New Jersey Waterfront Bicycle Ride

Posted on October 10, 2009 by itees

Since today it’s grey outside and raining a bit, I’m not sure yet if I’ll be riding my bicycle. They said it’s going to clear and be sunny by noon, so for now, I thought I’d write about where I usually ride on the New Jersey side and what I’d see.

When I get ready to ride, here are some of my rules and/or safety tips. Sneakers, close-fitted pants (many times I see women wearing skirts, blowing in the breeze and I’m hopeful they won’t get caught in their bicycle wheel spokes), comfortable and/or warm top, hair back, water bottle, power bar, bicycle clip-on bag, lock and helmet. READY!

Starting out on Central Avenue in “the Heights” of Jersey City, I ride down Congress Street till I get to the elevator at the 9th Street (Hudson Bergen) Light Rail station. It connects Jersey City with Hoboken easily and has been there since 2000 when they built the Light Rail system. Down the elevator and across the tracks, crosstown and north a bit, till I reach 11th… then across 11th to the waterfront.

Now, the big decision, should I go left (north) towards Weehawken & Port Imperial, towards the George Washington Bridge or right (south) towards Jersey City with lovely views of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty? Either direction the length of the waterfront walkway is about 5-6 miles. This is as far as you can go given they haven’t built or connected all the walkways yet; eventually it will be much longer.

Going south along the Hudson River there are some new piers in Hoboken, small parks, even a tiny beach created at around 11th street. Riding downtown there are a few construction obstacles when approaching Frank Sinatra Park, and since part of the pier fell into the water due to decay and not being built with steel reinforcements, that whole area is blocked. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes to repair, now that Fall is upon us. Below is a photo I found of the collapsed pier taken by Hoboken411.com.

Frank Sinatra Park pier collapses in Hoboken, photo by Hoboken411.com

Approaching the Hoboken (Erie Lackawana)Terminal I must ride through the terminal (where people walk around and board trains) to get to the far end and the entrance to the walkway, newly opened last month that connects Hoboken with Newport. Below is a photo of the new walkway.

walkway-hoboken-newport

I can finally just follow this “greenway” as it weaves along the coastline, around buildings, hotels, and condos. There are a few spots that have wonderful views and are worth a stop.

Going in this direction you can ride safely till the “Colgate” sign which is where the walkway ends for now. At this point you have a beautiful view of Battery Park in NYC, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

battery-park-from-jc

*A day after writing this post, I did a 20 mile ride from “the Heights” of Jersey City, down to Hoboken, following this route to Jersey City, then turned around and rode back, continuing on to Weehawken and north to Edgewater. I’ll write some more about the northern direction, soon. In the meanwhile, enjoy my photos (gallery).

**Also, inside of Hoboken terminal, they now make everyone walk their bicycle through.

Bicycle books by David Burne & Jeff Mapes

Posted on September 24, 2009 by itees

I’m thrilled to report about the fastest selling book from Oregon State University Press, “Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities, by Jeff Mapes.” I’m going to pick this up! (amazon link)

Artist and musician David Burne, (link to his blog) wrote about this book, in The New York Times Book Review last week. (NY Times article) Byrne, a bicycle enthusiast has his own book, “Bicycle Diaries” due out in September. (NY Times article) (I’ll get this one too!)

From the NY Times article about “Pedaling Revolution”

David Byrne writes: “…But the book is useful — for those of us who occasionally find ourselves on the defensive, Mapes provides names, dates, facts and figures. He details how cities from Amsterdam to Paris to New York to Davis, Calif., have developed policies encouraging cycling in recent decades, and how other towns are just beginning to make way for bikes…”

From the NY Times article about “Bicycle Diaries”

“…Mr. Byrne’s travelogue uses a bicyclist’s perspective — “faster than a walk, slower than a train, often slightly higher than a person” — to take us from his home in New York City and around the United States, as well as to Berlin, Istanbul, Buenos Aires, Manila, Sydney and London, stops on the tours he has made in support of his musical and art careers…”

As I’ve written in a previous post, I just love to ride my bicycle, and not just on the “Greenway” in NYC, so these new books are on my reading list. Thanks to David Byrne and Jeff Mapes for writing on this subject. I hope it will make an impact on people who haven’t yet gotten on a bicycle, but will now.

From Jersey City through Hoboken to NYC and back

Posted on September 19, 2009 by itees

Once or twice a week I get my helmet, bicycle bag, and head downstairs to retrieve my bicycle from the shed. Checking the tires, setting the odometer to 0, I’m ready for my ride.

I ride through the streets of Jersey City along with the cars (since we have no bike paths except on the waterfront of the Hudson River) down to Hoboken and then sometimes along the waterfront toward Liberty State Park or the opposite direction toward the George Washington Bridge. Occasionally, like today, (because it’s so sunny and beautiful) I’ll take the NY Waterway ferry from Hoboken to New York City and ride on the “Greenway” along the Hudson. From 42nd street up to the GW, back downtown to Battery Park City and back again.

Many years ago when they were building the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail train that runs from North Bergen to Bayonne, I thought the plan was to include a bike path, which would have been wonderful, but they didn’t. So, if I want to ride safely where there are no cars I must take the ferry to NY.

As I design suggestive bicycle t-shirts, I’ll be thinking about ways to promote how wonderful one feels after a ride of 20-25 miles or so, the wind in your hair, the sense of freedom, the wonderful exercise and I’m not using any fuel to pollute the planet.

Leave the car, get on your bike!

Bike_greenart2