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New York City Bike Zeen’s 2026 Year Preview- January 2026- Issue 32
While only half way through winter, we made it through the tough part, the days are getting longer and New York City has a palpable optimistic vibe going into 2026. It's a great time to set new mileage goals, get new gear and ride that new route. The City’s cyclists have a lot to look forward to in 2026
Hope you stayed in shape because the year starts spicy for racers. NYCBMA is keeping the heat up to start this year with the Borough Olympics. Well see who can win NYC’s 5 boro alleycat series in the cold. For the Roadies, The Spring Road Series starts in February and wraps up by early May. The Spring will bring us the always classic Monstertrack and a new Monstercrit the next day. So two days to see the best allycat racers rip up the city. We cannot overstate how wild the Monstercrit will be this year.
The summer gets a little more chill, with a social or group ride happening almost everyday of the week. Join a fun group like Bike n’ Brew or build up your skills with groups like Century Plus Crew. Throughout the summer look out for a new Rallykat series for their creative competitions. The big ride of the summer will most certainly be the return of the biennial Warriors Ride, the team based, city wide, overnight ride from the Bronx to Coney Island. Personally hoping not to crash down a flight of stairs this time. Fall feels so far from now but soon it’s going to wrap up the cycling series with foliage rides upstate, cyclocross season and bike kill.
If you're rolling solo this year, set a mileage goal. Just pick a number and figure out how many miles a day you'll need. For example, 5000 miles is 13.7 miles a day. Or in reverse, 20 miles a day is 7300 miles. It's easier to maintain the pace that way. Trying to make up for falling behind with big rides and tours works too. Last year I didn't set a milage goal but instead a daily goal to simply ride a bike the most days I could and ended up riding 289/365 days. There are lots of apps to keep track of your counting stats and you could even get crazy and make your own spreadsheet or journal but the key is to keep track throughout the year in some way to watch the numbers grow.
There’s still time to prepare for the new year. If your helmet is getting old, it might be time for a fresh one. The foam on the inside can only take so much wear and tear before it won't function properly when you really hit your head. If you got a fresh helmet but you're not wearing it, decorate it so it feels more like your own style. 2026 should be the year of the cool helmet. Some gear helps put your adventures farther. Getting a cycling computer with a GPS can really step your game up. Do serious things like long, multi day tours or do silly things like strava art. Last statement on gear, proper air pressure will save your year from tire wear and punctures so get a floor pump or even the new electric pumps.
We are happy to report that 2026 looks like a good year for bike infrastructure. Only a handful of days into the year, Zohran is already at work. The new mayor fixed the Williamsburg Bridge bump and has the city redesigning McGuinness Boulevard after years of half baked solutions. Central Park is freshly paved so morning races will set some serious times this year. We're mostly looking forward to the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway to finally run through sunset park smoothly. We can't wait to try out these new bike lanes and incorporate them into new routes. Keep tabs on organizations like Transportation Alternatives for more infrastructure and activism updates
We’ll wrap this preview up with a big thanks for everyone who read or supported the New York City Bike Zeen in its first year. It has been a fun project and we hope to keep building up the cycling culture in the city. We’re not stopping so look out for the latest issue, new merch and new events coming.
What is Monster Track- March 2025- Issue 10
The premier Alleycat in NYC. An institution at this point of 25 years.
All the big names come out of the woodwork for Monstertrack. Every year, staples of the city and the out-towners make up the biggest field in NYC alleycats. Some messengers, some just committed cyclists, some are straight up out here underestimating the race. With so many riders, volunteers manning checkpoints, bands rocking and artists showing off, the race itself feels like a party. Arguably a party for the clinically insane cyclist
Chaos kicks off every MonsterTrack. The checkpoints start a mystery with only the few earning the right to the second manifest. From there, the city puts the Monster in Monstertrack. Often on a frozen early spring day, the race challenges the riders to show more than brute power but also wit and balls. Neither sleet nor rain, nor brake of any kind has stopped a Monstertrack. Mixing the most dangerous bikes with the most dangerous conditions. The roads are open and there is no waiver. So why do it? Why not enjoy a calm roadie race in Prospect? Why fuck with traffic and deer-in-headlight pedestrians? Strictly for vibes that's why. Also money, a sweet messenger bag and a fuck ton of street cred.
Best part, the winners are not the only ones who get to party. Monstertrack has always been more than the race. So shout outs to the Cycleholics and BCF group ride to the Prom, everyone at the afterparty and NYC Bike Polo Club at the Pit who all give us all a way to have a good time in NYC bike culture.
Featured Ride- April 2025- Issue 13
Get on the Horse
Distance: 41 Miles
Shout Out and Yeehaw to
Karl Chen | RouteDoodle on Strava for making the route and segment . You can check out more Strava doodles in Brooklyn at routedoodle.com/karlchen.
Doodle art always made me nervous because the route could end up with wrong ways and riding on dangerous roads in the name of the art but this safe ride made a borough I ride through everyday feel bigger, new and exciting.
You will absolutely need GPS with the directions because the route constantly zigs and zags so a queue sheet would be miles long. With the directions, the route deconstructs southern Brooklyn to feel bigger and almost endless. The biggest stretches are no more than 3 or 4 miles but they feel long after zigging and zagging for 15-20 minutes at a time. The zigs do make fighting any wind easier.
At only 40 miles, the Horse makes for a fun 3-4 hours of riding. Put on some cowboy music, I recommend Marty Robbin’s Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, and think of your best horse pun for your rides title on strava
Fair warning there are a handful of wrong ways on this route but nothing crazy dangerous just keep ya head on a swivel
The entire route is also a segment so could this be a horse race?
Gear Review- September 2025- Issue 25
Floor Pump for the House
Nothing completes the New York City Living Room aesthetic like a floor pump.
Putting air in the tires regularly makes cycling more enjoyable. Proper air pressure keeps a bike fast and safe from flats.
The floor pump is an
“Old Reliable” tool that you can use for decades and worth having around. Regularly filling tires with a hand pump sounds cursed for many reasons.
Floor Pumps never needs to be plugged in like electric pumps. Cheap ones are harder to pump but a good one will last eternity.
Get one with an air pressure gage even though they are hardly ever accurate.
Reporting on Bike Kill October 2025- Issue 27
The Zeen’s Super Spooky Scoop on BikeKill
Earlier in the week the Zeen explored the behind the scenes of New York's wildest cycling event. Against better judgment and warning from the occult, the Zeen sent three staff writers to investigate the secrets behind how Bikekill prepares, only one made it to tell the tale. What we witnessed that night was nothing short of cycling necromancy. Unsure what we would find, we showed up to the secret underground lair with a case of Modelo and a helping hand. Turns out that was all that we needed to be drafted into the army of metal goblin’ mechanics.
Late into the night we watched as the factory of mad scientists brought bikes back from the dead in the most unnatural ways imaginable. Pulling corpses from the crypt, some one's old childhood bike, chopped and welded to three other bikes. One crazed maniac welded cracked dropouts to summon a fork back to life while another tested out one creation only to blow a tire. The other writers went off to document the madness while the smell of grinding and welding made my roadie soul queasy.
All night, under the full moon, the freak bike factory buzzed with good vibes and wild ideas. The light of the welder in the night blinded us just for looking. Where are my staff writers? I've lost them, their souls drafted into the army of insanity, enshrined forever, shiny and chrome! My God! There’s twisted metal everywhere!. Soon these Frankenbikes will roam the streets. Is Frankenbike the name of the bike, or is it the name of the mad scientist that created it?
PT.2
After sacrificing two of my best staff writers to the army of mad mechanics, I was excited to meet up with the Zeen’s cover illustrator on the big day. We met up at Grand Army Plaza where the two of us, dressed as Nurse Ratched and a human job application, began the hunt for Bikekill. That’s when I first noticed it. Always a crisp autumn day, we spent the morning hunting tall bikes to follow in hopes of finding the lost land of Bikekill.
Only until we were good and lost could we hope to find a place that couldn't be found. Things seemed to be getting to the right level of desperation when the illustrator spotted the Big A-frame Anarchy bike making its way downtown, we promptly followed until we began to feel the rumbles of polite chaos.
The sound of bikes groaning with the pain of the undead indeed confirmed we had found the spot. “Alas Bikekill.” All around us lunatics, freshly escaped from the asylum, most in costume parading up and down the block on mutant human powered creations. And there it was, lurking in the shadows. Nevermind that, my illustrator had gone off to sketch a wizard riding a bike with a giant barrel attached, and Beetlejuice on a swing bike spilled a beer on me. It’s truly a dead man’s party. Who could ask for more? leave your body and soul at the curb.
All around us freak bikes and people busting ass, enjoying what gets us all to propagate our lust for life. I saw it die right before I got my leg caught in a beartrap but the DJ was blasting killer tunes with spooky undertones. The haze of the party always blurs the day. We were beginning to be let loose as the anarchy grew. But wait, it didn't die? It finally got a hold of me. Looking for my illustrator for help, he was nowhere to be found. So it just yelled at me “It’s All fun and games until the hulk hands taped to pvc pipes come out”