NYC - New Jersey Route?

ElPerro

Hopefully somebody knows how to do this…. I need to get from mid-town Manhattan to the Oranges (i.e., South Orange Avenue) in New Jersey. Is there a reasonably direct way to go from a ferry stop on the Jersey side, across that swampy “wasteland,” to Newark/the Oranges? I understand that bikes cannot use 1, 9 or 78, and I’d rather not have to detour all the way south and come back up again – probably take forever.

Charlie A

Option 1 - take the train to Newark

Option 2 - I like the northern route
Go north on River Rd from the ferry in Edgewater to Fort Lee and get onto Main St in Fort Lee (consult Mapquest to familiarize yourself with these roads and turns).

Take Main St west, it turns in Fort Lee Rd in Leonia, then Degraw Ave in Teaneck. Eventually you go across the Hackensack River and into Hackensack. There'll be some high speed traffic when you're going over the Route 95 overpass, but it's really not that bad.

If you go north on 1st St in Hackensack, it will take you into Polifly Rd, then into Terrace Avenue, then into Hackensack Avenue. Somewhere in Rutherford, you need to get onto Ridge Road which will take you all the way into Lyndhurst or North Arlington where you need to make a right somewhere to cross the Passaic River. You can do this from either Kingsland Ave in Lyndhurst or Route 7, the Belleville Tpke on the border of North Arlington and Kearny. I'd suggest Belleville Turnpike.

From there just head west then south to the Oranges. If you go south from Belleville, you end up in Newark. If your final destination if the Oranges, I would head west from Belleville via Belleville Turnpike, follow Route 7 signs (Belleville Ave) and make a left onto Ridgewood Ave in Glen Ridge which takes you to Seton Hall in South Orange. This is a real nice street with gas lamps on it!!

Hope this helps.

Taocyclist

Information is great. You seem to know New Jersey well, can you recommend the best road bike cyling areas in New Jersey, looking to possibly buy a small getaway house in Jersey and am researching if there are any decent riding areas I can take advantage.
Thanks,

Charlie A

I live in Bergen County but have traveled the state for more years that I want to admit for business purposes so I know my way around quite well.

One of my favorite rides is from Tenafly NJ to Rockland Lake in Congers NY. Follow it on Mapquest if you like.

I start in Tenafly by going west up to Knickerbocker Rd, turn right traveling north to Blanche Ave, make a left going west to Old Tappan Rd, make a right and stay on Old Tappan Rd to a 3 way stop in Tappan NY where you will make a left onto Western Highway. Follow this until it dead ends at West Nyack Rd. Make a left onto West Nyack Rd then a right at the traffic light onto Strawtown Rd. At the next blinker make a right onto Old Mill Rd (this is a really nice back road on the back side of Lake Deforest and yesterday it was a spectacular view) Stay on this to the next stop sign and make a left onto Kings Highway. Make a right at the next traffic light onto Congers Rd / Lake St (I think it turns into Lake St). After you go past Route 303 the road curves to the left; stay to the left , and this will take you to Rockland Lake. Sometime I like to go around the lake a few times on the road just to get a few more miles in.

From Rockland Lake, assuming that you want to head south from here, come out of the park and head south onto Route 9W. After the climb there's a nice descent. At the next light make a left onto Christian Herald Rd/Old Mountain Rd, which curves to the right to start heading into Nyack. At the next stop sign make a left and go to the bottom of the hill and make a right onto Broadway. About a mile ahead on the left is a "Great" muffin shop calle the Runcible Spoon that tons of road cyclists stop at to refill their water bottles, get some nourishment, or just stop to BS.

After stopping at the muffin shop, go 2 blocks south, make a left (Main St?) and then the first right onto Piermont "Ave". Follow this down under the Tappan Zee Bridge and along the Hudson until you get into the town of Piermont. Go through Piermont until you get to a stop sign where you will make a left and then a right at the fork onto Piermont "Road". This takes you straignt back into Tenafly.

We did this ride yesterday and it ended up around 35 or so miles with a few hill climbs, but mostly rolling hills.

We meet most Sundays in Tenafly which is about 4 or 5 miles from the GWB. The route and the number of riders varies every week as well. Yesterday we had 9 of us, Memorial Day we had 4.

Let me know if you need more info!!

Orange Fish

How long would you say that NYC to Oranges route is? I'm looking at a job at Seton Hall and would like to ride into NYC to train in the evenings.

Charlie A

I'm thinking that it's somewhere around 35 miles or so from the ferry in West New York/Edgewater to Seton Hall doing the loop-around as described above. Figuring about a 15 mph average (road bike?) plus about another 30 minutes stopping (water refill, bathroom stop, flat tire(?) and/or lost and asking for directions) that adds up to about 3 hrs or so.... maybe less? maybe more? the preverbial "it depends!"

Try it out on a Saturday or Sunday. Check the train schedule; you can always take the train back from West Orange.

ptlwp

Biking anywhere near those places is nothing more than a death wish, think of the alternatives posted by the other folks!!!

__________________
"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing." Sir Edmund Burke

Charlie A

A PROFOUND Statement!!!! and no, I didn't see any alternatives posted!!!!

Aside from getting across Route 80 most of it can be done on lower trafficked roads, if one knows the areas; and if one knows the area you can avoid Degraw Ave as well. The basic route is solid for one who "needs" to get from point A to point B, not a recreational cyclist.

As far as the death wish, a friend of mine got hit by a car on a quiet suburban road in Bergen County yesterday. I've been cycling for over 20 years and have had bottles thrown at me, had cars and trucks squeeze me off the road and people screaming at me as they passed even though I was riding in a shoulder of the road. Sometimes I feel like it's a death wish to just get on the bike and if I didn't enjoy it so much would probably do something a little safer.

Your one sentence quip just doesn't cut it. You have something constructive to say - then let's hear it!