When she's alone on the brand-new Manhattan Bridge bike path, cyclist Eleanor O'Brien feels as if she's flying.

The two-month-old bike path is so little used - especially compared with the chronically clogged Brooklyn Bridge path - that O'Brien can pick up speed going downhill, let go of the handlebars and stretch her arms out like wings.

"You feel like you're flying into Manhattan," said O'Brien, 32, an actress from Prospect Heights, as she threw her arms out to show how she rode to an audition.

O'Brien was one of several opinionated Brooklyn bikers I met on my first time riding across the new Manhattan Bridge bike path.

The $17 million path has been hailed for giving cyclists a quick, smooth and efficient trek into Manhattan in a city known more for honking at bikers than embracing them.

Because there's a separate pedestrian path, Manhattan Bridge cyclists don't have to worry about stubborn tourists who refuse to keep out of the bike lane, like they do on the Brooklyn Bridge.

The original Manhattan Bridge path, opened in 2001, required cyclists and pedestrians to share the span and forced cyclists to carry their bikes up 23 steps.

The new path has ramps on both sides, a vast improvement for cyclists. But there are issues.

First, there's the view - or lack of one. The path is tucked along the dreary northern side of the bridge next to the subway tracks, and is shrouded by a high chain-link fence. The feeling is more prison yard than scenic byway.

Getting to the path requires merging across fast-moving traffic on Jay St. coming off the bridge and onto the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

Sure, there's a new sign that tells drivers to "Share the Road" with cyclists, but that didn't stop a truck from nearly squeezing me off the road.

Transportation Alternatives bike advocate Noah Budnick said the group is happy the city built the new bike path - but said they've gotten many complaints about the ugly fence and the traffic safety problems.

Transportation Department spokesman Tom Cocola defended the fence, saying it is necessary to "keep bicyclists as safe as possible."

Cocola also said the city does not encourage cyclists to take Jay St. because of the safety concerns. But city cycling maps mark Jay St. as a "recommended" bike route.

So, for now, I think I'm going to stick to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Sure, it's not the easiest bridge for cyclists to get onto either, and you do have to incessantly dodge stray tourists. But the glorious view of Manhattan rising beyond the Brooklyn Bridge's archways makes up for the drawbacks.

It may not be flying - but it's definitely an awe-inspiring way into Manhattan.

This the first in an ongoing series about biking in Brooklyn. If you know of interesting bike routes or cycling issues, please call the Daily News Brooklyn Bureau at (718) 875-4455.