Despite potholes, traffic, and apartments not big enough for twin beds, let alone bicycles, New York has a wide range of ways for cyclists to enjoy a quick spin in the city or a long ride into the country. And while Times Square is not as good as the local cul-de-sac for teaching children to ride with training wheels, there are still places where families can enjoy the open air on two wheels.

One of New York’s most classic day rides is the trip to Nyack and back.

Commonly called the “Muffin Run” because of the cyclist-friendly Runcible Spoon bakery in charming downtown Nyack, this 50-60 mile ride (depending on route) is decidedly first rate. The best route is to take the bike path along the West Side Highway up to 125 Street (stopping at the Fairway there for a banana if necessary) and then continue north into Fort Tryon Park, after which you can loop up the hill to the bike entrance for the George Washington Bridge.

There are a few ways to go from here, but the most scenic is along a tree-lined, car-free path that hugs the Hudson.After crossing the bridge take a left when the road hits a T, then follow Hudson Terrace and the signs for River Road. This beautiful stretch of clean pavement can help you forget about your BlackBerry and remember why people live outside of New York. There is one good hill about halfway into the 8-mile stretch and a tough one right at the end that leads up to a police station. This is a good place to rest, fill water bottles, and a consider whether to continue on to Nyack.

Past the police station, riders should travel on 9W (the Tallman bike path) through Piermont and down Broadway to downtown Nyack. There are several options for the ride back, and any rider at the Runcible Spoon can give his or her favorite, but the most typical is to take a left on Main Street, and then a right on Piermont Avenue, then Route 340. From here, riders can continue on route 501 or take an 11-mile straight shot back on 9W, turning left on the Palisades Parkway to return over the George Washington Bridge. The ride down Riverside Drive is better than retracing the path along the West Side Highway – and it gives the opportunity to cut into Central Park for a nice finish to the ride. This is such a frequented route that you can always ask another rider for directions, tips on the longer and hillier routes, or even a spare tube if you come unprepared.

If, after a pumpkin muffin in Nyack, pushing on sounds better than riding back, the long haul to Bear Mountain is another true classic. It is significantly more ambitious and much more challenging than the ride to Nyack, with around 6,000 vertical feet of climbing over 100 miles. While it’s not for the average weekend warrior or for young children, riders can con tinue on through Bergen County in New Jersey and through Rockland and Orange counties in New York.

For those interested in staying closer to home, Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs have some great shorter rides. The most well-trodden bike path in the city is the sixmile loop in Central Park, which is nothing short of a staple. It has one good climb, one good descent, a few ups and downs along the way, subway bailouts every 10 blocks, and shorter loops for those with children. It is a good place to keep track of times, pace with other riders – and pass people with expensive bikes. The path can be crowded during peak times and on sunny days, so it’s not the best place to log serious miles. But as a beautiful place to people-watch and take a quick ride after work, it is peerless.

Brooklyn has a number of good shorter rides that are better for those riders less comfortable with messenger-style traffic negotiation. The three-and-half-mile loop around Prospect Park has one moderate hill, a host of sweeping turns, and a few swift descents. For longer rides, riders can begin in Brooklyn Heights and pedal through Cobble Hill and through Bedford Stuyvesant to Sheepshead Bay. From there, head either toward Breezy Point or on to Brighton Beach and Coney Island.

The trip to the Queens site of the 1964 New York World’s Fair is another good ride within the five boroughs. From the Brooklyn Bridge, riders can go through Dumbo and Willimasburg, over the Pulaski Bridge, and then through Long Island City and Astoria. From there, head for Vernon Boulevard and ride along the East River to Triboro Park, past the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia Airport, over the Grand Central Parkway toward Shea Stadium, and on to the Corona Park.

For those riders eager to enjoy competitive cycling close to home, the Kissena Cycling Club (www.kissena.info) sponsors a series of races in Prospect Park and Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. The latter runs through mid-August. The course is a flat 2.3-mile rectangle, with some windy corners and rough pavement in parts. The Prospect Park Series runs June 3 -September 23 for all five categories of competition. Beginning cyclists in good physical fitness can race in Category V successfully, but Category IV and above require extensive training and the ability to ride comfortably in tight groups. Spokesport, a grassroots cycling organization, has listings of races throughout the tristate area and all along the eastern seaboard at its Web site, spokepost.com.

The New York Cycle Club also has a great Web site (www.nycc.org), complete with an extensive list of rides in and around the New York area, detailed route maps with distances, directions, and difficulty levels, and cycling events happening in New York.