Has anybody ever ridden from NYC to Atlantic City? I’m looking for route suggestions.
Thanks.
Never done it but Maybe hug the coastline
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Well I’ve thought of riding from northern NJ to the beach a few times but never NYC. Hmmmm. From NYC I would think Route 9 most of the way down with a few turn offs when it becomes the Parkway would be needed. I wouldn’t exactly want to ride on Rt 9 myself in the northern half of the state but it should work. You would have to get off Rt 9 near Toms River and get back on it. Then as you got closer to AC Rt 9 turns into the parkway again so you would need to get off and go well inland around New Gretna. When you eventually head south you could probably pick up some of the Challenge AC course to take you into AC.
Don’t do the last portion once you hit Monmouth as the roads become much less cycle friendly and you won’t enjoy it.
Additionally you’d have to choose between taking the path train to NYC from the jersey side or addind 10-20 miles onto the route depending on where you aim for. Those last miles on the NJ side are hazardous too (River road). I’ve been knocked off my bike there and a guy from my tri club was in ICU after being hit too.
I’d hug the coast and then get on the train at some point. Note that the wind direction would potentially have a big impact on your speeds depending on the weather so you might want some opt-out options (e.g. train stops) planned in case you hit 15-20mph headwinds
I lived in Hoboken and grew up on the shore and riding down was one of my great unmet dreams. Hugging the shore does not work that well because you have to get to the shore first. Google maps suggests taking the ferry to sandy hook region and then riding backroads which is doable but might be cheating but is still probably the only realistic way. You can hug the shore then, but you want to absolutely avoid Rt 9 until you are well south of Toms River, at which point you are only about 30 miles from AC. Problem is that if you want to ride out of NYC I think you have to take GW bridge, avoid the Newark area which is not bike friendly and then you have to ride into the middle of the state because you have to cross the Raritan River, and the only safe place to do it is New Brunswick. Trying to cross the Raritan on Rt 35/Rt9 near Staten Island would be extremely unsafe IMO. Please post if you do it.
If you don’t mind it being a little non-direct, you could … Start or get to Staten Island, then find somewhere on the North Shore to pick up like 34 or 79, then cut over to the Pine Barrens and take County Roads that have a 5 in them south to Tuckerton, pick up Rt 9 there, and ride on the White Horse Pike for the final leg
Just a thought
So far it seems like it won’t be a very enjoyable ride, especially solo! I think that it may be easiest to drive over to Jersey, just west of Staten Island and park the car to start from there. If this ride does happen this weekend I will post the outcome.
Thanks!
So far it seems like it won’t be a very enjoyable ride, especially solo!
Whadja expect? This is Jersey, numbnuts
Haven’t doneNYC to AC, but have done north jersey to LBI (shore town not too far north ofAC) several times. I looked for routes and decided staying on the coastwould be miserable. I go inland, which adds distance but is far more enjoyable. From NYC find your way to route 202. Take Route 202 southwest to Somerville, then make way onto Canal Road alongMillstone River (best part of the ride). A few more backroads intoHightstown, then follow 539 (there’s some nice side roads you can take tominimize your time actually riding on 539). After taking 539 across route 70,you’d want to follow a route that takes you to Chatsworth, and then 563 down tothe White Horse Pike and into AC. It’s a lot of miles, but probably the best way to do the ride.
Haven’t doneNYC to AC, but have done north jersey to LBI (shore town not too far north ofAC) several times. I looked for routes and decided staying on the coastwould be miserable. I go inland, which adds distance but is far more enjoyable. From NYC find your way to route 202. Take Route 202 southwest to Somerville, then make way onto Canal Road alongMillstone River (best part of the ride). A few more backroads intoHightstown, then follow 539 (there’s some nice side roads you can take tominimize your time actually riding on 539). After taking 539 across route 70,you’d want to follow a route that takes you to Chatsworth, and then 563 down tothe White Horse Pike and into AC. It’s a lot of miles, but probably the best way to do the ride.
This is the route I’ve always planned to use to ride to lbi myself. One of these days I will do it.
If you are going to drive out west of SI, just make sure you get south of the river. Crossing the river is brutal and the roads around it (if you can use 35 on a bike). You could start in the Aberdeen area and take 79 into Freehold, or you could drive to Sandy Hook and take Ocean Avenue/35 down to Seaside and then head inland.
Very risky, dangerous. Be careful
I just moved to a new town, and was trying to find routes between home and work. I used the strava route builder:
http://www.strava.com/athlete/routes
If you use the default settings, it routes you on the most commonly ridden roads with the assumption that the best roads for cycling will see the most cycling use.
You can then generate a .tcx file and upload it to a garmin. Have to say, I think it would have taken me years to come up with the route it gave me, which was outstanding, especially given that I was heading out of an urban area.
Haven’t doneNYC to AC, but have done north jersey to LBI (shore town not too far north ofAC) several times. I looked for routes and decided staying on the coastwould be miserable. I go inland, which adds distance but is far more enjoyable. From NYC find your way to route 202. Take Route 202 southwest to Somerville, then make way onto Canal Road alongMillstone River (best part of the ride). A few more backroads intoHightstown, then follow 539 (there’s some nice side roads you can take tominimize your time actually riding on 539). After taking 539 across route 70,you’d want to follow a route that takes you to Chatsworth, and then 563 down tothe White Horse Pike and into AC. It’s a lot of miles, but probably the best way to do the ride.
This.