​Where to: Northern Prospect Park along the Ocean Parkway to Brighton Beach


What you need to know: Forming a straight line down the length of the borough this ride, like the destinations that bound it, is smooth sailing from start to finish, with little to no incline along the tree-lined pathway.


Directions: Start at Grand Army Plaza, enter Prospect Park and merge onto West Drive, the park’s main bike loop. After a little over a mile, keep right at the fork on West Drive and exit the park. Continue around the Park Circle roundabout onto the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway. Brighton Beach lies a few miles straight ahead.


Distance one-way: 7.7 miles


Highlights:

Brooklyn Public Library: Hugging Grand Army Plaza, and at the northern end of Prospect Park, looms the “open-book” face of Brooklyn’s Central Library. Pick up a beach read before starting your journey here.

Prospect Park: Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux—a few of the minds behind Central Park—this lushly expansive patch of green calls to mind a the possibility of urban wilderness. The hills make biking through it a welcome challenge with ample downhill rewards.

Washington Cemetery: Halfway through your trip stop for water and an altered view of the Verrazano Bridge before setting off on the rest of your journey.

Verrazano Bridge: It is possible to spot this double-decked suspension bridge from every one of the city’s five boroughs. Connecting Staten Island and Brooklyn, this centralized bridge’s role extends much further by determined the heights of cruise and container ships across the globe; for in order to reach the vital ports of New York and New Jersey, these boats must clear the Verrazano.

Brighton Beach: Although an alternative New York City leisure destination, Brighton Beach offers a uniquely counterintuitive “beach in the city” experience. The water is always refreshingly cool and clean and Coney Island is a nearby diversion.