Moving to South Jersey - biking culture?

M

martinman

Guest
Hi Everyone,

I'm considering a move from Detroit area to New Jersey - I'll be working in Cherry Hill. How's the biking culture around the area? I understand that CH isn't conducive to biking, so I'm either looking at Burlington County or Gloucester County to live.

Ideally, I'd like to roll out my front door for a 20-40 mile rode ride during the week (w/o being over concerned about my safety), and with a 20 mile drive a 10 mtb ride during the weekend. So, what are my options?

thx,
mark
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Well, take a look at a map and find Cherry Hill. The take a look at the trail directory map and see where your park density lies. Those parks way in the south are not desintation parks by any means.

I don't know South Jersey well at all. But it's not your ideal location for mountain biking in the state. Plenty of road riding though.
 

walter

Fourth Party
Plenty of road riding as Norm pointed out, but relatively flat. Mountainbike wise there isn't to much down that way, though you may be close to Wissahickon(sp) in Philadelphia.

Oh, and welcome to the site, and the great state of New Jersey
 

gtluke

The Moped
get yourself a k-5 blazer to blend in. wait, either your new place or your neighbor's will come with one on the lawn :D
welcome to the gangbang :p
 
M

martinman

Guest
Hey Guys, thanks for the quick response. Can you tell me about the road biking in Jersey? Are there areas with a wide shoulder or is it mostly on rural roads? In the area I live now, I can road ride though a park system for as much as a 45 mile ride. The shoulder is wide, and the speed limit doesn't go above 40 - because of this, it's become the goto destination for roadies in the area (read: drivers are very aware of us). Are there similar locations like this in the area?

Wherever I buy a house, I must have good riding - road is preferable so I can get a quick ride in before work.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Road riding shouldn't be an issue where you're looking, unless you move into Cherry Hill where it can probably be a bit more densely populated.

You won't get 45 mile park roads here, that's just not happening. But the county roads I've ridden down int he south have been plenty wide for roadies. In general I'd say this whole state is aware of roadies.

This past weekend 3 of us basically rode through the heart of densely populated central jersey with no issues. On your list of things to worry about, that wouldn't be high, IMO.

Obviously, I think you need to come out here and check things out before you buy. Drop a line when you're thinking of coming out and maybe someone will offer to lead a road or off-road ride. I'm sure plenty of people can chime in with suggestions on areas that might be better/worse for your aims.

How far are you willing to commute to work?
 
M

martinman

Guest
How far are you willing to commute to work?

Well, about 30 minutes at the most. I've talked to a relocation agent and she suggested Gloucester or Burlington county. She suggested that the more east I go the less populated it is (read: less cars). If i take the offer, I'll be in temporary housing for a few months and if the winter is conducive to riding, i'll check a few places out. Dec - Mar is off limits here in Mi for riding.. Too cold! Ideally, a more rural setting would be great. I was only able to checkout parts of Cherry Hill, and it was quite congested (as people have suggested). Other people have said that getting 10-15 minutes out of CH and it's alot less congested.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
You should be fine then. It's not quite as cold here but we have our days.
 

sixseven

New Member
Within 30 minutes of Cherry Hill you could live in some great rural areas: Pemberton is one of my favorites. Tabernacle, Indian Mills are two others. The condo farms havent grown that far out yet. And it puts you closer to the shore. If you look on the map, follow 38 to 72 to the shore and you can get an idea of the population density....pretty sparse out there.

The further you go east from Mount Holly you start to get into the Pine Barrens and you see a lot of roadies out that way spring summer and fall. I think its rte 563-532 that have a marked bike lane. I don't ride road, I just go out there to canoe. Very few cars once you head south from 72. It is super pretty out there, esp now with the cranberry bogs.
Wissahickon is one of several parks in Philadelphia that has lots of riding, road and mtb.
 

743power

Shop: Bicycle Pro
Shop Keep
you'll be looking at philly and de riding for mtb I'm thinking. wissahickon is an amazing trail system in philly, probably 20 minutes away. You have white clay creek, a great trail system with 20miles or so of awesome trails, fair hill, which is the old dupont family estate which has something like 75 miles worth of trails in it, and iron hill which is good to hit before or after one of the previous places in newark, de/elkton, md, which are probably 40 minutes from you.

Up the njtp or 295 you can come to mercer, clayton or 6mile, but thats about it within a reasonable distance from you. There is gloucester county college and ceres state park, but I dont think either of them are too long or interesting from what I have heard.

Check www.trailspinners.org and www.phillymtb.com for the places I first mentioned.
 

s4lnj

New Member
i'm about 15 minutes south of cherry hill. in gloucester county. there is plenty road action here, and as far as mtb goes, if you are into cross country style, there is enough to keep you busy. gloucester county college, camden county college, cere's park are all within about 20 minutes of cherry hill. and like someone said, philly is a stone's throw away.

here are a couple local shops that you can contact and ask about the riding and get better answers

www.pscycles.com -- ask for shawn, tell him dave from firestone told ya to call

www.actionwheels.com - jim or patty

good luck,
keep us posted
 

FFT

Gay & Stuffy
Geographically: Visit the area of CH before moving there. If I blindly choose to move to that area I would be very disappointed, that's without even considering riding my bike. Good luck, also - use google earth to get a birds eye view of the areas mention above.

Demographics: I dont even know where to start.

Traffic: Insert gun into mouth - pull trigger.

Sorry, nothing at all good about that area, and no offence to those who live there - but it sucks.

North, Central, and eastern NJ is a different subject.
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
I would check out northern burlington county, like bordentown and columbus and the surrounding area. It is going to put you at your 30 min commute but in a much better area to access riding. The problem with southern burlington and gloucester county is that road riding is going to be flat and a bunch of open fields which equals alot of wind. Even though you will be further from philly you will be closer to clayton, allaire, mercer, baldpate and 6 mi. and closer to the hills of northern mercer county and north of there.
 
M

martinman

Guest
Yeah, I've pretty much ruled out CH (or anything in Camdon County). I like a little distance from work... I've been talking to a realtor in the area, and it seems that I'd get the most for my money in Gloucester County, newer houses, less taxes (well, comparatively speaking). I haven't looked in east burlington county, but the pine area the people have mentioned is very intriguing. However, the agent told me that the houses are a bit higher priced, and that taxes are quite a bit higher. I don't plan to make a decision right away, i'll probably do some riding in the area before making any decisions.

Can you recommend some cities to live in that aren't too populated and offer the "roll out the driveway" road riding (Gloucester County primarily - but east burlington or even east Camdon too!).

Thanks everyone for your help!
mark
 

s4lnj

New Member
mickleton, mulica hill, franklinville(may be pushing the 30 minute drive to cherry hill), mantua, mt. royal

all gloucester conty. you are right, there is a substantial increase in taxes between gloucester and camden counties, as well as higher car insurance.

as far as traffic, cherry hill blows. everyone in south jersey works in cherry hill. your 30 minute drive, will really depend on what time your comute is. could be 15 minutes, could be 1-2 hours.
 
M

martinman

Guest
Relocation: Road riding - southern Jersey?

Sorry for the 2nd post... Got my forums mixed up!
 
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BiknBen

Well-Known Member
I haven't done much road riding in the Cherry Hill area. It is a very large geographic area. I'd say it is a sprawling suburb. Some communities may be more bike friendly than others. I suspect you will be kept on your toes while road riding. Don't expect bike lanes although you may see them from time to time.

When riding to the East you will see traffic diminish and roads are more bike friendly. Simply because of less population density.

FWIW, Philly has a large population of Road cyclists. There are plenty of roadies in the greater Cherry Hill area.

MTB is that area is lacking. Fairmont Park is in Philly and provides the most interesting MTBing in that area. There is also a network of trails at Glouchester Community College, NJ, Wharton State Forest near Hammonton, NJ. Also consider parks in Maryland.
 
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