Street Riding Spots (NYC)
Photo: National Geographic
Overview:
OK, this page is going to be a bit unusual, and probably illegal. But I can’t have a website about riding in the Empire City without a page that’s really dedicated to riding in the Empire City. On this page, I’ll walk you through Manhattan’s two signature parks: Riverside and Central. Let’s begin.
Central Park:
Here you will find what I would call my local “trails.” Central Park is usually where I go for cool and sketchy rock slabs, but there are also some chutes at the north end of the park. Here is my usual route:
Enter the park at 63rd street
Cross over the road and hit the rock slab to the right
Go around the ball field and mess around on the massive rock.
Get back on the path and go up one side of the rock to the left, and down the other
Cross over the road and spot a rock drop into a slab with a few cool lines
Pedal South and mess around on those rocks
Go further east and spot a small but steep rock beside the lake
Pedal north and west to finish the loop.
Riverside Park:
Although I don’t come here as often, I do come occasionally because I’m in the mood for bombing down staircases. If you’re looking for an urban downhill course:
Jump the steps at the Grant Memorial
Continue straight and make a right down a super long staircase
Cross over the walkway and bomb down some more stairs (the first one has a big drop so be careful)
Finish at the brand new skatepark.
In addition, there are also two very short downhill runs a few blocks downtown that actually ride like a mountain biker built them. Just go up a few log steps and onto the rock, and pick between the fast rock garden, or the slow rock slabs!