My wife and I would park the car at Sandy Hook and do 100 miles of the 8 mile loop through the park to prepare for what was then Chesapeakeman. Sounds boring, but we did not think so Lots of wind to deal with, would make car an aid station, and it is always nice to be near the ocean. Car traffic is bad on weekends in the summer, but otherwise it is a great place to ride. Outside of the park, especially in the summer, would seem pretty unsafe with tons of traffic and small shoulder.

I would strongly advise NOT cycling from Sandy Hook to IBSP...to say it's not friendly to cyclists would be an understatement (especially w/ the warmer weather approaching).

As Jon noted, doing loops is not the most exciting option, but does prepare you for the boredom of the IMMD course. With that, I'd opt to do loops in IBSP vs SH as it's a 17-mile loop vs 8-mile. In IBSP, the vehicle traffic is minimal & you can sit in your aerobars without a traffic light or stop sign for 100-miles if you like (I've spent my fair share of time prepping for IMF down there, so I'm speaking from experience ;-)

You may also want to connect on the Sandy Hookers Tri Club Facebook page as there are a lot of group rides/swims/runs w/ a variety of ability: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SandyHookers/

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Brian Shea
http://www.PersonalBestNutrition.com
Open-Water/Masters Swimming at the Jersey Shore:
Monmouth County NJ Ocean Swim/Masters Workouts

Wow! what a great piece of advice from both of you (who knows, maybe even potentially life saving..). Thank you, I knew reaching out on ST forum well ahead of the planned rides would be useful and valuable. I like the idea of IBSP 17-mile loop and will look into it. Thanks again.

Once you go west beyond Freehold, the roads are mainly through farmland: very little traffic, mostly flat, decent road surfaces. I assume you don't live at the shore, or you wouldn't have asked. Where will you be starting, and what time of year?

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"Go yell at an M&M"

I have recently relocated to the Pine Barrens area of the state and I would very strongly encourage you to check out the roads around the Whiting/Chatsworth/Green Banks area. Although there is traffic (this IS New Jersey), most of the roads around here have very nice wide shoulders and I see a ton of cyclists when running/riding/commuting. Check out the area on Strava - that's how I am finding my way around here!

Hope this might be helpful!

Patti

p.s. Very flat and you can just HAMMER!!!

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Patti in NJ

You can easily do Sandy Hook to Sea Girt and back along the ocean. Traffic is not bad, there are bathroom and water fountains and you can't beat the view. It's around 50 miles so you could do 2 laps.

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Thank you all for the responses, you've given me plenty to think about and re-consider the routes well ahead of the race. Appreciate it.
See you out there on the road.