We were going a little stir crazy a few weeks ago so we convinced a friend to grab his bike and join us on a ride to Coney Island. It was a sunny day but the temps were low. We had to bundle up quite a bit and hustle to make it back before dark (neither of us brought lights and the sun was going down at 4pm back then—we know you won’t make that same mistake). Still, the ride was a great way to explore Brooklyn and spend a few hours outdoors. It will be much more pleasant now that it’s spring and the amount of daylight is more reasonable.
There are a few good bike routes to Coney Island, including a straight shot down Ocean Parkway. But we opted to meet our bike buddy in Park Slope and ride down 5th Avenue through Sunset Park before turning right to head past Owl’s Head Park and jump on Shore Parkway. We got a little lost when it came time to turn off the path and make our way toward the boardwalk so make sure you’ve got your map app handy. And be careful at the beginning of the trek—while a lot of this route keeps you on a protected bike path, 5th Avenue is busy and we felt like our chances of getting doored while we rode down it were pretty high.
Our friend has a bike with all the gears but the trip was all right on our single speed. The ride is about two hours from south Brooklyn and back but we spent some time walking around the boardwalk which made ours a three hour ordeal.
This is an easy enough trip that you don’t need to plan too much before jumping on your bike and going. Just don’t forget to oil that chain, pack for a flat and bring some water. Oh, and lights. Always bring lights!
