42 Miles of Bikes and Only Bikes!
Interactive Tour • Route Description • Elevation Profile • Shortcut • Leaving the Tour
Interactive Tour
Click here to view an interactive tour of the route, with photos showing you what you'll see along the ride.
Route Description
The Commerce Bank Five Boro Bike Tour travels through the five boroughs of New York City on car-free roads, thanks to the cooperation of City agencies and officials. At 42 miles, the route is doable for cyclists of all levels. The most significant hills are at the bridges. Experienced cyclists can challenge themselves at these climbs, while beginning cyclists and not-quite-in-shape riders can relax and refuel at the rest areas and spend the whole day enjoying the Tour and Festival. Whatever your plan, be sure to follow the directions of Tour marshals as you ride. They will warn of spots where you should slow down or exercise caution.
Riders enter the start lineup from Battery Park, at the southern tip of Manhattan. We travel up Church Street and the Avenue of the Americas through the skyscraper canyons of Midtown Manhattan, and then it's on into Central Park, which is in full bloom this time of year. Continuing north out of the park, the Tour travels through Harlem and then over to the Bronx and back on bridges spanning the Harlem River.
Back in Manhattan, you'll ride down the FDR Drive, a highway where bicycles aren't usually allowed. The first rest area is about half a mile down FDR Drive, at 116th Street.
After continuing on FDR Drive a couple more miles, you'll cross the Queensboro Bridge (aka the "59th Street Bridge") to borough #3, Queens. The next rest area is in Astoria Park, along the East River with beautiful views of Wards and Randall's Island and the Manhattan skyline. The route hugs the river and travels through industrial neighborhoods, passing Roosevelt Island. A third rest area is in Queens at the Con Edison Learning Center.
Before you know it, you'll be crossing the Pulaski Bridge into the venerable neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Soon you'll reach the fourth rest area at Commodore John Barry Park, adjacent to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Your ride continues to downtown Brooklyn, near the Brooklyn Bridge, where you'll enter the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, miraculously clear of its usual traffic jam on Tour Day. Now you can fly over the Gowanus Canal and along the South Brooklyn waterfront, reaching the shoreline park in Bay Ridge. One more rest area at John Paul Jones/Cannonball Park awaits you.
Leaving the final rest area, you'll circle round the ramp leading up and over the iconic Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. A final long climb up and long downhill brings you to Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island. Treat yourself to a relaxing break at the Festival--buy lunch, have a massage, check out the vendors and exhibitors, and rest for a while on the grass while you enjoy the live music.
When you're ready to go, it's 3 more miles to the Staten Island Ferry for a free ride back to Manhattan. Wave at Lady Liberty as you pass and celebrate your accomplishment: 42 miles in the greatest city in the world!
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Shortcut
Riders in the rear third of the Tour will be directed to a shortened route that bypasses the Astoria Park rest area and leads directly to the Con Ed Learning Center rest area, a shortcut of 4 miles.
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Leaving the Tour
If you need to leave the Tour for any reason, we recommend the following locations. Note that if you leave the Tour, you will be riding in motorized traffic and will have to watch for cars and road hazards.
Mile 14, York Avenue and 63rd Street, Manhattan: This is your last chance to exit the Tour in Manhattan. If you don't want to go to Queens, travel straight on 63rd Street after the Tour exits FDR Drive. Do not take the left-hand turn onto the ramp of the Queensboro (59th Street) Bridge.
Mile 27, Brooklyn Bridge: Just before the Tour enters the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE), you can leave the Tour and take the Brooklyn Bridge bike path into downtown Manhattan. Marshals on the Brooklyn side will direct you.
Subway: The Tour route is near many subway stations; click here for the subway map. Bikes are allowed on the subway, but some un-staffed subway stations have turnstiles that do not accommodate bikes. Ask at any rest area's Information/Reunion Center for details.
Hitching a Ride with SAG: If you are running out of steam or fall too far behind the Tour, pull off to the side of the road and wait for the SAG (support and gear) buses and trucks. They will take you and your bike to the Festival. SAG Details >
Note: If you feel that you need medical attention, speak to a marshal or police officer immediately. Do not wait for SAG.
Top ˆ
Interactive Tour • Route Description • Elevation Profile • Shortcut • Leaving the Tour
Interactive Tour
Click here to view an interactive tour of the route, with photos showing you what you'll see along the ride.
Route Description
The Commerce Bank Five Boro Bike Tour travels through the five boroughs of New York City on car-free roads, thanks to the cooperation of City agencies and officials. At 42 miles, the route is doable for cyclists of all levels. The most significant hills are at the bridges. Experienced cyclists can challenge themselves at these climbs, while beginning cyclists and not-quite-in-shape riders can relax and refuel at the rest areas and spend the whole day enjoying the Tour and Festival. Whatever your plan, be sure to follow the directions of Tour marshals as you ride. They will warn of spots where you should slow down or exercise caution.
Riders enter the start lineup from Battery Park, at the southern tip of Manhattan. We travel up Church Street and the Avenue of the Americas through the skyscraper canyons of Midtown Manhattan, and then it's on into Central Park, which is in full bloom this time of year. Continuing north out of the park, the Tour travels through Harlem and then over to the Bronx and back on bridges spanning the Harlem River.
Back in Manhattan, you'll ride down the FDR Drive, a highway where bicycles aren't usually allowed. The first rest area is about half a mile down FDR Drive, at 116th Street.
After continuing on FDR Drive a couple more miles, you'll cross the Queensboro Bridge (aka the "59th Street Bridge") to borough #3, Queens. The next rest area is in Astoria Park, along the East River with beautiful views of Wards and Randall's Island and the Manhattan skyline. The route hugs the river and travels through industrial neighborhoods, passing Roosevelt Island. A third rest area is in Queens at the Con Edison Learning Center.
Before you know it, you'll be crossing the Pulaski Bridge into the venerable neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Soon you'll reach the fourth rest area at Commodore John Barry Park, adjacent to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Your ride continues to downtown Brooklyn, near the Brooklyn Bridge, where you'll enter the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, miraculously clear of its usual traffic jam on Tour Day. Now you can fly over the Gowanus Canal and along the South Brooklyn waterfront, reaching the shoreline park in Bay Ridge. One more rest area at John Paul Jones/Cannonball Park awaits you.
Leaving the final rest area, you'll circle round the ramp leading up and over the iconic Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. A final long climb up and long downhill brings you to Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island. Treat yourself to a relaxing break at the Festival--buy lunch, have a massage, check out the vendors and exhibitors, and rest for a while on the grass while you enjoy the live music.
When you're ready to go, it's 3 more miles to the Staten Island Ferry for a free ride back to Manhattan. Wave at Lady Liberty as you pass and celebrate your accomplishment: 42 miles in the greatest city in the world!
Top ˆ
Shortcut
Riders in the rear third of the Tour will be directed to a shortened route that bypasses the Astoria Park rest area and leads directly to the Con Ed Learning Center rest area, a shortcut of 4 miles.
Top ˆ
Leaving the Tour
If you need to leave the Tour for any reason, we recommend the following locations. Note that if you leave the Tour, you will be riding in motorized traffic and will have to watch for cars and road hazards.
Mile 14, York Avenue and 63rd Street, Manhattan: This is your last chance to exit the Tour in Manhattan. If you don't want to go to Queens, travel straight on 63rd Street after the Tour exits FDR Drive. Do not take the left-hand turn onto the ramp of the Queensboro (59th Street) Bridge.
Mile 27, Brooklyn Bridge: Just before the Tour enters the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE), you can leave the Tour and take the Brooklyn Bridge bike path into downtown Manhattan. Marshals on the Brooklyn side will direct you.
Subway: The Tour route is near many subway stations; click here for the subway map. Bikes are allowed on the subway, but some un-staffed subway stations have turnstiles that do not accommodate bikes. Ask at any rest area's Information/Reunion Center for details.
Hitching a Ride with SAG: If you are running out of steam or fall too far behind the Tour, pull off to the side of the road and wait for the SAG (support and gear) buses and trucks. They will take you and your bike to the Festival. SAG Details >
Note: If you feel that you need medical attention, speak to a marshal or police officer immediately. Do not wait for SAG.
Top ˆ
