chrisuletz

Since I noticed that in the NJ threads, most people are from North Jersey or far south, I'm starting this to try to find people closer to me. I usually ride from Middletown to Sandy Hook, on to Sea Bright or Rumson, or to Holmdel Park, Colts Neck and beyond. Anybody else in this neighborhood?

ncherry

Well kind of. :-) I ride the area from Chatam to Sandy Hook to Point Pleasant to Chatsworth to Tabernacle to Bordentown to Ringoes. I generally start from Cranbury, Matawan, Brookdale, or Bedminster. My favorite rides are out to Sandy Hook or Tabernacle. :-)

chrisuletz

Ncherry, you ride a lot.... my longest rides are still around 30-40miles. But I have to start building up when spring comes, probably in June......

ncherry

In June I'll be doing the 'Longest Day' it's a double century from Port Jervis NY to Cape May NJ. :-) Starting in May and usually ending in October I do lots of centuries (may start in April this year). This year I hope to do a lot more commuting (19 each way) so my mileage numbers should be outrageous this year. I used to record my mileage but my friend always beats me in the mileage department so I just gave up. There's now a second friend who rides brevets. He considers my ride short distance rides so I've not sure where I fit into this world. The best I can do is just ride for my own enjoyment and not worry about mileage.

If you need to see some of the routes check this out: My Routes. Quite a few start in Matawan, I seem to be missing the rides from Tatum Park in Middletown, which are my lunchtime rides, weird.

chrisuletz

How long would be a lunchtime ride?
I'm close to Tatum Park... you work at AT&T?

ncherry

If I get in earlier usually about 1:15 worst case. I try to keep them a little less but it's hard to find a good short loop otherwise. Also a I usually don't get warmed up by 10 miles.

Yes I work in the labs.

chrisuletz

If you ever wanna ride together during the day, let me know, just know that I'm slow.
I also worked, for a short time, at that location (5 years ago, I think).

ncherry

How slow is slow?

chrisuletz

On a longer ride it would be around 16-17mph, but that includes all the slow downs in traffic, etc.

zowie

Do any of you have routes for getting down to Sandy Hook or The Shore or anywhere around there from north jersey, like Newark or Bergen or Hudson counties?

rog

Hmmm...I just posted, and the post disappeared. Ok, I'll try again. I do a lot of rides down the shore...mostly down to Red Bank, starting from Sayreville, right outside my door. Chris, I love riding down the shore, and I'm slow too. If you ever need someone to ride with, feel free to PM me.

rog

You mean driving? Take the Parkway, to exit 117. Then get on 36, and just go south. That'll take you right to the ocean.

chrisuletz

Rog, when do you usually ride? And what would be your route from Sayreville?

ncherry

If that's the average on your computer then that's not a problem. I'm not up to keeping a 17-18 mph avg over one hundred miles yet (give me a few weeks ).

To keep that kind of pace over 100 miles I need to get up to 19 mph over the long straight sections.

ncherry

Where can you get to from Up North. I have my limits and you picked it.

rog

Usually afternoons, after work (I can get out of work as early as 12:30 some days...other days, 6:30. You never know, but usually around 2-3 ish).

The following is the route I take:

https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...ille/472360774

chrisuletz

Hey Rog, thanks for the route... isn't 34 a bit too crowded? I see you're passing almost right by my house. (Main St & Harmony Rd). Usually take Kings Hwy and 36 to Sandy Hook, you could do this as a loop, and come back through Fair Haven. Let me know if you wanna ride part of this together sometime, I go out at 2-3pm quite often (would like to go earlier, but gotta finish work, plus it's warmer at those hours).

ncherry

I can't see the route (I don't have google earth and I'm not installing it (My preference is bikely.com, no need for anything but Javascript).

What section of Rt 34 are you riding on? What section of Rt 34 can you ride on in Sayreville? I just looked at the map and I don't see any section of Sayreville I'd consider safe for cycling. Sayreville is not one of my favorite places to ride a bike which is one of the reasons I don't have rides North of where I live.

rog

No, 34 isn't crowded at all...at least the area I'm riding on, which you can see on the map, there are quite wide shoulders that keep the cagers far away. I have another loop where I take 34 to 520 to 527 and then a couple local roads back to my place...some areas the cars are a little closer there, but I still feel pretty safe.

It looks like the weather should allow me to start commuting again starting Monday...give me about two weeks to get the legs back into shape, and we'll figure out a good route and go from there.

rog

Hmm...I don't have google earth either...don't know why you can't see it. I jump on 34 at Perrine road, which is almost the northernmost point of 34, where it connects with Rt 9, and I'll ride down it as far as rt 520. I don't have any problems riding in Sayreville at all, but really there's only one good loop to ride actually in Sayreville...MacArthur to Main to Washington, which takes you back to MacArthur. It's a 9 mile loop, and gets old kind of quick. But the roads are fine for cycling; I've never had any problems.

ncherry

I don't know may it my combination of Linux and Firefox.

Anyway, I'd think the the Rt 9 overpass over 516 would be a bit sticky, it's a mess right there and the Rt 18 exit is another trouble maker. Overall it's not the worst section of Rt 9. I thought you were a bit further north. Rt 9 between Bordentown Ave and the 34 split is a mess. Too many exits for the store to ride there safely. Not really a great bunch of alternatives to use are there?!? :-/ You know the Rt 520 is no Joy either too much going on in a small space and too many lanes for a cyclist to disappear in the sea of motion.

My commute is East-West, unfortunately my alternative route was recently ripped up and their solution to the problem was to drop the speed limit to 30 mph instead of fixing it (way to go Marlboro!).

zowie

No, by bike.

I can get around most places north of Newark and Elizabeth, and from there I've ridden Edison, New Brunswick, Princeton area, Plainfield. But to go that way, head south, and then track back east to the Shore is a ton of miles. When trying to plot out find a direct route, I always run into this big inhospitable mess to the north and east of Keyport.

chrisuletz

Zowie, I think the biggest challenge is to get over the Raritan... Once you're over, you can follow something like rog's route, you can avoid Keyport if you go through Old Bridge, Matawan, Holmdel.

ncherry

Name the spot and I can help you around it. My friend Mark and I often ride out of Matawan (the Pizza Hut on Matawan Rd). We ride through Keyport all the time, very relaxing. In fact our return trips from Sandy Hook or the Haufbruagh (sp?) in the Highlands meanders through there. Just describe one of your routes and I'll help you get around the trouble. This won't be like riding on Rt 9 between Perrine and 520 it will be much nicer. :-)

rog

I hear you with the Linux thing...I was a Mandrake user for a long time. I've been thinking about setting up my PC to dual boot again, but Gentoo won't set up on my box for some reason...I'm thinking about giving Ubuntu a whirl.

Anyways, are you thinking I'm taking Rt 9 from Perrine to 520? I'm not, I'm taking 34, which is actually a pretty decent ride.