The Chill-in-Brooklyn Ride

There’s a lot of hard-core riding in Brooklyn, but for this trip, we decided to focus on the stuff between the biking. Sometimes that’s the riding way to enjoy a place—especially one as laid-back as Williamsburg.

Mileage: Roughly 3 miles
Time: 3-4 hours, depending on how much you eat and bowl
Don't miss: Organic food, McCarren Park

Click on map points to view route highlights.

A Manhattanites: Start at your side of the Williamsburg Bridge. The wider ramps provide for a bike-friendly path, and the fast downhill evokes zoom-zoom-zoom memories of Speed Racer (without the monkey). Once on the other side, hang a U-turn off the ramp onto South 4th Street, then ride two blocks up and make a right onto Bedford Avenue. Although it’s one of the most frequented areas in Brooklyn, you’ll find some choice spots that still have some cool...

B ...starting with two brunch places. Stop on 5th Street off of Bedford, where you’ll find Egg (135 North 5th St between Bedford Ave and Berry St, 718-302-5151). It offers a Southern-style breakfast with produce grown on local farms. The Grafton cheddar omelette ($8) was one of our food critic’s best things she ate last year. Or head to the same addresses’ Juilette (718-388-9222), a French bistro that just opened its rooftop terrace to patrons.

C After brunch, pedal three blocks on North 5th Street and hang a right toward 129 Roebling Street, where you’ll find the McCaig-Welles Gallery. On display is R. Nicholas Kuszyk’s “Jammer Slammer: The Evalation,” featuring paintings of robots performing humanlike rituals. You should also catch his massive mural on the side of Bedford Bagel Store (247 Bedford Ave at North 3rd St, 718-218-7244).

D Go back to Bedford and head to Penny Licks (158 Bedford Ave between North 8th and 9th Sts, 718-384-0158) for a little snack: It offers vegan and organic treats with tasty names like Death by Chocolate.

ENext, continue down Bedford Avenue and take a spin through McCarren Park. Ride nonchalantly—you can’t get lost; it’s too small—through the baseball fields and past the swimming pool. Exit the park and head down North 14th Street and park by the Gutter (200 North 14th St between Berry St and Wythe Ave, 718-387-3585), where you’ll find eight lanes and 48 hipsters.

F Finish off the day with some suds at Alligator Lounge II (113 Franklin St at Greenpoint Ave, 718-383-6000), where free pizza comes with every beer. It’s the ultimate hipster den, but you are here to sightsee, right?
To get home, there’s the G train one block away, or you can ride back to the Bedford L stop off North 7th Street. If you saved that Death by Chocolate, eat it now.

Back to Bike Guide index