Papa Tom

Hey, New Jersey Cyclists...

I last rode the Waterfront from Weehawken to Liberty State Park in the Fall of 2011. Much of it was off-road at the time, but there were still several on-road gaps that kept me from bringing "unseasoned" bicyclists back for the ride.

Can somebody fill me in on the current status? Should I plan a Spring 2013 excursion from Long Island with a bunch of casual riders?

wck

Pilings have been driven for the "gap" around Colgate clock in Jersey City. Although that's a pretty short gap (3 blocks?) and Essex St is pretty quiet, so that particular one should not keep casual riders away.

There's another temporary gap in the northern part of Newport while a new apartment building is being built - you have to cut over onto the road there, but again that's not a busy road.

North from Jersey City you can get up to at least Lincoln Harbor off road on the walkway. Haven't tried to go further north on the Jersey side.

Papa Tom

I don't mind riding the road at all, but the people I would bring are older and not too experienced. Besides, we can ride on the road anywhere, if you know what I mean. The "sell" for these folks would be riding an entire trip off-road and ending up at Liberty State Park. Which brings me to...what's up with the section just before the park entrance?

wck

I just rode this again this morning at around 10 AM, so traffic was pretty quiet. Let's see:

I headed down Essex St in the road, took a left at Washington to link up with the continuation of the waterfront walkway. The walkway is fine until about Marin Blvd where it becomes super narrow - I had to dismount to wait for some folks walking the other way with their dogs. I'm on a brand new bike that I'm still getting used to - this is my first bike where I can't reach the ground when sitting on it, so I didn't feel terribly safe with the frequent stops on the narrow path and chose to swing over to Regent St through the condo development there. I stumbled over what seems to be a new coffee place in the same building as Zeppelin Hall - on my list of places to return to when I have a bike lock with me.
I stayed on Regent and cut through the Zeppelin Hall parking lot although it seemed like the really narrow paved path on the far side of the train tracks was still there. It's a left on Jersey Ave, which again was dead - no cars there this morning. The bridge is still super rickety and slanted which was... interesting.

Once you're over the bridge I prefer to go straight at the end of the bridge and cross the cobblestone road (Audrey Zapp Drive) and then take the paved path that runs parallel to it instead of the path that sticks next to the docks.

So, I would guess I was on streets for about 4 blocks total on that section of the ride; and I had no cars pass me while on those roads. Not too bad to reach a place as nice to bike around as the park.

cc_rider

Related to the river walk, how is the route past Liberty State Park to the Bayonne Bridge? I want to do the loop around NY harbor someday. Planned to do it last Labor Day weekend, but my trip got delayed a day and I missed my chance.

Papa Tom

WCK: I don't recognize the place you call Zeppelin Hall. However, I do remember going into a new upscale type of cafe/convenience store at the corner of a building last year. Where/What is Zeppelin Hall?

wck

Zeppelin Hall is the beer garden (very bike friendly ) at Regent & Tidewater. They have a huge back garden you'll see as you start on Regent St. From their website (note that what they have labeled 'PATH Train' is actually light rail tracks)

Papa Tom

Aha. However, unlike many cyclists, I'm not a beer garden type of dude. Actually, I'm not much of a coffee guy, either, so this is all moot!