The timid biker

Distance: 20 miles
Time: 4 hours

1. Start here!
Rent a bike from City Bicycles (315 W 38th St between Eighth and Ninth Aves; 212-563-3373; Mon–Fri 9am–6:30pm; Sat 10am–5pm), a big hang spot for messengers. Bikes cost $6 per hour or $30 for the day.

The bike lanes on Broadway between 22nd and 25th Streets are painted green (the better to see you with, dears), and the lanes between 35th and 42nd Streets are newly enclosed with plastic bollards. Translation: Unless a semi jumps the barrier, you’re safer than Sarah Palin at an NRA-sponsored tent revival.

Ninth Avenue between 16th and 23rd Streets is now a protected bicycle path. Back off, cabbies!

2. Chain up the bike and browse one of the city’s best used-CD stores: Academy Records (12 W 18th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves; 212-242-3000).

3. Hallelujah! Bleecker, Prince, Charlton, Clarkson and Carmine Streets’ cycle tracks are all painted green.

Veer off the path to Chrystie and Broome Streets, where a concrete pit sits just south of Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Every Sunday from 1 to 7pm, NYC Bike Polo (nycbikepolo.com) hosts games; ride-ins are welcome. Scared to ride off course? Organizer Ken Stanek has a suggestion: “It’s legal to take up the entire lane. If you act like a car, the worst thing they’ll do is honk at you. Who cares?”

4. Grab a $5 burger or $2 hot dog off the grill at Manhattan Youth’s Art Shack (Hudson River Greenway between Chambers and Harrison Sts, manhattanyouth.org). Afterward, play Ping-Pong, chess or basketball on the adjacent court. The Shack closes in early October.

5. Wave to Lady Liberty while you munch on brownies at Picnick (Battery Park Bosque near the fountains; mypicnick.com).

Next: More rides!