# Thinking about moving to Jersey...



## Justridinalong (Dec 31, 2008)

Have been thinking about reloacting to Jersey for a while. My girl live in Princeton. Any good riding around there? Mtn bike or road? how is the local race scene? I know it is not far from NYC, but I am more interested in rides with in a half hour of that area. Any info would be great! 

Oh yeah, what is your thoughts on the LBS?

Cheers!


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

The area northwest of Princeton offers great road riding. Rolling to very hilly terrain and an extensive network of lightly travelled rural roads. South & east of Princeton is fairly flat & tends to be congested. I'm not too familiar with the MTB opportunities, but would expect it to be limitted to a few of the county parks.

Lots of racing on the weekends. Check out

http://www.njbikeracing.com/

http://www.wantagetwp.com/njbrc/njba2010/


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## Bee-an-key (May 5, 2007)

Alan E +1. I lived there and found roads north west towards the Delaware River great. Flat TT and sprint training along the river north of Stockton, but can also head up the steep county roads that lead to it. Bucks PA has outstanding riding. Head up rt206 to Somerset and Hunderton Cty for great roads. Philly has a great bike scene an hour away. Great cross in both states, velodrome in PA, tons of races with in 1 to 1.5 hr drive. Mtn biking is better in the north area of the state ski area, state parks. PA has good mtn biking as well. Not as tuned into off road but there are NJ sites as well. LBS is Kopps, the oldest shop in the US. Home to the Raleigh boys of the 70's... Knapps in Trenton, Wheelfine- a hardcore euro pro shop in Lambertville. Nice quality of life in Princeton, just depends where you live as to how long it takes you to get out of town and away from traffic.


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## Terex (Jan 3, 2005)

What AlanE said, and stop by Halter's on Rt. 1, near Princeton and talk with Jayson and the boys. Jayson built up my Parlee and Scott Addict and fitted me on both. They can tell you all about riding road & XC and races in the area. http://www.halterscycles.com/

Look at njbikemap.com if you haven't already.

This is a great area to ride your bike.


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

*not a bad place*



Justridinalong said:


> Have been thinking about reloacting to Jersey for a while. My girl live in Princeton. Any good riding around there? Mtn bike or road? how is the local race scene? I know it is not far from NYC, but I am more interested in rides with in a half hour of that area. Any info would be great!
> 
> Oh yeah, what is your thoughts on the LBS?
> 
> Cheers!


Despite Jersey's reputation as congested, there is still plenty of great places to ride. The area west and north of Princeton offers some hilly low traffic roads. The area to the south tends to be flatter. I don't know where you are coming from but Princeton itself is a pricey place to live and NJ has some very high taxes. Someone here mentioned Wheelfine. This is one on the most unique shops I have ever visted. It is crammed packed (literally, you can barely walk in the place) with great euro frames and gear


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## kmac76 (Jan 22, 2004)

tow-path, country roads, beautiful scenery, and sky-high taxes....oh wait, ignore the last one.
halter's ( J and the crew are great) and knapp's lawrence/trenton are both good places for knowledge on the local ride/race scene...

good luck - also there are several decent riding clubs...


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## notwist (Feb 26, 2009)

the sourlands and the watchung area offer some great roads to ride your bike in the central jersey area. and if you ever want to ride somewhere different, you can make the drive up a bit north for even more riding.


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## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

Call Pete at Knapp's Cyclery near Trenton. He can give you the scoop.


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## jkmacman (Feb 6, 2009)

here's 2 jersey bike clubs

http://cjbc.org/ (central jersey)
http://btcnj.com (north jersey)

for the mtb be sure to check
http://mtbnj.com
http://mtbr.com


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## merlinago (Jan 12, 2010)

this post made me think of a t-shirt I own.


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## THATmanMANNY (Jan 24, 2008)

*Road Riding* - Lots of great roads NW of princeton in the Sourlands area. Princeton area is generally flat. If you head NW it will get hilly. You can make your way out to Hopewell and Frenchtown and put in a solid 70miles on quiet roads. Really great road riding in hilly rural area.

*Mtb* - Places within 30 min... Mercer County Park (rooty singletrack), 6 Mile Run Reservoir (buttery smooth twisties), Sourland Mountain (rocks and boulders but lots of fun), Washington Valley Chimney Rock (lots of elevation change on dirt and rocks, good mix of everything but maybe like 45min from Princeton)


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## Terex (Jan 3, 2005)

THATmanMANNY said:


> *Road Riding* - Lots of great roads NW of princeton in the Sourlands area. Princeton area is generally flat. If you head NW it will get hilly. You can make your way out to Hopewell and Frenchtown and put in a solid 70miles on quiet roads. Really great road riding in hilly rural area.
> 
> *Mtb* - Places within 30 min... Mercer County Park (rooty singletrack), 6 Mile Run Reservoir (buttery smooth twisties), Sourland Mountain (rocks and boulders but lots of fun), Washington Valley Chimney Rock (lots of elevation change on dirt and rocks, good mix of everything but maybe like 45min from Princeton)


Agreed, but south of Princeton (e.g., Cranbury area) you can get in some really good paceline riding. I try to do one evening a week doing paceline work during the summer. I live in the foothills of the mighty Sourlands. :wink5:


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## MCAddictR3 (Feb 24, 2010)

I lived in princeton for a couple of years and would agree with most comments that it is a great place for a Roadie to live. There is a lot of cycling activity and would highly recommend joining the Princeton Free Wheelers bike club. You will find an excellent variety of rides regardless of ability!


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