Hi {{contact.first_name}}, September is the payoff month for downstate riders. The brutal city heat finally breaks, the humidity drops, and the parkways north of town start to turn. The traffic never really lets up around here, but a cool September Saturday up in the Hudson Valley is about as good as riding gets within an hour of the five boroughs. Get out early, beat the bridge traffic, and September hands you the front door to the best color of the year.
Ride of the Month: Bear Mountain and Seven Lakes Drive
The classic downstate ride, minutes over the river and a world away from the city
Cross the George Washington Bridge or run up the Palisades Interstate Parkway, then pick up Seven Lakes Drive through Harriman and Bear Mountain State Park. It is the ride every downstate rider knows for a reason, sweeping curves through the hardwoods, the lakes flashing between the trees, and the overlook at Bear Mountain with the Hudson laid out below and the city skyline off in the haze. In late September the color starts to come on and the whole park lights up.
Go early on a weekend because this is everyone's ride and the lots at Bear Mountain fill fast. Watch for sand and leaves in the shaded corners, keep an eye out for deer along the lake stretches, and take Route 9W or the Palisades home before the afternoon crowd stacks up at the bridge.
For more miles, run the Hudson up to Cold Spring and Storm King, or point it onto the Taconic for its fast sweepers, but respect the deer and the state troopers up there. Long Island rider? Take the North Fork on a weekday, out through the farm stands and vineyards to Orient Point before the weekend traffic finds it. All of it is best early, before the crowds and the heat.
Early-Fall Safety: New York Edition
September in the metro is the handoff from summer to fall, and it stacks city hazards on top of the seasonal ones.
- The city never stops trying to left-hook you. Taxis, for-hire cars, and rideshares dive for fares and curbs without warning, and left-turn crashes are the number one killer of riders. Cover your brakes at every intersection and never trust a gap.
- Wet leaves and metal are as slick as ice. Early leaf drop on the parkways plus the metal grate bridges, steel plates, and painted crosswalks all over the city turn greasy the moment it is damp. Give them easy throttle and stay off the paint when it rains.
- Deer own the parkways up north. Rut season is ramping up along the Saw Mill, the Hutch, the Taconic, and through Harriman. Scan the shoulders and tree lines at dawn and dusk, and never swerve blind across the line.
- The days are getting short. Sunset creeps earlier all month and the low sun sits right in drivers' eyes on the east-west streets and the bridge approaches. Assume the car next to you cannot see you and ride like it.
Know Your New York Law
- No-fault does not cover you on a bike. New York is a no-fault state, but the no-fault law leaves motorcyclists out. There is no basic PIP on your bike for your own medical bills and lost wages the way there is for a car occupant, so strong health coverage and UM are essential, and the liability claim carries the weight.
- Fault is shared, not a wall. New York uses pure comparative negligence. Your recovery is reduced by your share of the blame but never barred outright, even so, insurers fight hard to pin blame on the rider, so how the crash is documented matters.
- Everyone wears a helmet. New York has a universal helmet law. Every rider and passenger must wear a DOT-compliant helmet, no exceptions.
- You have three years, sometimes far less. The general injury deadline in New York is three years, but a crash involving the City, the MTA, or another public entity can require a Notice of Claim in as little as 90 days. Do not wait to get advice.
Ride Nation New York
The local chapter is where downstate riders post weekend miles, call out fresh potholes, steel plates, and leaf-slick corners from the boroughs to the Hudson Valley, and share the shots worth putting your helmet on for. Post where you rode this month and tag us. It is your scene, run by riders who actually ride these roads.
Still Time for the $20,000 BikeWin Giveaway
You are on this list because you entered, which means you are already in the running for 20,000 dollars toward any motorcycle you want, drawn December 10. Got a buddy who would want a shot? The entry page is open and free.
Enter the giveaway
A cab cutting across your lane on the FDR. A driver turning left in front of you on a Bronx avenue. A distracted commuter who never saw you at a bridge approach. If you ever go down in New York, remember no-fault does not cover you on a bike, so you want a lawyer who rides these roads and knows how the fault game gets played against riders.
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