There are several bike rides and cycling events that I have on my must see/do. Needless to say that New York's Summer Streets is one of them. Summer Streets is the temporary closing of Park Avenue and connecting streets from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park to motor vehicles and open it up to people on three consecutive Saturdays in August (August 7, 14, & 21). We went out yesterday to see how this year's event was going, and we were not disappointed.
This year's event kicked off with a fun run, had a "Joy Ride" where groups of cyclists ride with music playing from their bikes, stages with exercise classes, and they even had what they termed Micro Sea but it was simply dumpster pools. They also had bike valets from Transportation Alternatives, free bike rentals, free rollerblade rentals, free picnic from Whole Foods, and tons of activities for kids and adults alike. We are going to check it out again next week and do some riding. There is no other way to experience the city like this. 90+ blocks of closed streets on Park Avenue. Awesome!