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Ride description: Bronx River Parkway ride

and FEAST

White Plains to Scarsdale and back - 4 HOURS - VARIABLE MILEAGE. This ride is rather unusual. Every year, in May, June and September, Westchester County closes a section of the Bronx River Parkway for four hours each Sunday and turns it into a humongous bike path. The parkway is a picturesque, limited access highway, two lanes in each direction. The closed stretch is roughly seven miles long.

This ride is similar to the Central Park ride in two important respects:

- There's really no route per se. Basically, you do laps; seven miles down, seven miles back up. You do as many as you want to during the four hours that the parkway is closed (10-2).
- There are no cars, just bikes.

These two features make this a good ride for those who for whatever reason aren't comfortable with the idea of riding in a traditional group ride setting.

There are one or two mild climbs that'll get your heart rate up, but nothing particularly severe.

- SPECIAL TREAT! There is a FANTASTIC, not-to-be missed diner across the street from the start, called the City Limits. So we can chow down in style after the ride! There's also a great, cheap, all-you-can-eat Indian buffet less than a mile away.

The City Limits is something really special. Very cool retro architecture, and seriously superior food (the last time I was there I had Eggs Benedict, but made with lobster/crab cakes instead of Canadian Bacon... yum!). Click HERE to check out the menu. For photos of this great place, click HERE. (NOTE: There are several pictures... it may take a while to load if you have a slow connection, but it's worth a look!!.)

There are a lot of great things about this ride:

- Totally car-free route (though there are a LOT of cyclists, including little kids... CAUTION! It's about like Central Park on a typical Sunday)
- No navigation! There's NO NEED to keep the group together, since it's impossible to get lost. Just show up and ride at your own pace.
- The fast riders can go as fast as they want (subject to safety... kids!), and the slow riders need not worry about losing the group.
- There's plenty of parking (public lot, a few bucks) right at the north end of the loop, in White Plains.
- There's a good, shady meeting/regrouping/socializing spot, also at the north end of the loop, with indoor rest rooms and water available.

There are only two caveats:

- Since the road is closed for only four hours, you MUST show up and be ready to ride by 10 am for it to be worthwhile. This is not a big deal, since we don't need to ride as a group. Latecomers can be left to their own devices without fear of them getting lost. 
- This ride is very popular with families, which means there are a lot of children. While you do have the entire width of a two-lane road to ride on and no vehicular traffic to worry about, the average 12-year-old is capable of some amazing weaves given the chance. So CAUTION IS ESSENTIAL.

Current ride weather: A detailed forecast for the area can be had by clicking HERE.

Directions to Start (including train info): Click HERE.

Route description: Click HERE.