# Avalon, NJ?



## Muldoon54 (Feb 12, 2005)

We will be in Avalon NJ in the end of June (wife is from up that way) for a birthday party. Am bringing the bike. Are there any good places to ride or is the traffic too bad on the island that time of the year? Any input is appreciated. Thanks!


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## patsdiner (Nov 15, 2005)

I would say head inland or, as they say, "offshore". I normally do a route around the Corbin City area, but you're a little south of there. Plenty of country roads, though, a few miles from the beach.


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## bkranich (May 7, 2004)

You could also do a long loop going north through Ocean City, and south through Cape May. I've ridden there in June, and it's not all that terrible. Weekends are worse than the weekdays. Not necessarily challenging riding, but there are some fun sights along the way if you want to get off the bike and explore.


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## Muldoon54 (Feb 12, 2005)

Thanks for your advice. I'm not familiar with Corbin City but I think I might try a ride or two "in-land". I have been to Ocean City and Cape May a couple of times and will go there on my bike. As far as the ride being not a challenge, tis okay. I'm from Louisiana where my hill training consists of going up and down overpasses. I do appreciate the advice though. This is the first time I've brought my bike up there. I told my wife that if we have to go there I would go on two conditions. 1.) is that I bring my bike and ride in the morning. 2.) is that I have to go to Pats (I think that's the name) Cheesesteaks in Philly. Awesome place! I'm looking forward to it. Thanks again!


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## bkranich (May 7, 2004)

Muldoon54 said:


> 2.) is that I have to go to Pats (I think that's the name) Cheesesteaks in Philly. Awesome place! I'm looking forward to it. Thanks again!


Save your appetite and get one at Geno's as well (right across the street). That area is ground zero for cheesesteaks. Make sure you order it right. They don't like you wasting their time with a long explanation of what you want. 

Type of cheese (provolone, american, wiz)
With or without onions

Example...you want a cheesesteak with provolone and onions (my personal favorite), say "provolone wit". Pay for your steak, then move to the next window to order drinks and fries. It's a quirky and fun experience.


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

BKranich - Geno's Steaks got sued this year because they refused to serve customers who couldn't order and speak English.

If you are going to have a car, take a few hours before or after and head towards Princeton NJ, near the Delaware River between NJ & PA, Look on the map for Pennington or Hopewell. Beautiful riding, lots of hills, and head towards Lambertville from Hopewell.

The island is nice riding but like lots of cars but wide roads. Head towads Margate and see Lucy the Elephant. You can't miss it. It's a historical site, big large wooden elephant. You can search on the internet and see it. Well worth it. Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall in Philly to check out.


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## Muldoon54 (Feb 12, 2005)

lawrence said:


> Louisiana - They got sued this year because they refused to serve customers who couldn't order and speak English.
> 
> If you are going to have a car, take a few hours before or after and head towards Princeton NJ, near the Delaware River between NJ & PA, Look on the map for Pennington or Hopewell. Beautiful riding, lots of hills, and head towards Lambertville from Hopewell.
> 
> The island is nice riding but like lots of cars but wide roads. Head towads Margate and see Lucy the Elephant. You can't miss it. It's a historical site, big large wooden elephant. You can search on the internet and see it. Well worth it. Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall in Philly to check out.



The whole state of Louisiana got sued? Haven't heard about that. Thanks for the advice. Haven't heard of Margate. I will definitely track down Lucy the Elephant and will bring the family to the Liberty Bell and probably the museum. Great advice. Thanks!!


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

There's several museums in Phil, Phil. Art Museum which has suits of armor and a Japanese tea house but really not for kids because of all the paintings but you could, there's the Mutter Museum from the late 1800's and early 1900's which has medical oddities, and Philly also has another museum almost across the street from the Phil. Art Museum, Ben Franklin Parkway, that's like a Natural History Museum but where kids can touch and see how things work, that's a good museum for both kids and adults. Philly also has small tourist buses run by the city that you pay a flat price for the day, you park your car, and get on and off as much as you like and they go around the city to all the popular sites. If you want great pizza, downtown there's Pietros at 1714 Walnut St., the fresh basil cheese called a margahrita pizza is my favorite at Pietros, and Lombardi's at 132 185th St. Pietro's is a little bigger and has a full menu than Lombardi's, Lombardi's is smaller and homier, just like a regular pizza place. Both are just around City Hall and on the way from Constitution Hall to the Museum. The Mutter is in the area of Constitution Hall. And drive by City Hall especially at night with the lights on it, it's incredible. Constitution Hall and the Liberty Bell doesn't take long to see, it's a cracked bell and a fairly sparse room with simple wooden furniture but still gives you chills.


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

You can get absolutely the best bike maps in the world, yes the world, they are that good, at www.NJBikeMap.com It doesn't show all the roads, only the better biking roads and of course the main highways, leaving out the developments. It's simple and concise and a lot of information can be printed out on a page. It's all set up in a grid fashion, just go to the area that you want to bike in and print out the map or save it to an adobe acrobat file.

Plus it has a separate section for points of interest. It's run by a biker of my club.


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## patsdiner (Nov 15, 2005)

Corbin City is where route 49 meets route 50. If you get up to the Princeton area, look for a place on the river, mid-way between Trenton and Lambertville, calling Washington's Crossing (rumor has it, its of some historical note). Its a State Park and, parking there (though I don't think that's what the "Park" is about), you will see a canal with a rail-to-trail path. Get on that and you have a beautiful, 30-mile ride through Lambertville, Stockton, and Frenchtown. Cross the river and there's a rougher, less complete version on the Pennsy side, starting in New Hope and back to Washington's Crossing. Perfect combination of history, biking, and bucolic scenery.


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

I find the canal path to be boring and in many places with so much gravel to be very rough on a road bike. Good on a MTB or comfort bike but still boring. I tried it with my old Schwinn 10 speed with the wider tires and it was too rough. But both Lambertville and New Hope have some great eating places and tourist type shops but the riding is terrific on both sides. If you want HILLS, try the Lambertville side.


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## Muldoon54 (Feb 12, 2005)

Man, thanks for the great ideas everyone!! The hands on museum sounds great, especially for my 8 year old. Is Corbin City near Avalon? Sorry, been up there a few times, but never ventured that far away. Been to Cape May and Atlantic City. I will buy a map as soon as I get there and plot. I am excited now. Most of what I see is swamp and marsh down here. This will be fun. Heck, I may even have a cheese steak from Pat's and walk across the street to Geno's to have another one. My wife and all of her family is from up there so they've taught me the correct way to order a cheese steak (though I still am not fast enough and get it wrong).

If anyone up there is looking for someone to ride with, let me know. It would be good to ride with someone else. Thanks again!!!!!


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

There's a bike club in the Princeton Lawrenceville Hopewell Pennington Lambertville area, PriincetonFreeWheelers.com They run bike rides almost every night and weekends in that area. Some rides are fairly flat with inclines and small hills and some others are steep hills that are challenging but not impossible for a reasonable C+ rider.

If you want to go on a club group ride, as you get closer to that date, let me know what nights or days you are available, what type of ride you want (fairly flat or hills) and the ride level and a distance range and I'll tell you when, where, what time, and the contact person.

Mon-Fri rides are generally at 6pm unless they are A/A+ rides. Sat & Sun rides are generally 9am but some are a little later.


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## Muldoon54 (Feb 12, 2005)

lawrence said:


> There's a bike club in the Princeton Lawrenceville Hopewell Pennington Lambertville area, PriincetonFreeWheelers.com They run bike rides almost every night and weekends in that area. Some rides are fairly flat with inclines and small hills and some others are steep hills that are challenging but not impossible for a reasonable C+ rider.
> 
> If you want to go on a club group ride, as you get closer to that date, let me know what nights or days you are available, what type of ride you want (fairly flat or hills) and the ride level and a distance range and I'll tell you when, where, what time, and the contact person.
> 
> Mon-Fri rides are generally at 6pm unless they are A/A+ rides. Sat & Sun rides are generally 9am but some are a little later.



Appreciate it. Of course, I wouldn't know where the Princeton Lawrenceville area is, but when I get there I will ask or buy a map. Should be in Avalon this coming Friday (6-22 through the 26th). I'll bring the laptop and keep checking RBR. 9 A.M. Saturday is good. Work has kept me from riding for a couple of weeks, but a good 40 to 50 miles shouldn't be too bad. I'm from the flatlands, but would love to try hilly for a little shorter distance. Thanks for the advice!!


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## patsdiner (Nov 15, 2005)

There is a regular ride, every Saturday at 8 am, leaving from the Tuckahoe Bike Shop. From Avalon, cross over to the mainland and take Rt. 9 north. After about 6.5 miles, look for Rt. 50 to your left. Take that for about 8 miles and the speed limit will start decreasing. Once down to 30 mph, look for Kendell Lane on your left (if you see a Sun National bank on your immediate right, you've gone too far). Go down a bit, turn left into the parking lot and park. Out on 50, across the street, you should see Lou, who runs the ride. 30-40 miles on fairly calm, rolling roads. By the way, if you haven't checked, the Princeton area is well over 200, miles round-trip, from Avalon.


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

Private email me with your email address if you want to communicate about this ride. I'm going on a 45 mile ride on Saturday 6/23 at 9am in the most beautiful area you could imagine. Some hills, some inclines, some flats. The ride will average 13-14mph which is pretty good when there are hills.

My place is very easy to get to, I'm leaving at 8am, about a 30 minute drive to the departing point but I don't want to be late. If you want to go you have to give yourself 2 hours to get to my house and you might arrive here early or on time, 2 1/2 hours to be safe baring no wrong turns, breakdowns, stops, accidents, 3 hours to be really safe, you can stop for breakfast near here if you're early. Hate to see you come up here and miss me by 10 minutes. My place is easy to find but the departing point is a little harder. If you like riding, the riding here is so nice, you'll give up going back to Avalon. Bring 2 water bottles on your bike, you can fill up with ice at my place. Temp is expected to be 85.


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

I'd say the Princeton area is about 80-90 mile ride each way from Avalon, 100 miles? maybe. I make it to Atlantic City, north of Avalon in about 1 1/4 hour. Avalon I don't think is more than 15 minutes south on the NJ Garden State Parkway.


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## patsdiner (Nov 15, 2005)

Roughly 35 mile from AC to Avalon. Doing the Yahoo map, major roads (95,ac exprss, GSP), 111 miles each way. I usually do 322 to 206 from Ocean City and its 2-2:30 hours.


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## bjm (Feb 21, 2005)

*best ride in Avalon...*

Head out your front door in Avalon and take Ocean Drive southbound to Cape May point. Ocean Drive connects all the barrier islands of South Jersey by a series of toll/lift bridges. (no tolls for cyclists) Best riding is early before traffic hits. My favorite part of this route is through the salt marshes you encounter along the way. From Avalon it's about 20 miles (depending from where in Avalon you start) to the Cape May Lighthouse. (very much worth the short hike in over the dunes) On the way back I normally take Rt. 9 which is inshore 2-3 miles. There are clearly marked signs to exit back into Avalon. It's almost a 40 mile loop which gets you home in time to hit the beach. 

link to gmaps pedometer of route:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1059492

enjoy


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## Muldoon54 (Feb 12, 2005)

Awesome, awesome, awesome!! Thanks for all the great advice! After being in the car from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. I'm ready for some sleep. Will be in Williamsburg, VA for the next few days, then on up to Avalon. Got all my stuff including an extra set of wheels (just in case). As soon as I can I will be on the bike. With all the advice I have a lot to choose from. The ride to the Cape May Light House sounds real good. My wife loves that light house and I've never been. What better way than by bike. I am so looking forward to this. I needed this trip and am looking forward to the beach, the bike, and some Yuengling (I know I butchered that spelling). Thanks again!


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## Muldoon54 (Feb 12, 2005)

Thanks to EVERYONE for their advice!! We just got back last night and we had a great time. We spent the first few days in Williamsburg, VA. I rode a little up there (to Jamestown). It was a little more hilly than I am used to, but it was beautiful. After a few days we took the ferry to Cape May then drove to Avalon. Once in Avalon, I just went out and rode. One day I went north to Ocean City and just took in the sights. One other day I rode south and rode out to Route 9. From there I went south and thought about heading back after a few miles (because we had plans early that afternoon). However, I saw a sign for the lighthouse which was only 7 miles away, and well, you know. So I ended up at the lighthouse (took a couple of pics with my cell phone). Along the way I met up with another cyclist who I had met up with the day before). On the way back we rode up along the coast (Ocean City). We rode up along the marsh and up through Wildwood and such. I had the time of my life. Beautiful!

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to get into Philly for cheesesteaks or museums. We did have some cheesesteaks at Tonio's on Avalon (they were ok - better than down here). The last day we drove up to Morrisville, PA (across from Trenton, NJ) and spent the night there with more relatives. No more riding as they had dinner plans for us. We left the morning after and were on the road for the next 2 days straight.

Again, thanks again for all of the advice!! This was one of the best vacations we have taken. Anytime any of you are down in Louisiana let me know. I'll set you up. Thanks again!!


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## patsdiner (Nov 15, 2005)

Glad to hear it was a good trip. Keep on biking!


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