Northeast - Rides around Jersey City

I am a newbie looking for nice rides around Jersey City.

The only one I know so far is from newport waterfront all the way to Liberty State park.

Any more suggestions ?


Regards .
NR

Hi NewRider-

Welcome to BikeForums my friend. Consider taking the NJ Transit train from Hoboken along the Morris/Essex branch (http://www.njtransit.com/sf_tr_schedules.shtml) until you reach the Chatham or Madison stop. You'll find LOTS of great terrain in that area. I lived in that area of the country for many years and know it like the back of my hand.

~ Blue Jays ~

Hey there,

I just moved to JC - any other suggestions for rides around the area - especially that don't require a train... ?

1) http://www.njbikemap.com/

2) Join NYCC or 5BBC

3) There isn't really much in Jersey City proper, except riding along the waterfront and/or up to Piermont and so forth. Take the train somewhere else, like Princeton.

Thanks. I took the Light Rail to Port Imperial (farthest stop north before it starts heading west) yesterday and rode to up to Piermont and back through Palisades Park and then 9W. I think it was a little under 50 miles round trip.

Here's some ideas south + east + west + north:

South: There's also some decent streets south of Liberty Park in Bayonne. Sometimes I ride or skate across the Bayonne Bridge onto Staten Island. But I haven't found much good riding in Staten Island, so for me it's mainly just a way to get to the Manhattan ferry -- which can become part of various loop rides back to New Jersey -- I like riding across the GWB, so the loop I favor is this one (http://www.roberts-1.com/bikehudson/r/r/verr_gwb/map/index.htm).

East: I think there's lots of interesting riding on Manhattan, especially early on a weekend morning when the traffic is lower. Central Park is obvious. Riding all (or most of the way) around the island ("Manhattan Waterfront Greenway") is interesting to do at least once. Also a bicycle path along the Brooklyn waterfront. Get the NYC Cycling Map for more ideas.

West: I doubt anybody would choose to do it as one of their regular rides, but for adventurous riders with expert traffic-handling skills it's possible to ride west into the interior of NJ across the Hackensack + Passaic rivers. Other than seeing different new neighborhoods, I find the special thing is to visit the container-ship port facilities of Elizabeth and Newark (largest on the East coast, 3rd-largest in North America). I think it calls for cautious scouting, creative route design, and careful selection of day-of-week, time-of-day, etc. I've done it mostly only on skates -- here's some of my notes (http://www.roberts-1.com/sk8hv/v/w/gwb/to_jersey_shore/reports/04-reports.htm#Ken_June-2004_a) and more (http://www.roberts-1.com/sk8hv/v/2/nj/index.htm).
(Someday there might be another option when they re-open the sidewalk on the Goethals Bridge.)North: another idea when you get north of Fort Lee is to explore west of 9W, like Englewood and beyond (nycc.org had some routes) -- Think of it as a "suburban house architecture" tour, try to guess what decade various houses were built.

If you join a NYC bicycle club, maybe you could meet their rides which go into New Jersey when they cross the GWB.

Ken