Northeast - Trenton NJ to New Hope PA?

May be going from Trenton to New Hope in the middle of the night this Friday (catching a 1 something AM train from Penn Station and meeting someone in New Hope) - saw that Route 29 is the most direct by far but also seems to be a main road. Doable? Is Route 32 along the PA side (River Road) a better route to take?

Thanks!

www.njbikemap.com

If you're coming from NYC, I'd rather go to Princeton Junction and ride over. Fewer highways, nicer/safer town, less traffic, less time on the train, and afaik shorter route. (8 miles vs 16 miles, as the Google tracks it:)

http://www.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=princeton+junction,+nj&daddr=40.344974,-74.727631+to:Pennington+Harbourton+Rd+%4040.331020,+-74.833170+to:new+hope,+pa&mrcr=0,1&mrsp=1&sz=11&mra=dpe&sll=40.32569,-74.783475&sspn=0.261742,0.471725&ie=UTF8&z=11&om=1

You could also take the Brunswick Pike. Big shoulder iirc.

Make sure you have lots of lights, by the way....

Oops - turn that 8 into 24 miles, (when you drag routes it splits it up - so your route is 8 + 6 + 8 :D). I did the same thing a few times - you got me all excited though! But if the extra 8 miles means a much safer route I'll think about it. Is River Road that busy?

This is a route I mapped out (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=72+South+Clinton+Avenue,+NJ&daddr=Market+St+%4040.217130,+-74.759770+to:River+Rd+%4040.276420,+-74.858480+to:130+S+Main+st,+New+Hope+PA&sll=40.289478,-74.834404&sspn=0.163414,0.335083&ie=UTF8&ll=40.299691,-74.836464&spn=0.16339,0.335083&z=12&om=1) to go up River Road.

Do you know anything about the crossings of the river? The one near Trenton seems to have two different ones, one seems less busy than the other (see that map I linked).

Thanks!

I lived in Ewing NJ (which is right along the route of which you are speaking) for 26 years, and Rte 29 is a "main road" but, depending on the time of day is quite doable from New Hope to Trenton. I think a better option would be to take River Rd along the PA side of the Delaware River all the way through New Hope, Lower Makefield(?), Yardley and into Morrisville, then across the Trenton Makes bridge into trenton. River Rd is a beautiful, scenic ride and, once again, depending on the traffic can be quite enjoyable. On weekends there are many other cyclists along this route.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Brian

Awesome - so it's safe enough at night (with lights of course)? I was leaning towards the PA side - seemed a little less 'main.'

Thanks!

Fast N Fab has an annual ride to New Hope PA. Here's the cue sheet (http://www.fastnfab.org/CueSheets/newtonpa.htm) posted on their website.

Trenton is lovely this time of year.

Awesome - so it's safe enough at night (with lights of course)? I was leaning towards the PA side - seemed a little less 'main.'

Thanks!

I'll start with the disclaimer that I'm probably more familiar with the area farther north than where you have in mind, but I have done some riding south of Lambertville - New Hope. It's kind of a flip of the coin. River Road is probably less traveled, but it is much narrower with limited sight lines and a non-existent shoulder in some areas. You could really surprise a motorist at night (and vice versa). Rt. 29 has a wide shoulder in places, and I think motorists are more accustomed to seeing riders on there. My old racing club used to have training rides on Rt. 29 in the 80's, and it was already a popular location by then. However we mostly stuck to the area around Bull's Island (across from Lumberville) and north. There is a decent shoulder as you go south from there towards Trenton, but it does diminish as you get closer. There's pros and cons to each side, literally, but I'd probably opt for the NJ side.

Trenton is lovely this time of year.You ARE talking about Trenton NJ right?:D Trenton is a dump, and the most embarrassing state capital in the USA.

Between Trenton and New Hope, I would stay off Rte 29 (NJ) and Rte 32 (PA) at night, as both roads are winding and have little or no shoulder (29 only widens north of Stockton). I don't know their nocturnal feeding/migrating habits, but I would also be extremely alert for deer, especially on the PA side.

Check this map: http://www.njbikemap.com/njmap/7-maps/peningtn.pdf. You could find your way to Rte 579, then go up to Harbourtown-Mt. Airy Rd, to Rte 518 into Lambertville, then cross the bridge to New Hope. Another option, depending on your bike/tires, is the rail trail, which would, I think, take you all the way from Trenton to Lambertville: http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/commuter/bike/pdf/drcanal.pdf
The trail is crushed gravel and can be ridden on a road bike, which I've done with 700x25 tires.

All decent to very good rides during the day, but I'd make sure I had first rate lighting before doing them at night.

Don't go on 29, that's a 55 mph plus road. Pick up W. State Street in downtown Trenton and get out of town. Fairly safe, but don't linger anywhere. At the end of W State (by 29) bear right onto Sullivan Way, this turns into 579, goes north parallel to 29. When you get to Washington Crossing-Pennington Rd (546) you can go left down to the park and take the towpath all the way to Lambertville (8 miles). You could stay on 579 all the way to 518, but mileage is longer and hillier.
You could also cross into Morrisville, Pa. from Trenton, but Rt 32 is indeed narrower, darker, and the shoulder has some bad drop-offs due to flood damage. I wouldn't do it at night.

Rt. 29 is scenic but narrow and can be a hazard especially at night. Stay away from Trenton, unless you are bringing an M-16 assualt rifle with a grenade launcher and tritium sights. Otherwise, good luck.

Depending on what kind of bike you have, I'd suggest taking the tow path all the way up to Lambertville and crossing over on the New Hope-Lambertville bridge. The tow path is hard-packed gravel-maybe a little bumpy, but I've seen plenty of hybrids and some roadies on there. It's definitely the safest route. Route 29 has alot of blind turns and virtually no shoulder in places. I rode the tow path about a month ago from Ewing (just north of Trenton) to Washingtons Crossing, crossed the bridge on the pedestrian walkway into PA and thenm rode up River Road for a few miles. Problem with River Road is that there is a bridge that has been out/under construction for 2 years now (victim of Delaware River flooding). I'm not sure if the re-building is completed yet.

PM me if you'd like. I live close enough to take a drive and check it out.

Riding around the Trenton train station late on a friday night is a little sketchy, why not get off at hamilton (if there's a stop that late)? Head west and you'd get to 29 with little to no chance of getting shot. 29 might be dead with nice weather and lots of people heading to the shore.

Thanks all - you guys rock! I have about two hours to think about it - got an email this morning and it looks like they just switched the location for meeting to Camden which I hear is even more lovely than Trenton this time of year at night ;) My friend lives in New Hope and I'd like to visit a few times so this is still a great guide.

Camden!?!?!?! :eek:


Psssst... Wanna **** my sister, she needs some coke?

Ha!

Well, forget about riding around Camden! Although, as bad as Camden is, if you have extra time, you could check out the waterfront area. Plenty to do including the Aquarium, River Sharks minor league baseball, USS New Jersey tour, Tweeter Center for a concert (no idea if anyone would be playing while you're there), etc. Just don't walk down there, grab a cab there and back.