the time it cost $100 to go to coney island... from brooklyn

I did some quick mental calculations. It was going to cost us over $100 to cycle from Brooklyn to Coney Island, New York using Citi Bike NYC, New York's new bike sharing program. Zander and I looked at each other and shrugged. "We're too close to turn back now." 

Zan and I spent the weekend in New York with friends to celebrate Mel's and my birthdays. We drove up on Thursday night and planned a grand Brooklyn takeover for Friday. We woke early and cemented our plan to find bagels (most important) and then rent bicycles.

Brooklyn to Coney Island, New York is one of the nation's most iconic urban bike rides. I read it on multiple websites, and the internet only tells the truth so I know that to be fact. After having done it, I can attest to its veracity, although I'll be honest - I don't have a lot of iconic urban bike rides to which to compare it. I do know that it's stunningly beautiful with views of the Manhattan skyline, Prospect Park (Brooklyn's Central Park), tree lined streets, diverse neighborhoods, a beach, and the famous Coney Island boardwalk. It's mostly flat, around 12-14 miles roundtrip, and whole lotta fun. 

As we walked out of Bergen Bagels, home of my new favorite New York bagels, I mapped our way to the nearest bike shop. It'd be a mile walk, and after spraining my ankle on a yoga hike (I'm still embarrassed about that), and failing to properly wrap or ice it for days, Zan was trying his best to limit how much I was walking. As we crossed the street, he pointed out Citi Bikes, the sister program to DC's BikeShare. I hemmed and hawed. This wasn't the plan. 

"Do they even have gears?" 

Zan checked. "Yes, they do." 

"Yeah but they're not meant for trails."

"We're in New York. Everything is paved," he countered.

"But they're way more expensive!" I saved my best argument for last. 

He leaned in to check the pricing. "A 24-hour pass is $10." 

A bicycle rental was $35 from the bike shop. 

And just like that, I was sold. The idea sounded great. As he inserted his credit card for our $20 ride out to Coney Island - for both of us - I read the fine print. The 24-hour pass is good for unlimited 30 minute rides. Every 30 minutes, we'd need to dock the bikes or pay late fees. 

"STOP DONT DO IT!" I animatedly yelled, my arms flailing, trying to pull him away from the machine. 

"Oooops," Zan said as his receipt popped out with codes to unlock the bikes. 

We paused, staring at each other. 

"Let's do it," I said with a shrug. "We'll find stations along the way. It'll be an adventure!" 

The full ride starts on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge, allowing cyclists to see the Statue of Liberty in the distance, Governor's Island, and Manhattan behind you. We started closer to Prospect Park, about 2 miles into the ride. We breezed through the city streets, thankful for fairly consistent bike lanes. 

When we reached Prospect Park, we watched in awe as serious cyclists zoomed past us, bent in perfect posture over the handlebars. Runners kept pace on the trail by the road or on the paved lane itself. The tree-lined lane with large, manicured acres of green curved around a small pond on one side and a lake on the other. We stopped to take in the view and take a few photos. We heard music jingling from a carousel nearby.

Out of the Park, we swerved around a traffic circle onto Ocean Parkway, which took us over the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, through a Hasidic Jewish neighborhood, down into an old part of Brooklyn with houses that looked out of place amongst the brownstones we'd seen where we started, and finally, when we could go no further, the ocean. 

But before we reached the ocean, people kept honking at us. Young men and old women and teenagers and everybody in between stopped us in their cars and on the streets to ask us, "Where'd you get those bikes?" About five blocks from Coney Island, we started to feel uneasy. More and more people were approaching us, so incredibly excited, about these bikes. I pulled out my phone and motioned Zander to stop.

We hadn't seen a station the entire way, but we figured - we're only 30 or 45 minutes over time, and the fees at that time range aren't too big, and we'll be able to re-dock them on Coney Island. I looked at the Citi Bike's website and found the station map. I scrolled... and scrolled some more. 

"It must not be loading right," I said to Zan, confused. "It's not showing any stations." 

I scrolled up all the way back to where we'd started. And there, a little dot appeared. We had rented bikes at the last station in Brooklyn. We would have to get back to where we started to dock the bikes. 

I looked at the time. We'd rented the bikes at 10:15, and it was now... 11:20. After the first 90 minutes, late fees cost $13 for every half hour. I did quick math and guessed that for both bikes would cost around $110 by the time we got back to a station. We were screwed. 

On the other hand, we were so close to Coney Island that it felt more foolish not to finish than to head straight back. So onward we went, cruising through the last five blocks until we hit the sand.

It was Zan's and my first time on Coney Island, and we enjoyed seeing it quiet, the rides closed down, out of season. Sunbathers still lined the sand and jet skis sprayed wake into the sunshine, and we shared an original Nathan's hot dog covered in chili and got it on our pants, and held hands and shared a kiss in front of the Ferris Wheel. 

And we did all that in five minutes because good God, we had to return these bikes. 

We pedaled as fast as we could, and Zander has thighs of steel from years of playing rugby and baseball and all of the sports in the world, and he lapped me 15 times in Prospect Park up a hill, and it felt like a race against the clock and like a scavenger hunt trying to find the closest station. When we docked the bikes, I breathed a giant sigh of relief and started laughing because the second Zan's bike clicked into place, he threw his fists in the air in triumph. 

It was the most expensive bike ride of our lives, but in a way that only some misadventures can be, it was totally and completely worth it. 

But please, don't rent Citi Bikes to go to Coney Island.

if you go...

check out ride brooklyn for bike rentals

distance: 12-15 miles roundtrip, depending on where you start

difficulty: 2/5 - mostly flat, going back up prospect park is the only real hill

directions! this detailed guide is great