Northeast - up the jersey shore

Were planning a weekend trip up the Jersey Shore from all the way south in Cape May to at least Surf City. Anyone familiar with biking along the shore line? Would it be a pretty safe ride to just try and stick as close to the shore as possible as we head north?

I attempted the Cape May to Wildwood section 2 summers ago during a visit while my wife and a friend went antiquing. Getting over the Rt109 bridge off Cape May is not too hard (mind the traffic). However, I only went as far as the lift bridge on Ocean Ave - there's no shoulder on the bridge approach or obvious sidewalk or pedestrian facilities on the bridge and I didn't think the car traffic would cooperate to get over. Plus it was windy and intermittent showers and didn't want to have to call my wife to come get me if I got stuck. So I ambled back west and north, eventually coming back along Delaware Bay and the Lewes ferry terminal. The side roads are generally nice and the terrain is pancake flat.

A search of mapmyride or bikely, etc. should turn up some routes that go further inland (following Rt 9 corridor or Bayshore Rd?) and the Seashore Rd bridge is much more bicycle-friendly. I sort of recall a site that has area maps of all the state showing marked bike routes and bikeable roads. The main east-west causeways looked sufficiently bikeable, the trick I think is getting around choke points like the one I encountered.

Here are my tracks (http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ny/-new-york/967211710166)from a ride I did from NYC to Cape May Ferry last fall, all along the shore. Not sure how far up you want to go. But just a warning, north of atlantic city the area between Egg Harbor City and Tuckertown.. there is NOTHING for 15 miles! Barely even a place to get water. You might see the Jersey Devil (seriously). I did this ride the week after labor day.. and there were NO cars. I'm not sure what it's like during beach season.

wow, awesome information! We were thinking about going all the way to NYC but not sure if we have time. Good stuff, thanks!

Here are my tracks (http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ny/-new-york/967211710166)from a ride I did from NYC to Cape May Ferry last fall, all along the shore. Not sure how far up you want to go. But just a warning, north of atlantic city the area between Egg Harbor City and Tuckertown.. there is NOTHING for 15 miles! Barely even a place to get water. You might see the Jersey Devil (seriously). I did this ride the week after labor day.. and there were NO cars. I'm not sure what it's like during beach season.

that's quite a diversion to cross the Mullica River!

An alternative (the only??) is to take the route 559 bus from Smithville/Port Republic (bike goes underneath in luggage compartment) to New Gretna (or vice-versa) fare is roughly $3 one-way.

Also route 9 in most spots in Cape May/southern Atlantic/southern Ocean is quite good traffic & scenery-wise. Watch out riding the causeway to LBI though.

that's quite a diversion to cross the Mullica River!

Curious that you called it a diversion. I suppose I didn't really equate being constantly on the ocean as a goal. I guess I just saw it as part of the ride. I do have to say that the pine barrens and the area where I did cross the river was really beautiful, and was way better than trying to get my fully packed tour bike on a bus. The area west of AC was pretty gritty, but I'm somewhat of an Urban voyeur so I found it interesting.

I vacation every summer in Ocean City, and ride the round trip to Atlantic City several times each year. The route nycwtorres suggests is pretty much what I do, with one exception. He/she has you traveling up Ocean City on Wesley Ave, which is one block off of the boardwalk. If you are there in the morning, the boardwalk itself is open to bicycles (until 10:00 or 11:00, I forget which). I highly recommend that -- it's a nice ride, with lots of people-watching opportunities. The sourthern third or so of the Boardwalk is narrow and you may have to ride with the flow of slow traffic, but the rest is much wider and you can set your own pace (especially early, when it is less crowded).

Being from a hilly, almost mountainous, area of the Northern NJ Highlands, I find the OC to AC ride to be very easy because it is so flat -- making it the perfect vacation ride. The only elevation change of note is the bridge out of OC to the north, which is neither steep (I'm guessing 6 or 7%) nor long (again a guess, but I'll go with 100 yards).

Good luck with your ride!

If you can make it as far as Sandy Hook, there is a ferry that will take you into New York. Try the NJ Transit Ferry system website for details. As for the Jersey Shore roads, you can pretty much skirt the beach on Ocean Ave from just South of Brielle all the way to Asbury going North before entering the Sandy Hook Beach area. Nice park roads all the way to the Twin Lights Lighthouse in Sandy Hook.

I do the MS170 Coast the Coast going South down to Cape May every year and we ride pretty much bike friendly roads all the way. Yes, the Pineland area is pretty barren, nothing but pines forests for miles and miles, but that's part of the charm of self-suffient long distance cycling. You should have a great time.