Salt air and gulls, not ridges: this finish sits at Point Lookout, on the western tip of the Long Beach barrier island on Long Island's south shore. The ride's name points at the Shawangunk cliffs two hours north, where climbers hang on pale quartz conglomerate above forest, so the contrast is sharp. Here the land is a sandbar a few metres above the tide, with Jones Inlet on one side, the open Atlantic on the other, and the neighbouring communities of Lido Beach and Baldwin Harbor tucked into the bay behind.
The easy way here ends with the Loop Parkway or the Meadowbrook, and a short run of causeway across wide tidal marsh. In the evening the light turns the grass copper, and the marsh smell comes through your helmet vents, a mix of salt, mud and something faintly sweet. Jones Beach State Park is a few kilometres east, one of Robert Moses's great projects, opened in 1929, with a tall brick water tower rising like a campanile and a boardwalk that drew millions of New Yorkers in the decades when a day at the beach was the working family's holiday. The roads that lead through it are well kept, and the parkways around were designed as pleasure drives with stone-faced bridges that are too low for trucks and buses.
Riding on Long Island's south shore is a gentle affair, with flat roads, steady traffic and the occasional gust that pushes you sideways on the causeways. Storm surge is a real issue, and the barrier islands took a severe beating in Hurricane Sandy in 2012. If a summer weekend is on the calendar, expect to queue for parking near the beaches, and take your own water.
Fuel and food are easy in nearby Long Beach and in Baldwin, and Point Lookout itself has a small beach town feel with a handful of casual restaurants and clam shacks. A plate of fried clams and a cold drink on a bench facing the water makes a better end to a long ride than any motorway hotel. Nights are cool even in July, thanks to the sea breeze, so a jacket will not go unused.