Has anyone ridden the loop in Central Park in New York City? I am talking about the bike loop? How long is it?
Get on Google earth, zoom to central park, click on the tape measure on the top, click on path when the box comes up and draw out the path to find the distance. I’m not sure how accurate it is but it seems pretty accurate and its a good way to approximate distances.
According to the first result googling “Central park Bike Path”, it’s about 6.1 miles around the park.
thanks for the tip…I guess no one on this board has ridden it…I plan on it in June when I visit my son.
I may have ridden it but not sure. It’s flat. I’ve had much more fun there riding on the big rocks in the park. Pre-historic MUni in 1983! 
I was with a whole bunch (at least 15 unis) of folks that rode in a couple years ago, during a NY Unicycle Club meetup.
I have heard there is at least one large hill…
Depends on what you call a hill. There’s a climb up near West 108th that’s steep but relatively short. There’s only 100 feet difference between high and low altitude on the whole loop, although some of it is rolling up and down.
It’s a nice ride for a quick workout. You will have to dodge pedestrians and dogs and stay out of the way of hammerhead bikers.
After 2 months of unicycling, it will probably be a real challenge for me. I am training now for hills. I find downhill even more difficult.
in dawnhill maters, dont pedal, brake, use your pedals to lowerypour velocityu, and control yourbody and you should be fine
MANY of us have ridden it, more than once!
THe NYC Unatics used to meet there 2x/month.
John Stone trained for the Alps Uni Tour there, because it has a decent hill.
Yes, but did you ever do it on that UW?
never!
but I hope to see you do it soon!
It will definitely be a huge challenge. There are a lot of adults at our club (NYUC) who only started riding a few years (or in your case, months) ago, and they often complain about how a recent long ride of theirs practically killed them. Then this ride turns out to be a flat, two-mile jaunt across town on a 24".
Hey, I can totally dig where they’re coming from. As a new rider, you’re using muscles you hadn’t used much before, and you’re using them less efficiently than when you’ve been riding for longer.
So just be warned about some hills:
- There is a steep, curving downhill at 110th Street (the northernmost part of the loop).
- Less than a quarter of a mile later comes its revenge, an even steeper (and yes, curving) uphill. Each of these is short but cruel in its own right.
- There is another curvy uphill at about 86th Street on the East Side (near the rent-a-boats) that is not as steep as the 110th St one, but it’s longer. That thing kills me sometimes.
The loop, as prev’ly noted, is 6.1 miles long. If you’re not feeling up to the steep hills, you’re in luck! You can take a very obvious short-cut at 110th St that bypasses both of them. In that case, you’ll still get in a good ride (about 5 miles).
And a lot of this depends on which wheel you’re riding, and what cranks. I use a Schlumpf 29" and keep it in high gear the whole time. My brother does it on an ungeared Coker. We rode together a few days ago, and while I could easily outdistance him on the straights and downhills, his training and that lovely Coker allowed him to cruise up the hills faster. A good rider can get around the full loop in under a half hour on a large wheel.
Good luck! And come visit the NYUC when you’re in Manhattan.
David
Hey Mike when in June are you going to NYC. I am going to try to get close to there the weekend of June 4 to ride the LBI unithon (not sure if I can go yet) if I don’t get to go that weekend maybe I’d do a different weekend and if we can meet up I’d ride the loop with you. Also the New York Unicycle Club meets June 5 and 18 (if I read it right) and they are a great group and I learned a lot with one short visit. If you are going down one of the weekends their meeting please visit them you will meet a great group of people and I am sure you will have a good time.