My Liberté as a “zizzling” navigator in NYC

I live in New York City and I don’t own a car. After I moved here many years ago, I learned quickly it is a headache and also expensive to own a car here in the city. After giving my car, I have been riding my bike to work, stores, and everywhere in the city, as well as the excellent public transportation system here. The city has many bike baths now so it’s quite convenient and safe riding a bike.

Here in New York City, there has been an increase of biking accidents resulting in injuries and deaths over the past several years. I have been cautious to ride my bike on bike paths. Although there are more protected bike lanes in the city, I still feel anxious as there are many fast ebikes and sometimes scooters on these bike lanes. The worries I have now are the alarmingly high number of e-bikes and accidents they caused.

For my birthday this year, I initially purchased both an e-bike and a Zizzo Liberté. After reading so many reviews and questions and comments posted on Zizzo owners group on facebook, I decided to cancel my e-bike order.

After riding my Liberte for more than a month now, I cannot be happier with it. Having had 4 bikes stolen here in the city, I appreciate the fact that I can bring my Liberte to the office and even inside stores. I no longer have to worry about my bike being stolen. My Liberte is so light that I can easily bring it to the bus and subway as well.

Although citi bikes are everywhere in Manhattan, the annual membership fee is almost $200. And citi bikes are much heavier than my Liberté. Simply put, my Liberté is better, cheaper, lighter and more comfortable and convenient.

It’s not until my recent day trip to Palisades Park in New York for the first time that I fully appreciated what my Liberté was capable of! For me, this ride was long, challenging, hilly but fun! I took the West Side Bike Path over the George Washington Bridge and then on the New Jersey side. It offers great views of the Hudson River and New York City.

After that trip to Palisades Park, I took another day trip of about 50 miles round trip to Tarrytown, New York. This trip allows me to take advantage of the Old Putnam/South County/North County/Putnam rail trail system, avoiding almost all car traffic. At Tarrytown, I spent a few hours exploring the town. Although I did not ride on the Tappan Zee Bridge (3.2 miles in length), it was such a beautiful summer afternoon to spend a few hours near the Hudson River. Next time I will ride my Liberté on the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Before the end of this summer, I plan to ride my Liberté through one of New York City's largest parks (Pelham Bay Park) to visit City Island eating seafood there, followed by a swim at Orchard Beach. Another day trip on my list is to venture further north to Hook Mountain State Park as well as exploring beautiful towns of Piermont and Nyak. I may also visit New Jersey’s Saddle River or Sandy Hook this summer.