The Best Route To the George Washington Bridge

After weeks upon weeks on the trainer, New York City was bathed in warmth and sunlight on Saturday. Notwithstanding what 55 degrees in February in the Northeast says about the state of the planet, anyone with a spare few hours headed outside for a long ride on a rare, pleasant winter day.

Naturally, the coming of the biggest group ride day of 2022 prompted the group chat to discuss routes. Not actual ride routes, but discussion of the one route that really matters in NYC: to and from the George Washington Bridge.

If you’ve never lived in New York, the George Washington Bridge is the main artery in and out of the city, and basically the only way to get to decent road riding for most of the city’s inhabitants. There are other ways (do not come after me in the comments to explain to me about Queens or Van Cortlandt Park), but probably 80 percent of people riding a bike further than 20 miles for recreation on any given day are crossing the GWB. The bridge is at 181st Street in Manhattan—about 10 miles north of downtown, and more than that for most residents of Brooklyn and much of Queens.

This means lots and lots of junk miles for most people. Not only is it often a trek to get to the bridge, but the imperfect grid of Manhattan means there are unending options for getting to and from. Going through Central Park or on the greenway next to the West Side Highway means fewer run-ins with cars, but, especially on a nice day, weaving through joggers and tourists. People who live in Brooklyn or Queens have five different bridge options for hopping across the East River, each with its own particularities. Obviously, everyone’s commute is a little different, but most people are generally headed northwest on the ride to start the ride, and there’s a lot of overlap.

That means, naturally, that people have Thoughts on the Correct Way to the Bridge, which leads to a personal favorite pastime: aggressively arguing about things that have no correct answer and do not matter.

The Thoughts of TBD racers and some group chat friends are below, feel free to add yours in the comments. (Though overtly rude comments will be deleted because that’s my prerogative, thx.)

I used to love St. Nick to Central Park, but had too many run ins with illegal U turns, so now I usually take Riverside to 96th, then the West Side Highway for as long as possible. I’ve been riding in the city too many years and I hate dealing with cars, especially when I’m tired, so I choose annoying pedestrians over traffic every time. I try my best NOT to be a jerk, knowing I’m setting myself up for going slow and dealing with a lot of pedestrians. My favorite secret is the soda vending machine at the Chelsea heliport, which has saved me from many a bonk. Then Clarkson to Bleeker to 2nd Ave to the Manhattan Bridge. I like wind my way through Brooklyn to Bed Stuy, and try to end up on Greene, where I stop at Clementine Bakery’s lovely little shed, get myself a muffin, and turn my bike computer off even though technically I’m a few blocks from home.

— Shane Ferro

Getting home from the GWB is the worst part of any ride so I like to get it over with as fast as possible, which means not the WSH because I’d rather not take out a jogger or a slower cyclist. [I will take the WSH if I’m a) feeling lazy and leisurely or b) with a group that’s already decided to take the objectively worse route.] I like taking Riverside to 72nd, down West End/11th until it turns into the West Side Highway at 24th, across to 9th Ave, down 9th until it turns into Hudson, left on Spring, Manhattan Bridge, up Vanderbilt. Stop at Parlor Coffee on Vanderbilt for a little cappuccino, then stop at Chilos on Franklin for some amazing tacos (and maybe a frozen margarita if you’re feeling spicy).

— Leah Goldberg

As an Upper East Side resident, St Nicks would be the near ideal route home from the GWB. But I have seen too many close calls with double parked cars and aggressive drivers to take St Nicks on any sort of regular basis. (Shane’s editor’s note: vindicated!) Instead, I take the West Side down with the squad for as long as possible. If I'm bonky and the squad is rolling fast, I will jump off at Grant's Tomb just to cut the pace a bit sooner, though this means riding down 5th Avenue, which can be a bit of a mess. Otherwise I'll split off at 86th Street, on the way to one of my least favorite streets to ride in NYC --- the Central Park Transverse. Between the massive potholes and speeding drivers the Transverse is not a fun stretch, but at least when its over I am just a few blocks from home.

— Matt Vandivort

The real best way is Riverside all the way down to 61st where it ends—most people hop off earlier at 97th or 72nd—but those last 11 blocks take you between the tall, glass Trump Towers and views of the Hudson. Plus, there’s generally not a lot of car traffic so you can get away with almost bombing the entire thing.
Then, you can choose to hop on the WSH or take West End Ave, depending on what you want to battle. When I take West End it’s 30ish quick blocks through Hells Kitchen, left on 28th, right on 5th (passing the Flatiron), left on 8th right before Washington Square Park then final right on 2nd all the way down to the Manhattan Bridge. I’m originally from Seattle so it feels very ‘I live in New York’ to pass by so many NYC landmarks on my way back from a ride.

— Stephanie Halamek

Riverside to 72nd, zig-zag onto West Ave, play in traffic past the Javitz Center to 23rd, take 23rd to 7th Ave, drop down to 14th Street, relish the car-free stretch to Union Square, take Broadway to Houston, watch the bumps at Elizabeth and hang a right onto Bowery, cut across to Chrystie via Stanton, viola.

— James Martin

Hot take: Just live uptown.

— Lucia Deng