Possible to Bike in Westchester? (White Plains, Yorktown: sublet, rent, home)

[galaxyarts]

Hi, all -

I've posted here a few times on our pending move to the Westchester area. We've finally found the region we'd like to live in, but I had a quick question about transportation.

We have a few towns we really like that we are going to be house-hunting (long-term rental, not purchase just yet) in - we plan to sublet for six months or so while we're looking.

But we'd prefer not to drive everywhere. So I was wondering, since the towns from Croton Falls to Mt. Kisco seem so close to each other, is it possible to bike or scooter from town to town?

I have looked on GoogleMaps, but it's difficult to tell if there are bikeable/scootable roads, or if there's too much highway/traffic for something like that to be feasible.

I know you can probably hop Metro-North from town to town, but it would be great and more cost/energy-efficient to bike or scooter.

It would also be nice to be able to bike or scooter to any parks, lakes, reservoirs in the area - is that possible too?

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance as always!

[streetsmart]

The Metro North train lines only run north-south/to and from the city. You cannot get from one Westchester town to another on a different train line (ie. east-west), only those on the same line, or you'd need to take a bus.

[dma1250]

There are lots of people biking around--both serious cyclists and people going from place to place. Most roads either have a decent shoulder or are small and curvy enough that people don't go that fast--I certainly see bikers on all kinds of roads. You can also bike to the North County Trailway, which runs 26 miles from Putnam county down to the South County Trailway North County Trailway

I never see scooters, though. And biking in the winter will be a lot harder, since the plowed snow makes the roads a lot narrower, not to mention slippery. If you're concerned about energy efficiency I'd buy a smart car or hybrid for short trips. Those are becoming very common in the area. Personally, I love driving up here--it's incredibly fun and the bet way to see things.

[galaxyarts]

streetsmart, thank you -- yes, we know about the different train lines -- what I meant was basically that if the weather isn't good and you don't feel like driving, you can hop on a train from, say, Croton Falls to Bedford -- correct? I'm aware you can't go from Bedford to Tarrytown, for instance... but the trains seem really convenient along their own lines.

dma1250, thank you too! I'm surprised there aren't a lot of scooters in the region -- but that's great about there being biking on a lot of the roads. I guess what I was also asking is if there are convenient road-routes between towns, such as the above-mentioned route from Croton Falls to Bedford, or Katonah to Chappaqua, for instance -- is that a ridiculous length to try biking casually, or is it as close as it seems on a map? It looks as though you could just follow the path of the trains -- but I didn't know if rideable roads went alongside the Metro-North routes or not. Thanks!

[kletter1mann]

Originally Posted by galaxyarts

Hi, all -

I've posted here a few times on our pending move to the Westchester area. We've finally found the region we'd like to live in, but I had a quick question about transportation.

We have a few towns we really like that we are going to be house-hunting (long-term rental, not purchase just yet) in - we plan to sublet for six months or so while we're looking.

But we'd prefer not to drive everywhere. So I was wondering, since the towns from Croton Falls to Mt. Kisco seem so close to each other, is it possible to bike or scooter from town to town?

I have looked on GoogleMaps, but it's difficult to tell if there are bikeable/scootable roads, or if there's too much highway/traffic for something like that to be feasible.

I know you can probably hop Metro-North from town to town, but it would be great and more cost/energy-efficient to bike or scooter.

It would also be nice to be able to bike or scooter to any parks, lakes, reservoirs in the area - is that possible too?

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance as always!

I have to take issue with DMA1250 a little. Yes, there are lots of serious cyclists out and about in northern westchester. We're talking about guys in spandex suits and ultralight road bikes. In many ways it's a terrific place for cycling and clubs come to the area from the city, southern westchester and lower Fairfield CT. However, the vast majority of roads are narrow, hilly and have more or less constant traffic. Shoulders range from narrow to nonexistant (Rts 100 and 35 being notable exceptions). If you average 18 mph on your bike people will be passing you going 45 mph. This means that, while it may be good for serous cyclists, in general it's pretty lousy for casual cyclists. Cycling with kids on most north county roads would be nuts with the exception of the rail trail.

The towns are not all that close together. Look at the scale of miles on the map and be the judge. 5 miles between these towns will be winding roads that are virtually 100% either uphill or downhill, there's no level land.

A scooter is another matter. if you have a scooter that can keep up with traffic (50 mph cruising is probably OK) and maintain speed up hills you'd be fine. It's true, they're pretty rare.

As for the trains, find a map of the metronorth system. NOTHING goes east/west, period.

[dma1250]

Originally Posted by kletter1mann

I have to take issue with DMA1250 a little. Yes, there are lots of serious cyclists out and about in northern westchester. We're talking about guys in spandex suits and ultralight road bikes. In many ways it's a terrific place for cycling and clubs come to the area from the city, southern westchester and lower Fairfield CT. However, the vast majority of roads are narrow, hilly and have more or less constant traffic. Shoulders range from narrow to nonexistant (Rts 100 and 35 being notable exceptions). If you average 18 mph on your bike people will be passing you going 45 mph. This means that, while it may be good for serous cyclists, in general it's pretty lousy for casual cyclists. Cycling with kids on most north county roads would be nuts with the exception of the rail trail.

I think it depends on how "casual" a cyclist you are. On the one hand, yes you are totally correct that most roads have little to no shoulder and are narrow and hilly and cars will be zipping by you (many of the roads have 35 mph limits, but the bigger ones are 45). Its not ideal for all bikers, certainly, and I personally only bike on the trail and on certain roads. On the other hand, I see plenty of non-spandex-wearing people biking on the roads everyday. Last night I passed at least 4 biking along Route 129 in the dark, dressed in work clothes and I assume going home from the train station (as was I in my car). And most mornings I see bikers dressed for work going towards Croton, and I assume heading to the train station. On weekends, I certainly see casual bikers all along the roads--although they are outnumbered by the hordes of spandex-wearing serious cyclists. And while I agree that most are not kid-freindly, there are some roads that are--my own road, which wraps around the Croton Reservoir and has a 25 mph limit, is popular with families.

[kletter1mann]

Originally Posted by dma1250

I think it depends on how "casual" a cyclist you are.

Yeah, I think that's really the point. I don't see many "casual" cyclists or families riding from Croton Falls to Mt Kisco. But a real scooter (not a moped) would be awesome I think.

[galaxyarts]

Well, we're not a family, so we're not particularly personally worried about that - it's more of a commuting or casual riding for exercise thing (no spandex, thanks!)

And we already know Metro-North runs north to south, never west to east - I've been travelling to NYC for a long time, so yes, familiar with the maps. Thank you.

All I was suggesting is that since it's possible to hop from Katonah down to Chappaqua to White Plains and back via train, if one would like to, but I was wondering if it was also possible to "casually bike" something like that (along the same route). For instance, where we currently live (not in NY), you can bike a mile to the local grocery store, or you can bike in the other direction 6 miles via what's called simply "the bike path" (runs alongside the highway and veers in and out of tree-lined areas alongside the road) and go all the way to the next town pretty easily and safely.

We certainly don't expect to "keep up" with traffic on a pedal bike - but it's good to know that at least some people use their bikes for commuting, although I agree a scooter is probably a better idea. At least we know that both will work, to some degree. Thanks!

[kletter1mann]

Ahhh, got it. IMO the short answer is probably "no." There's almost nothing in the way of bike-friendly infrastructure apart from the rail train and nothing following the train lines.

FWIW, I've known several commuter cyclists commuting to Yorktown, Armonk and Purchase from roughly 10-15 miles each way. All were serious cyclists with facilities to shower and dress when they got to work. The terrain is generally too hilly much leisurely (i.e., non-spandex) riding for any distance.

[dma1250]

Originally Posted by kletter1mann

Ahhh, got it. IMO the short answer is probably "no." There's almost nothing in the way of bike-friendly infrastructure apart from the rail train and nothing following the train lines.

FWIW, I've known several commuter cyclists commuting to Yorktown, Armonk and Purchase from roughly 10-15 miles each way. All were serious cyclists with facilities to shower and dress when they got to work. The terrain is generally too hilly much leisurely (i.e., non-spandex) riding for any distance.

I disagree. The only official bike path is the North County Trailway (the rail trail), but all the major roads are what I consider to be bike friendly. 35 and 100 have shoulders wider than an average bike lane. The shoulders on routes 118, 129, 202, 117, and 22 vary a good deal--from decent to nonexistent--but all of those roads see a large number of bikers (spandex and non) and the drivers seem very atuned to bikers and will give them a wide berth when needed. In terms of daily commuting, what I see on a dialy basis is people biking from up to 5 or so miles away to the train station. Now, if I did that I would need a shower--but they don't seem to at all.

The bottom line, I think, is that it depends on what you're comfortable with. Plenty of people do bike all over. You need to come up, rent a bike from one of the many bike shops, and go out and see how it feels.