safe ride!
posted by uncleozzy at 1:56 PM on June 26, 2008

You sound like a thoughtful responsible person having even asked this question rather than bomb out on the LIE and I am going to sound like the old f*ck that I am, but a friend of the family, 26 years old, was killed on the LIE last week riding from NJ to the Hamptons on his bike. Be careful. Please.

uncleozzy makes some very good suggestions. I particularly like the Robert Moses by heading out on the Meadowbrook (dicey in parts near Roosevelt Field)
posted by JohnnyGunn at 2:45 PM on June 26, 2008

Response by poster: Thanks for the advice - the Meadowbrook to Jones Beach was going to be part of the route, eventually crossing back up to the on the Sagtikos to the North Shore to get away from all the Hamptons insanity - making my way onto Route 25A towards Sound Avenue to head out on the North Fork.

I'm stuck more in Brooklyn & Queens at the moment. The best route at the moment seems to be Ocean Parkway down to the Belt down by Coney Island - that section of the Belt is a little more reasonable, and it cuts out the insanity of the BQE, especially going through Sunset Park & down to the Verrezano.

@JohnnyGunn - thanks for the words of warning - I'm definitely cautious on the bike - I'm there to enjoy the ride, not to get out there first.
posted by swngnmonk at 2:55 PM on June 26, 2008

Not a motorcyclist, but wanted to chime in on the old montauk highway suggestion - I've ridden a bicycle out to the lighthouse going that route - very scenic, and the cars aren't too insane on that road.
posted by Calloused_Foot at 3:48 PM on June 26, 2008