April 19, 2021 - New York, NY, to Seaside Park, NJ

Start: New York, NY
End: Seaside Park, NJ
Miles: 80.6
Feet climbing per mile: 31
Record of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/65802982

I got up at 8:00 and was out the door at 9:00. It was sunny and the temperature was 60. I had considered taking the PATH train to Newark but decided instead to take the ferry from Brookfield Place to Paulus Hook. On my ride to the ferry, on 29th Street, traffic was backed up before an intersection due to some blockage. Rather than going around the cars ahead of me I stayed in the lane, waiting for the traffic to move. As it did, I could see that the light was about to change from green to red. I sensed that the driver behind me was in a rush so I pulled over to the left as I came to a stop. As the driver went by, running the red light, he yelled, "See what you made happen!".

After crossing the Hudson River on the ferry and the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers on my bike, I stopped to connect my Bluetooth earpiece and put it in my ear. I noticed that the directions were not as loud as usual. I discovered that I was missing the silicone earbud that goes over the speaker and into my ear canal. I don't know where I lost it, but from now on I will always carry spares.

Shortly before mile 27 I turned into the parking lot of the East Jersey State Prison to take a picture. A police officer immediately approached me and said I wasn't allowed on the property. I think the DO NOT ENTER sign gives good advice.

East Jersey State Prison

I had previously ridden only the first eighteen miles of this route. I found the next nineteen miles satisfactory. Shortly after mile 34 I saw Beacon Scrap Metal with its huge pile.

Beacon Scrap Metal

At mile 37, the road I was on merged onto Route 35 with four lanes of fast, heavy traffic. Because the merge was from the left, I had to get off my bike and run across two lanes when I saw a gap in the traffic. There was no shoulder, so I pulled off the road and and found a way that I would stay on Route 35 for 1.6 miles instead of the 3.3 miles I had planned. What a relief it was to leave Route 35!

I stopped to rest in a park at mile 42.4. I finally felt that I was out of dense suburbia. The park had a monument to the victims of a shark attack that happened in 1916.

I mile and a half after leaving the park I stopped at a Starbucks of which I had not been aware. I had a hot chocolate and a brownie.

When I was on the ferry crossing the Hudson my bike was moving from side to side. I thought that I should have brought a bungee cord to secure it. At mile 50.3, I found what I needed if I took the ferry for my return trip.

I recently read in It’s Not Much, But It Adds Up that George Washington liked the expression "Many mickles makes a muckle". Do you think anyone making or selling Muckleyeye Spirits knows how many mickles makes a muckle?

At mile 57, Route 34 became a four-lane road with lots of fast traffic. There was a wide shoulder, but the traffic noise was tiring. At mile 62 there were many cars taking the exit to the Garden State Parkway, so I walked my bike along the right side of the exit ramp. As I was doing so I banged my left leg into one of the supports holding the guard rail, bruising and cutting my thigh. I walked to the end of the guard rail, waited for a gap in the traffic, and then walked across the the exit ramp and the grass to get back on Route 34. Less than a mile later I exited Route 34 and was glad to be on a quieter, two-lane road.

Exit ramp from Route 34 to the Garden State Parkway

The final ten miles of my ride, beginning at mile 71, was flat and straight. Because of the dunes to my left I could not see the nearby ocean. The houses that lined my route seemed all the same, and it was cloudy. I think this was the most boring ten miles I've ever ridden. I arrived at my destination, the Charlroy Motel, just before 6:00.

My room was small but clean, with luxurious cotton sheets and a comforter on a bed with a firm mattress. There was plenty of hot water and water pressure. After a shower, shave, and change of clothes, I walked a half mile to Klee's Bar & Grill. I was told there'd be a wait of 15 to 20 minutes, but I think I was seated in 5 minutes. Klee's had a dozen TVs, all tuned to sports on a total of four or five different channels. I didn't like the southern chicken soup, but the hamburger and sweet potato fries were delicious. I probably should have passed on the apple crisp, although I enjoyed it.

My original plan for the next day had been to ride a loop of anywhere from 45 to 95 miles, but I wanted to find a better route home so I decided instead that after a walk along the shore I would scout the area for routes that might allow me to avoid the heavy traffic on four-lane roads as well as the straight flat that I rode for the final ten miles that day. After watching an old episode of Law & Order, I got to sleep about midnight.

My post about the next day: April 20, 2021 - Seaside Heights, NJ, to Brick Township, NJ, and Return