It seems that this thread has expanded from routes throughout J.C. to way beyond it's intention within the city borders. Perhaps the subject name should change to Bike Routes throughout Hudson County. I feel bike routes within Jersey City is great for commuter and hybrid bikes for just getting around town. If anyone is interested in serious road bike rides at a moderate pace PM me.

Piermont and Nyack are popular destinations for recreational cyclists. Piermont is 52 miles round trip from JC. Nyack is about 65 miles round trip.

The first step is to get yourself up around the GWB. I usually take JFK > 79th St > Palisade OR JFK > 40th St > Park Ave > Clifton > Blvd East > Palisade on the way up (EARLY in the morning... I am riding up from Lincoln Park), and River Rd on the way back - but River Rd both ways is a better bet for most cyclists, most times of day.

Once you're in the vicinity of the GWB, you have a couple options. You can take Henry Hudson Drive (aka "River Rd") which is fabulous riding, very scenic, but challenging, hilly terrain? it goes about 8 miles north and hooks into 9W. The other possibility is 9W all the way up (either continue on Palisade onto Lemoine, which becomes 9W, or hop down to Hudson Terrace and back up to 9W).

From 9W, you have to drop down into Piermont or Nyack. I usually turn right on Rockland Rd, then right on Ferdon Ave. That takes you right through the center of Piermont, and if you continue a few miles north, into Nyack. There are many bike-friendly spots to grab a muffin & coffee in both villages.

There are a zillion different variations of this basic route; if you want more specifics, PM me.

PS - for cyclists looking to get in some mid-week miles before or after work, I highly recommend Lincoln Park or Gregg Park in Bayonne over LSP.

T-Bird below mentioned Palisades Interstate Park, which is a very cool ride - when you cross under the GWB you can look across the river and see the Little Red Lighthouse of children's book fame.

If you keep going up River Road past the park entrance and past the GWB, you'll get to Route 9W which will ultimately take you over the NJ/NY border into Nyack and beyond. Cool view of the Tappan Zee. I believe it's part of the route used for the century portion of the annual triathalon although they do come through the park as well. Fairly low traffic, lots of bikers, hilly but not daunting.

Take some time to reflect on the ghost bike in Alpine: http://ghostbikes.org/bergen-county/camille-savoy

Thanks. I'll definetely check out a ride up river road. Anyone ever go on a grove street bike ride?

I read an article recently in the JC Independent that makes mention of the group rides the Grove Street Bikes has every Sunday morning. Goes through Hoboken up to GW Bridge. I def want to check this out as my current loop around LSP gets crazy monotonous to hit my 40 mile cut off.

Hi all,

Reviving this thread to see if anyone has any good cycling routes of varying distances that don't require crossing the Hudson.

Primarily interested in a 30 and 60 mile ride.

Thanks!

Thanks very much for the link to Mapmyride.com (it was posted in another thread here, re: running in Jersey City). It's a great resource!
Thanks also for the google group and for all that you're organizing on behalf of JC biking!

I really like the MapMyRide site for looking at new routes. You can see what other people have done, or make your own, add notes for hazards or notable spots. They have a version for runners as well.

http://www.mapmyride.com/find-ride/united-states/nj/jersey-city

You can view all "bike routes" in Jersey City via the following link.

JC Bikeway System

We've been doing test runs for the upcoming JC Ward Tour May 23rd each weekend. If interested in joining in, meeting up with other cyclists in regards to other rides or just be up to date with cycling news in JC, please apply for our Bike JC Google Group Membership here.

I don't think the boardwalk continues beyond Port Liberte.

I've run and biked beyond Port Liberte, along Chapel Ave
If you cross the service roads you would ride through beautiful Bayview Cemetery into Greenville.
I have tried to continue south from Port Liberte, along the waterfront, but I couldn't see a route that worked.
I do think it's worth a good study of the map. I would love to get to know Bayonne and the parks in that area--there's a great park along the Hackensack River near Rt. 440.

You can also consider incorporating Lincoln Park--there are bike paths. I've had some nice rides there--it would require a bit of figuring to get a real route there, because it is somewhat isolated with lots of former industrial areas.
There is a movement to create a real bike route /connected riverwalk along the Hackensack River and an effort to get a route from Newark through Jersey City and Secaucus as part of a greenbelt. We (those looking for bike routes) should get behind this effort.

In LSP, I've gone as far as the end of the Point Liberte development - how much further does the boardwalk/bike path go? It would be nice if there was somewhere online that had a map of the boardwalk, but I can't seem to find one anywhere.

Cool DanL, thanks for the link. Didn't know that it existed. I am a member of the TA in nyc and will def. participate in the ride through JC. :)

re- LSP, you can continue south thru wetlands from the boat launch area just before the entrance to the golf course. beautiful.

go local roads to Washington Park - Heights, Lincoln Park Westside, avoid the wide roads like Montgomery or Kennedy.

take the PATH to the Hudson River / Manhattan Waterfront Greenway. Pick up by WTC or Christopher St PATH stations, WTC is easier. see map - http://www.transalt.org/files/resources/mapwaterfront.html

and look for the JC Ward Tour coming May 23rd! visit http://www.bikejc.org/

Yes, I've biked through Liberty State Park many a time (that's the "south along the waterfront" option I mentioned above).

As far as the Palisades, I'd love to try that sometime, but I usually only have an hour to an hour-and-a-half to go biking (i.e. during my son's naptime). In that time frame and at my pace, I can probably make it to the start of the Pallisades and back home. I haven't gone that far yet (I've only gone as far as the middle of Weehauken), but maybe I'll try that out this week. Thank you for the suggestion!

Quote:

Have you ever ridden up to Palisades Interstate Park? If you go early on a weekend morning, you can ride up River Road most of the way (through Weehawken, West New York and Edgewater) to get there without much traffic - again, go early, like before 7. Anyhoo - the park is fantastic for cycling.

Daniel,

Have u tried biking to Liberty State Park? There is a small pathway on Jersey Ave. which crosses the river and leads directly to the park. It's pretty nice over there.

I usually ride my bike (for recreation) 2 to 3 times a week. Other than heading north or south along the waterfront pathway, what other good, fun, not entirely crappy routes are there? I don't mind riding on the street as long as it's not on the side of a very busy road like Rt 1&9, or something similar.

Is there a decent way to get to Branch Brook park in Newark?