Prospect Park distance

Here's a good map of the roads in the park, with distances:

http://pptc.org/news/index.php?article=2005_parkmap

If you're running, do your legs (and sanity) a favor and stick to either the footpath just inside the road or follow the bridle trails (but yield to the horses). The distance lost is negligible, and will even be a bit more if you follow some of the undulations of the bridle trail in and out of the park. I'm on EP and Classon/Franklin, and it's 4.6mi if I do a full loop via Eastern Parkway (more if I head down Washington to get to the park).

The softness of the trails will do your joints nicely, and there tends to be much more shade on the soft stuff, which was crucial the last few days (but tonight was perfect running weather!).

they had the meeting about car free park like last month and we'll eventually get no cars!!!

Glad to hear that, armchair. I'm amazed it has taken so long. Thanks for the info.

yes, mayor bloomberg was in the park a couple of weeks ago to announce the improvement in car-free hours in both central and prospect park. prospect park gets car-free mornings on the west drive (park slope side). word has it that dot commissioner iris weinshall, who lives on prosp park west, began taking morning walks in the park and began to think, you know, it'd be nice to get the cars outta here.

there is also a bill coming before city council in the next few weeks, intro 276 that pushes for even more car-free hours and also asserts the idea that the council has authority to open and close roads in the parks w/out the mayor even. so bloomberg's announcement was an attempt to head off the council's move....

NYTIMES
May 8, 2006
Additional Roadways in N.Y. Parks to Be Closed
By DIANE CARDWELL
Moving to further reduce traffic in city parks, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced today that stretches of Central Park in Manhattan and Prospect Park in Brooklyn will close to cars under a six-month pilot program to begin June 5.

Under the plan, in Central Park, vehicles would no longer be able to use the East Drive of Central Park north of 72nd Street during weekday mornings or the West Drive in the afternoons. In Prospect Park traffic would lose morning access to the West Drive.

Officials said that the restrictions were intended to reduce potential conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles in the parks, and to increase weekday access for activities other than driving.

"For many years people coming to Prospect Park or Central Park for recreation during weekdays have had to share road space on the park drives with automobiles, and in all fairness it hasn't always been an easy relationship," Mr. Bloomberg said in Prospect Park as he announced the changes. "These new regulations will be especially welcome for the cyclists, joggers and inline skaters who use the park drive and it should also make entering and leaving the parks safer for pedestrians."

Officials estimated that approximately 865 vehicles would be affected by the Central Park closures and about 357 by those in Prospect Park. By contrast, Mr. Bloomberg said, on weekdays an average of 70,000 people use Central Park and 15,000 use Prospect Park. Officials said that they do not anticipate that the closures would unduly snarl traffic on streets surrounding the parks but said that they plan to study the affects of the changes in November with an eye toward making them permanent.

With the exception of the crosstown transverses in Central Park, both parks will remain closed to motor vehicles overnight and on weekends. In Central Park, only the West Drive will be open to cars between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., while the East Drive north of 72nd Street will be open only from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. From 72nd Street to 57th Street and 6th Avenue, the East Drive will continue to be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. In Prospect Park, only the East Drive will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., while both the East and West Drives will be open between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

mapmyrun.com

absolutely indispensible.

linusvanpelt wrote: [quote=Anonymous]If you're running, do your legs (and sanity) a favor and stick to either the footpath just inside the road or follow the bridle trails (but yield to the horses). The distance lost is negligible, and will even be a bit more if you follow some of the undulations of the bridle trail in and out of the park. I'm on EP and Classon/Franklin, and it's 4.6mi if I do a full loop via Eastern Parkway (more if I head down Washington to get to the park).

The softness of the trails will do your joints nicely, and there tends to be much more shade on the soft stuff, which was crucial the last few days (but tonight was perfect running weather!).

Regular PP runner and I'd disagree. It's true that dirt is easier on your joints than asphalt. But the "footpath" is just a narrow strip of dirt, with a lot of exposed rocks and holes to turn your ankles on. I used to run on it all the time but quit after one too many spills, on the last of which I bruised a ribcage.

No danger to your sanity from running on the asphalt, where there is a well-marked walking/running lane. (And a SEPARATE bike lane -- so if you stay in your lane and metulj stays in his/hers, he/she will have no need for the fuck-off horn. I bike too, and I know that bikers don't exclusively own the asphalt.)

BTW, metulj, how about talking to some of the weekend bike racers who *absolutely need to* park their bikes, rest and chug a sports drink in the middle of the running lane after the race? If they stay out of there, I won't have to run around them into the bike lane.

Yeah, i didn't read this so well initially, but that's just a rude suggestion anonymous. Not only are you asking for bikers to receive more than they are entitled to, but you are asking, the horsey people to give up their space, and for runners to endanger themselves by putting themselves on the bridal path. You're dead wrong

I couldn't be anymore anti-car and pro-bike when it comes to transit, but sometimes the bike community's sense of righteousness and entitlement really pisses me off.

In Prospect Park, they do frequently block the both lanes by "parking" there, and I'm not sure bikers really should be going dangerously fast in those two lanes in any case. I'm not sure what the rules are as pertains to those lanes, but I think speedy bikers should keep to the car lanes when the park is closed to cars.

I'm not saying what they should do, I'm just saying this may be how it should be. Those lanes are narrow.

I will say this though, bikers stay the f off the runner path on the Manhattan bridge, ya got your own path on the other side.

Rose wrote:
I always run on the dirt when I can because my joints just can't take the pounding on the concrete. You'll see when you get older, Steve.

One problem is that the bridle path is not defined, especially by the lake, and the riders think they own all the unpaved area. And yes, there are tons of roots and rocks sticking out of the dirt path and I've wiped out a couple of times -- I have an ugly scab on my knee at this very moment.

I'm all for running on the dirt, I love the trails myself. I'm on the other side of equation though, my ankles are f*cked, so, I stay on the pavement more than I might like. Still, I've been on the bridle path many a time.

steve wrote:
I will say this though, bikers stay the f off the runner path on the Manhattan bridge, ya got your own path on the other side.

Just to be my own devil's advocate -- when it comes to the Brooklyn Bridge, where I run and bike, the worst offenders are the pedestrians. Not so much the runners as the walkers and tourists. I try to bike slow on the bridge for safety and yet many's the time I've nearly clocked some clueless rube wandering over to take a snapshot of the Empire State Building.

And Rose, I hear you, but it's a Hobson's choice between screwing up my knees or my ankles. When I'm old and decrepit enough -- next month? -- I'll probably just take up swimming.

Personally, I hope I don't run into any of you peeps in the park now

steve wrote: I think the bridal path is very dangerous for runners for all of the reasons already noted, compounded by the fact that a lot of runners wear headphones.

Very dangerous? Come on.

I've had countless issues dodging unaware headphone-wearing joggers and walkers while on the road, but never on the dirt. And staying out of the way of the horses is extremely easy. It's a matter of either moving onto the road or standing on the side of the trail as they pass.

If you are having balance or ankle issues, that's a whole 'nother thing, but there's nothing inherently dangerous about running on trails. There's a reason the best runners in the world avoid roads during training like the plague.

I love that a simple question about the length of the park road turned into this big argument.

There are definitely some aggressive horseback riders. :shock:

So does anyone know anything about the track in Red Hook? Like, where in Red Hook is it?

My $.02 on the path vs pavement argument is that b/c the pavement is on an angle it absolutely destroys my right ankle, because it stretches out the inner ankle on the right side with each pace. I have to run on the dirt b/c that's the only place that's flat. On the very bumpy parts I move to the pavement, but it's not so much the softness of the path as the flatness of it that is better for my joints.

quijibo wrote: i'm gonna try running on the dirt

-- worth a shot

It's going to be mud tomorrow at this rate!