Summer Riding in NYC: What You Actually Need to Know

Summer in New York City is the best and worst time to ride. The weather is right. The traffic is not. Here is what riders who actually do it know that most guides leave out.

The Window: Early Morning

The single most important summer riding variable in NYC is timing. Before 8am on a weekend, the city belongs to riders and cyclists. The BQE is clear. The bridges have no backups. Surface streets in the outer boroughs are quiet. The air is cooler before the blacktop has had four hours to absorb heat.

By 10am that same day, the BQE between the Gowanus and the Williamsburg Bridge is a parking lot. The Manhattan Bridge approach from the Brooklyn side backs up through the neighborhoods. The window closes fast.

If you can only ride early, ride early. This is not a suggestion.

Heat Management

NYC summer blacktop generates radiant heat that goes well beyond the ambient air temperature. On a 90-degree day, blacktop surface temperature runs 140 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. That heat rises directly into the riding position.

Mesh jackets ventilate significantly better than textile in direct heat, but they provide less wind protection at speed — the tradeoff is real. Whatever you wear, hydrate before you leave, not when you feel thirsty. Dehydration at 65mph on the Belt is a different problem than dehydration on a hike.

If you are stopped in traffic for more than 10 minutes in direct sun, find shade or move. Stationary heat with no airflow is where summer riding becomes genuinely uncomfortable and potentially dangerous.

Route Logic

The best summer rides in Brooklyn stick to the waterfront. The Belt Parkway through Bay Ridge has bay air and open lanes early morning. The Red Hook waterfront to Coney Island route covers 12 miles of varied terrain with two distinct waterfront sections. The Shore Parkway connector runs along the southern edge of Brooklyn with consistent breeze off Jamaica Bay.

Avoid the expressways between 11am and 7pm. The BQE, the Gowanus, the elevated sections of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway: these are heat traps in summer traffic. Surface streets in the outer boroughs move better and keep you out of the standstill heat buildup.

Parking in NYC

Motorcycles can park at metered spaces in New York City for free. You do not need to feed the meter. You cannot park on sidewalks. Many bridge approach areas in Brooklyn have metered street parking within two blocks. Canarsie Pier, Valentino Pier, and the Coney Island boardwalk area all have accessible motorcycle street parking nearby.

The Off-Bike Look

Once you park, you are in the city. The Arrows tee handles the transition from riding to walking without requiring a wardrobe change. That is the entire point of a tee that is built on moto culture but wears as streetwear. Shop it at BklynMotors.com.