I’m looking for advice from my fellow Garden State athletes on their favorite training rides in NJ. Looking for 60-100 mile rides that are safe & challenging as I begin to train for IMMT. Looking for lots of climb! My normal rides in central jersey are getting a little stale. Thank you all.
If you were in North NJ there’s lots of climbing to be had just across the border in NY state, around Harriman Park and up to Bear Mountain.
Using the GW Bridge as a base to start and finish from you could go up route 9W to Bear Mountain that would get you a good 80 mile ride.
I’m looking for advice from my fellow Garden State athletes on their favorite training rides in NJ. Looking for 60-100 mile rides that are safe & challenging as I begin to train for IMMT. Looking for lots of climb! My normal rides in central jersey are getting a little stale. Thank you all.
The Lebanon 52 ride:
http://www.mapmyride.com/us/high-bridge-nj/lebanon-52-route-1670866
52 miles, 6000’+ climbing, almost no traffic, no traffic lights. This route was designed for the densest climbing possible.
There is an extended version that includes the Iron Bridge Climb to make about 65 miles.
Stop in Glen Gardner for nutrition (past the really hard climbs).
Good luck. My PR for this course was about 3:23, with Pave of 225W and NP of 270+ (my FTP was 272 at the time)!
Where are you in Jersey? For hills I like to ride out to Round Valley and Tweksbury. Some really nice roads in those areas with minimal traffic. You can also ride out to Frenchtown and Lambertsville and there’s also Sourlands. Tons of great riding in jersey. PM me and I can send you specific routes.
Whereabouts are you in NJ? I’m in Union County and I just did IMMT this year. PM me and I can share some of my training routes around this area if you’re interested.
I ride the Muscenotong area, and the hills above Milford all the time. Plenty of good roads and climbs up that way and minimal traffic too. You can do 100 miles with 10,000 feet no problem.
One of the hardest centuries in the country, Hillier Than Thou, on 9/25:
Typically includes a trip up Fiddler’s Elbow, which at about 28% is the steepest road in the state.
https://www.strava.com/routes/5310989
Apparently this year, includes both Fiddler’s Elbow and Iron Bridge. Not only that, but two of the hardest climbs (Middle Valley/Zellers and Mt. Lebanon Rd) are at mile 97 and 102, respectively. Good luck with that.
I would recommend two:
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9W on North Jersey. A good starting point is Strictly Bicycles in Fort Lee and go up to Bear Mountain (pretty much the Gran Fondo NY route), that will give you 100Milers.
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In Central Jersey I usually do one that it’s quite nice. Somerset and take 202/206 to Bedminster and up to Chester. Going up to is fun with i would say 4-5 climbs that are not super tough but challenging, then from Chester take main street and onto Mendham and hit Tempe Wick road, those will be downhills or flats with just a couple of hills. Then you come back via 202 to Bernards to ultimately hit Bedminster again. Then you tackle The Hills in Bedminster by the Golf Course, this is a tough 2 mile hill (you can do that twice). Hit Basking Ridge and come back to Bedminster to do your second uphill at the Hills (you will do this on tired legs and will be very good for you). Then come back 202/206 to Somereset / Somerville. You have about 100 - 110 miles on that one. I did this one quite often for Lake Placid and didn’t have much trouble on the bike (was challenging but very manageable), and I hear IMMT is similar in elevation.
Good luck
Another vote for 9W up towards Bear Mountain. I did a good 90 miler the other day starting in Jersey City, riding up past the GWB, Bear Mountain, Harriman State Park/7 Lakes Drive, finishing in Suffern. I took the train back to Hoboken from Suffern. I was going to ride back and it would’ve been about 130 miles, but it was too hot, so I bailed.
Not sure about finding hills in central jersey. I find that everytime I do a ride around there they tend to be a bit flat. Though, around Morristown you can find some decent rides.
I scour Ride w/GPS for routes. Typically ones put out by the NYCC or Princeton Freewheelers tend to have good, reliable routes.
Wow! I would say that would be a great tune-up for IMMT
These are all great suggestions - thank you all
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i did this route a few times. obviously depends where you’re starting.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/2600633
if you want something shorter, you can split it up. just do the first part and ride around round valley reservoir, or go straight to the frenchtown/kingwood/stockton area in the second half. oak grove rd in flemington is nice if you want to cut through the middle of the loop.
I’m moving out to NJ in the next couple of months from Colorado (work-related).
I’d be interested in finding rides in central and northern NJ.
It’s difficult coming from a huge bike culture here (near Boulder), with bike lanes and wide shoulders and a general awareness of cyclists to…not that.
Well either be in the Randolph/Mendham/Chester area or the Montgomery/Princeton area.
Any thoughts welcome.
I’d suggest the Princeton area or even a bit north into Northern Mercer County or Hunterdon County. That area gives you access to some pretty rural and pretty varied terrain on some of the least congested roads in the state.
Generally speaking South Jersey is very very very flat, North Jersey is very very very congested with lots of traffic and roads that are not great for cycling, unless you go west of 287 then it gets reasonable again in regards to traffic.
Plenty of good riding in that area. I live in the Randolph area and there are plenty of nice roads to ride. While we don’t have dedicated lanes people are usually respectful. However, I tend to get out on the road early. As mentioned - Plenty of nice, scenic and hilly roads, rode 9300 feet of climbing this weekend, so you will get your fix of hills. Welcome to NJ - now go F yourself! (said in Tony Soprano tone) lol just kidding. Happy riding.
Plenty of solid riding options once you get out to Chester area. Opens up a bit (relative to the rest of the state) west of 202.
some decent routes: https://www.strava.com/activities/283583775
https://www.strava.com/activities/284143164
https://www.strava.com/activities/279254070
https://www.strava.com/activities/134945030
I definitely wouldn’t saw central jersey (or Northern Central) flat, no big climbs, but plenty of punchy efforts.
I’m moving out to NJ in the next couple of months from Colorado (work-related).
I’d be interested in finding rides in central and northern NJ.
It’s difficult coming from a huge bike culture here (near Boulder), with bike lanes and wide shoulders and a general awareness of cyclists to…not that.
Well either be in the Randolph/Mendham/Chester area or the Montgomery/Princeton area.
Any thoughts welcome.
As mentioned, the Montgomery/Princeton area will afford you access to some great rural riding. If you take out a map and look at the Montgomery, Hunterdon Township, Amwell, Frenchtown, Sergentsville, Lambertville, Hopewell areas you can easily piece together 100+ mile rides in areas with little to no traffic whatsoever. It’s all farms and little towns - not what you think of when you picture NJ in your head.
Shoot me a message when you make it out this way and I can hook you up with some folks (me included if I’m at your level) who can show you around on our favorite bike routes.
Good luck -
Steve
I’m looking for advice from my fellow Garden State athletes on their favorite training rides in NJ. Looking for 60-100 mile rides that are safe & challenging as I begin to train for IMMT. Looking for lots of climb! My normal rides in central jersey are getting a little stale. Thank you all.
The Lebanon 52 ride:
http://www.mapmyride.com/...non-52-route-1670866
52 miles, 6000’+ climbing, almost no traffic, no traffic lights. This route was designed for the densest climbing possible.
There is an extended version that includes the Iron Bridge Climb to make about 65 miles.
Stop in Glen Gardner for nutrition (past the really hard climbs).
Good luck. My PR for this course was about 3:23, with Pave of 225W and NP of 270+ (my FTP was 272 at the time)!
This looks sick! Not far from me so I’ll give this one a shot for sure!
Steve
I’m just a recreational fitness rider. I read Slowtwitch for info. I ride 12 hours or so a week out of Hamilton Square (just east of Trenton), right on the edge of rural farmland to suburbia. My latest rides include Grovers Mill (WOW fame), Cranbury, Etra (all 12 houses), Allentown (NJ) and Robbinsville and many a rural highway in the vicinity. I find traffic amazingly reasonable, given the NJ attitude on just about everything else. Close calls are very rare and deliberate encounters nearly nonexistent (2 in 6 years). That includes a couple of years riding with a club that I now regard as dangerous.
Someone mentioned the Sourlands, north of Princeton. Definitely some climbs there, including one past Charles Lindberg’s old house. South Jersey is quite flat with overpasses providing the typical “south Jersey hill”. Interesting scenery though, especially in the Pinelands. Previously known as the Pine Barrens.