Riding around New Jersey.

[dorkburger]

New Jersey.... As those that have never been here know, its a pit. A vast wasteland of Superfund sites, smelly factories, crowds, and an airport infamous for its constantly being late. I used to spend much time riding around here exploring this place, but its been several years since I've had a full day to to just cruise the state. I did just that yesterday, and in a painfully obvious, shocking to no one statement, a GS runs much better with properly attached carbs.....

Yeah..... about that..... a case of one thing leads to another.
On late Friday night I went to the garage to get my gear together and give the bike a quick check of its lights, etc, as I was leaving early in the morning.
I found the brake light wasn't working from the front brake switch. Strange, as I cleaned up the switch just a few seasons ago. It was still clean, but operation was erratic causing the need to remove the gas tank, seat side panels, etc. Ultimately I had a bad wire. While the bike was apart, I noticed #3 and 4 carbs pulled back from its boots and fixed that as well.

Wires broken inside. Had to do a continity test to confirm this, but the limp wires were a giveaway.
http://20170826_001209 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

I still got out early, but with just 4-1/2 hours of sleep....
I'm in the middle of the state. South is boring, with a lot of flat straight roads. North has some decent riding and scenery. I headed to the west of the state, then North more or less along the Delaware River. I had a few spots I wanted to hit, just to set a general direction, but no concrete plan.

http://20170826_083246 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

Green Sergenantsville bridge is the only public covered bridge in the state according to its marker. Disassembled in 1961, then saved by a grassroots effort and rebuilt, although it now sits on modern steel I beams covered by the wood floor.


http://20170826_084015 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

http://20170826_084236 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

http://20170826_084440 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

[dorkburger]

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While riding to the covered bridge I saw a low clearance, no trucks sign and figured there was another bridge. I found a steel bridge. I love the detail and construction of these. This one was beautifully restored.

I quickly got my phone ready, got the picture, then moved the bike. In the 45 minutes or so I was there, one car came by...

http://

While climbing over the rail to get this pic, the pop on toe slider on my boot was knocked off and fell into the brush below. I looked for it, but only found a fishing bobber.
http://20170826_090421 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

http://20170826_090042 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

[dorkburger]

Old farmhouse. There are still quite a few surviving stone houses and fields with stone "fences" outlining them in this area.
http://20170826_093803 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

Mmmmm future wine.
http://20170826_094537 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

Between trying to find the covered bridge and stumbling onto the steel bridge, the morning was moving on, and I set out to make some time. Rode thru, but didnt stop in the beautiful old touristy towns of Frenchtown, and Lambertville. I think these popped up when the D&R and Pennsylvania canals were the main source of industry in the area. A wrong turn put me in the Pa side of the Delaware so I rode up 611. 611 or NJ 29, both follow the river and are nice, but are usually slow with bicyclists, slow cars, etc.

Easton Pa, looking over to Phillpsburg NJ and connecting bridges.
http://20170826_103835 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr



http://20170826_103947 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

[dorkburger]

Heading North of Phillipsburg.
For several miles I went over or under this railline at least 5 times, sometimes thru tiny tunnels.
http://2017-08-26 17.20.03 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

Nuclear power. Pa side.
http://20170826_111952 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

I had planned to make it to High Point at the top of the state, but didnt make it. It would have caused the need to rush home so I skipped it, instead exploring the NW NJ county roads. I call them the 5 of 6 roads. They are generally 3 number routes and start with the number 5 or 6.

Haines viaduct. Quite a feat in its day. 125' tall and really long. Supposedly there are accesses where one can get into the area between the arch and deck. Ive seen online pictures and it looks cool.
http://20170826_123856 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

Lunch. I had no plan to stop here, but found myself nearby so I did. Hot Dog Johnnys is a popular spot for bike/car guys. A hot dog, fries and a Coke was $5.56. I was surprised. I laughed. When I arrived there were 15- 20 H-Ds there. As if timed, when they left, a pack of at least 30 sport, adventure, and metric cruiser bikes pulled in.
http://20170826_134235 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

This pulled in also. The restoration and woodwork was absolutely flawless. It had a plaque stating that it was a Dearborn Award winner. I assume thats big time.
http://20170826_133357 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

[dorkburger]

Well duh, I couldn't pass this up....
http://20170826_141931 by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

All in all it was a good ride. About 230 miles ridden. The bike ran great with the mentioned carbs reattached. I still had to hit the interstate to make it home for dinner, but I dont mind the occasional freeway blast so all was good. There were other spots I wanted to hit, but didn't have time to. Oh well.

[RichDesmond]

Nice, thanks for sharing!

[Burque73]

Thanks for posting this, Glen. I knew Jersey had some nice spots but never got to see them while I was there. Most of my time was spent working in one of these tanks at a refinery. Yes, that area was a pit as you say. Some of the guys would head over to NY on Friday night but I was still in my teens and just hung out near our motel and such. I was really glad to be there though as hurricane Andrew struck Florida where we had just finished a job the week before.

I just found out as I met my mother's half sister last week, she's from Jersey. Maybe you know her. It's a pretty small state, right? Just kidding....

I really like those bridges. Cool photos!

[dorkburger]

Rich, I figured you'd check in....
Roger, yes you were in the part that give NJ its rep for being stinky. If you got on 78 and went west for a half hour or so, youd be in the nice areas.

Thanks for the photo comments. I once had plans to be a photgrapher, but life happened, plus and my interest in photography turned to the historic processes, something I have yet to do on my own, outside of some really enjoyable workshops I attended in the late 90s.
I feel like a bit of a hack and really limited with the phone camera, but its convenient, and the rules of layout, composition, etc still apply and it was nice to practice it a bit.

[mnferwerda]

The weather yesterday in the mid atlantic area was a great for riding. Glad you got it in and shared it with us!

[dorkburger]

Yes it was a #10 day for weather.
When I was in Easton, I thought I heard a steam train whistle. I looked online, and they run excursion trains from there. Something to possibly look into fora family outing. I'm a bit of a steam train geek.

[cowboyup3371]

Wow, thank you for the pictures. All I have been able to see of New Jersey is that wonderful airport so this is a nice sight.

[gordinho80]

Looks like a fun day. If it had not been for my daughter's birthday party, I likely would have joined you. Nice great pics, too. Well done!

[Buffalo Bill]

Wonderful ride Glenn! I been upstate NJ back in the 70s. As a country get away from NYC.
Sorry Allie ain't active so much anymore, like to see her post on this.

[Redman]

Nice trip report.

Great photos.

Sounds like you enjoyed exploring around that iron bridge.
Yah, sitting there in one place for a while give a better chance to observe things.

I understand about New Jersey being concidered as urban and industrial, but is also a big blueberry area. That was a surprize to me when I first learned it.

.

[RichDesmond]

Rich, I figured you'd check in....

Yep, always like to see people posting about the nice places in Jersey.
After I moved out west in '75, it was always funny to see people's faces if I mentioned that I worked on farm* when I was in high school. They'd be like..."but...you're from...New Jersey...how could you...work on a ...farm", and then their heads would explode.

*You've probably passed it, Hockhockson farm on 537. East edge of Colts Neck, as you're headed east it's just after the Earle bridge, on the right. Was 300+ acres when I worked there, pieces have been sold off and it's down to 40 or so now. Jon Stewart just bought it. Kinda sums up what's happened to Colts Neck.