Last month, a path opened to give cyclists and pedestrians a continuous route from Battery Park to the George Washington Bridge. But as investigative reporter Jeff Simmons found out, it's not necessarily as smooth a ride as touted.

Fireworks trumpeted the official opening of the Riverside Park South Waterfront last month, with officials boasting a temporary bike path would now let cyclists glide seamlessly all the way from Battery Park City to the foot of the George Washington Bridge.

But there's a problem, and it stretches from 125th to 145th Street, where, for most cyclists, it looks like the end of the road.

"People feel like the Greenway is open and they can ride freely from north to south and they're stopped at this point and left with no direction," says Susan Boyle of the group Transportation Alternatives.

Cyclists are dumped into the Fairway Supermarket parking lot, and no signs tell them where to go. But bikers in the know follow a tangled trail, veering around parked cars, past the exit from the Henry Hudson Parkway, around a corner and up a street, until they land at the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant, run by the Department of Environmental Protection.

Then it's a hit or miss proposition. Guards sometimes don't let anyone through, and other times they do.

"I think maybe it's just a guarded parking lot for the employees of the Department of Environmental Protection," guesses cyclist Paul Rush.

A DEP spokesman tells NY1 that security has been beefed up at the 135th Street location so absolutely no cyclist or pedestrian should be able to get through. On Sunday, however, we found that was not the case.

Guards let people through, even though one told us a two-week-old memo told them not to. But she said they allowed access for Sunday's Bike New York event, even though we pointed out that was across town.

But soon after our camera left, cyclists reported access was blocked.

So to get around, they had to ride up another street, up a path beside a community garden onto Riverside Drive, and north for about ten blocks. Not such a seamless ride.

The guard turned away our cyclist, telling him no bikes were allowed in Riverbank State Park, even though we were just passing through.

So we went north a few more blocks and found the way back to the bike path, then down several sets of stairs, over railroad tracks, under the highway, and back to the path.

On the other side of the state park, a gate to the path is often locked.

Cyclist David Mandelbaum says, "If that gate to Riverbank State Park is closed and they don't let you through, you have to go all the way back. It's very inconvenient if that happens."

But wait a second, there's an elevator to help the cyclists up. Or maybe not. It was out of service Sunday. So cyclists must walk several flights, and then can head back to Riverside Park, and past the same guard who wouldn't let us in before.

"So it's kind of of following your nose and bushwhacking to some degree," says Rush.

Officials say there is a solution on the road ahead. The DEP tells us that within a month, a bike path will be fenced in so bikers can just sail through.

But the Parks Department tells us that will take at least until Labor Day. We'll let you know when it opens.

- Jeff Simmons