I'm planning to ride to Philly from NYC soon. I think i've got a pretty good route mapped out but just thought I'd ask if anyone has done this before? Any particular places to avoid or maybe there is a great strip club along the way with a one-armed midget or something? I also heard the Ben Franklin Bridge path closes at 7 pm. I'm thinking i'll probably be getting there at about this time of day, any alternatives over the river other than the Patco, just in case i don't make it? Or maybe i'll make a two day thing out of it and sleep somewhere along the way, the side of the road?

bump

whatever you do, don't cross the bridge in the car lanes if the bike path is closed. i made the mistake of taking car lane on the bridge into camden with about ten other people and we ended up having to pay $233 dollar fine.

also, i don't think sleeping outside in camden would be a good idea, given the reputation of the city. so i suppose just make sure you get to the bridge before seven pm.

there's people on here from new brunswick, right ?
im sure someone would let you crash with them

it's not quite halfway between the two cities though...
27 is a nice road

also, you could legally camp by the river at washington's crossing state park outside of trenton...
my map also shows 'princeton battelfield state park' and 'cook national area' alongside 27 near princeton...

what is your proposed route ?
this looks like a cool trip

we're figuring it out

A few forum-goers went in the opposite direction, on the way to Boston. I believe they did Philly-->NYC in one day, but that's a long ride. Here's their blog of the trip, including all of the juicy details: https://bangboston.blogspot.com/

They aren't incredibly consistent about the closing time; they say 7pm, but it's more like 7pm-ish (sometimes earlier, sometimes later). Patco is great and it's bike friendly. You can pick it up at the Broadway station in Camden. It's not the best area to be after dark, but it's not the worst place in Camden. I worked in Camden for two years or so and I commuted by bike/train and never had a problem. I believe it's $1.15 to get from Camden to Philly; the change/ticket machines in Camden are often broken, so be sure to have exact change (the ticket machines don't take bills).

When are you going? If I'm free, and you're in a pinch, I have a car with a bike rack and would be happy to give you a ride over the bridge. PM me if you're interested and we can trade contact info.

Worst case you can call a cab, but cabs in Philly usually have a flat rate of $20 if you want to throw a bike in the back, even if it's a short ride.

Are you going to have GPS? It's a life saver. A friend of mine and I recently rode from Philly-->Virginia; you can find some of our tips here.

Any plans while you're in town? There's something bike-related almost every night of the week. Let me or any other Philly people know if you need some ideas and/or want a tour.

Yeah we got a fairly large crew in New Brunswick, and we've been graciously put up in places in other cities before, so I'm sure one of us would be happy to help out if you just give us a date. Would break the trip up into a 1 day mad dash, into a more leasurely 2 days, make it a little more enjoyable. HAHA, but you'll probably be "forced" to have a couple beers with us

you may want to cross into pa earlier that camden... i think there's a bridge out in new hope or something that links you up with bike trails that you can ride safely down to philly...

Thanks for the info everyone. I think this is gonna be a good ride. I like the idea of crossing into PA before camden. I'll check that out. we don't have any definite dates set yet for our trip. but probably in the next few weeks. as soon as we figure it out i'll post it.

I have done this ride numerous times the other way. if you have any questions about a route hit me up dailey@phillybma.org

the way I have done it was coming thru the northeast of philly (route 1). it is a sketchy road but the shoulder is good for most of it.

as far as the bridge (ben franklin) make sure it's open. lately they have been closing both sides (pedestrain) for repairs and stupid ****. you can also cross over the Tacony Palymer bridge. that is furth north of the ben franklin..

this ride is easy. I have done it from city hall in philly to the newark train station in six hours. (75 miles or so)

I have done this ride numerous times the other way. if you have any questions about a route hit me up dailey@phillybma.org

the way I have done it was coming thru the northeast of philly (route 1). it is a sketchy road but the shoulder is good for most of it.

as far as the bridge (ben franklin) make sure it's open. lately they have been closing both sides (pedestrain) for repairs and stupid ****. you can also cross over the Tacony Palymer bridge. that is furth north of the ben franklin..

this ride is easy. I have done it from city hall in philly to the newark train station in six hours. (75 miles or so)

yeah there's a bridge at new hope and a bridge further north at frenchtown but first you have to get all the way across new jersey to the western side...
if you do go this way, i think it's possible to stick to designated bike paths almost the entire way to philly...
there is the old canal path and stuff like that