montclairbobbyb
Member
I was reading about the upcoming Longest Day Ride (from Port Jervis, NY to Cape May, NJ), over 200 miles in a single day!!! I have a few friends who rode this last year (they're tough as nails and crazy as loons)... They complained about the second half of the course being relentless and boring, and getting harassed by truck-drivin' roadie-hatin rednecks to boot... Nearly made them all sell their road bikes, the experience seemed so traumatic....From the way they described it, it was pure misery...I was sure they'd never ride it a second time, but then they all got talkin about doin it again this year... go figure.
That was when I had this great revelation... what if you could ride part of the same route (i.e. starting from High Point), but stay off-road as much as possible, and travel as far as possible, all in a single day? There ARE a few trail networks throughout the state that might make it possible. You could probably hook up with the Paulinskill Trail in Sussex County and take it out to the Delaware River, then hook up with the D&R Canal further downriver, which takes you all the way to Trenton, then back up to New Brunswick...
...or, take the Sussex Branch to Allamuchy/Waterloo, then pick up the Patriots Path / Columbia Trail to take you down to High Bridge, etc...
This thread is dedicated to the idea of using these trail systems as transportation corridors, and by combining these trails with a few back roads (and a little creativity), one might string together a pretty decent century...
But then I thought, what kind of bike would you ride? A road bike would definitely be out (although a cross bike would probably work, depending on how core you are... like Jim V), and a full-sus would induce a slow and painful death by exhaustion.... Nah... this ride would call for a good ol' rigid geared bike with some bigass slicks, like Big Apples... or Kenda K-Rads... need to roll fast on roads, but able to take any path or rough road. (My Fargo would be the perfect bike, or a 29er geared rigid with Big Apples... or my old Stumpjumper that I've converted into a commuter... aka "Mutant Roadbikes" as my friend Pat Biskey refers to them... THAT'S what I'M talkin about)...
If you have firsthand information or experience with riding different sections of the trails listed below (or know of any other longer, 10+ mile rails-to-trails routes, pathways, etc in NJ), please speak up.... thanks.
A few trails I know of, but would like to learn more about include:
Paulinskill Trail
Sussex Branch Trail
Patriot's Path (especially Western sections)
Columbia Trail
D&R Canal (have ridden from NB to Trenton, great travel corridor)
Morris Canal?
SO... Who's up for a "mutant century"?
Peace,
BB
That was when I had this great revelation... what if you could ride part of the same route (i.e. starting from High Point), but stay off-road as much as possible, and travel as far as possible, all in a single day? There ARE a few trail networks throughout the state that might make it possible. You could probably hook up with the Paulinskill Trail in Sussex County and take it out to the Delaware River, then hook up with the D&R Canal further downriver, which takes you all the way to Trenton, then back up to New Brunswick...
...or, take the Sussex Branch to Allamuchy/Waterloo, then pick up the Patriots Path / Columbia Trail to take you down to High Bridge, etc...
This thread is dedicated to the idea of using these trail systems as transportation corridors, and by combining these trails with a few back roads (and a little creativity), one might string together a pretty decent century...
But then I thought, what kind of bike would you ride? A road bike would definitely be out (although a cross bike would probably work, depending on how core you are... like Jim V), and a full-sus would induce a slow and painful death by exhaustion.... Nah... this ride would call for a good ol' rigid geared bike with some bigass slicks, like Big Apples... or Kenda K-Rads... need to roll fast on roads, but able to take any path or rough road. (My Fargo would be the perfect bike, or a 29er geared rigid with Big Apples... or my old Stumpjumper that I've converted into a commuter... aka "Mutant Roadbikes" as my friend Pat Biskey refers to them... THAT'S what I'M talkin about)...
If you have firsthand information or experience with riding different sections of the trails listed below (or know of any other longer, 10+ mile rails-to-trails routes, pathways, etc in NJ), please speak up.... thanks.
A few trails I know of, but would like to learn more about include:
Paulinskill Trail
Sussex Branch Trail
Patriot's Path (especially Western sections)
Columbia Trail
D&R Canal (have ridden from NB to Trenton, great travel corridor)
Morris Canal?
SO... Who's up for a "mutant century"?
Peace,
BB