May 25, 2021 - New York, NY, to Seaside Park, NJ

Start: New York, NY
End: Seaside Park, NJ
Miles: 88.5
Feet climbing per mile: 32
Record of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/67918543

When I woke at 7:45 I had a thought of staying in bed rather than getting up and riding. I've had this sort of thought several times on the first morning of a multi-day trip. I suspect it's because, despite how much I love biking, it's hard work to ride 60 or more miles in a day. I got up, had a shower, got dressed, and did my last-minute packing of a few items. I was out the door at 8:30.

I rode south to Brookfield Place where I caught the ferry to Paulus Hook. I followed the same route I used the previous month until mile 36.2, where I continued southwest on Bordentown Avenue in order to avoid a nasty section of Route 35. I noticed that I was close to the South Amboy New Jersey Transit train station, and thought that on my return trip I might catch a train back to Manhattan in order to shorten my ride. When I turned onto Cheesequake Road at mile 39, I was finally in what seemed to be a rural area.

Cheesequake Road

At mile 40.4 I entered Route 34, which I rode 18 miles. Much of 34 had a generous shoulder, but there were substantial sections with no shoulder and heavy traffic. On 34 I was buzz passed by a garbage truck. I realized I could have avoided much of Route 34 by following some of the route I used for my return trip last month, and decided I would do that on my return trip this week.

After leaving Route 34 I followed a route that kept me off 4-lane roads without a shoulder. I stopped at Rita's Frozen Italian Ice & Frozen Custard in Lakewood where I had a vanilla frozen custard. I enjoyed eating the custard but when I resumed riding I realized the treat was too heavy for biking. I presume it's because of the eggs.

My route this time avoided the final straight flat ten miles of my ride into Seaside Park last month. However there was a price to pay. I had to cross the one-mile Thomas A. Mathis Bridge on which the speed limit is 40 but on which the cars racing home at 5:45 were going 60 or more. As I rode the sidewalk the strong gusting winds out of the south kept trying to push me onto the road. Furthermore there were four places where the sidewalk bent around emergency parking spaces, requiring me to scooter my bike through the sharp turns. The video below shows only a little of the traffic, and not when it was heaviest.

After riding the sidewalk over the bridge for a mile I continued for another mile with neither sidewalk nor shoulder and the same three lanes of traffic that went eastbound over the bridge. Fortunately the traffic was a little slower once off the bridge, and the drivers were willing to make safe passes around me as I rode in the middle of the right lane. I arrived at the Charlroy Motel at 6:00. I was glad to be in Room 101, the same room I occupied last month and which I requested when I made my reservation.

Although the route I took this time was much better than the one I took to Seaside Park last month, little of it was rural. It seems that New Jersey south of the Raritan River and within ten miles of the coast is almost entirely suburban. So the picture of Cheesequake Road near the top of this post is not representative of the day. I find riding in the suburbs not all that interesting. I saw no cows, bulls, horses, or deer. With the exception of the driver of the garbage truck that buzz passed me, the drivers had been polite. The wind was out of the south all day.

After my shower, shave, and change of clothes, I walked a fews blocks to Klee's Bar & Grill where I ate both nights last month. After dinner I walked to the shore to see the supermoon.

Supermoon on May 25th at 9:24 p.m.

After returning to my motel I watched two early episodes of Law & Order. Being tired from having ridden almost 90 miles into the wind in the heat, I knew that the next day I would not ride the 73 miles I had planned but would plan a shorter route in the morning.

My post about the next day: May 26, 2021 - Seaside Park, NJ, to Forked River, NJ, and Return