Sunday, July 26, 2009

On Vacation




I am fortunate to have just returned from a weeks vacation(you guessed it) outside Sea Isle City. The weather was mostly cooperative. We were there for 8 days of which 1.5 we had some rain. We used those days to shop and explore. We decided to check out the Western side of southern NJ. It is quite different on the Delaware bay side. The land is made up of old fishing villages surrounded by marsh land. I never could quite get the appeal of living in these wetlands, but as you start to check these areas out you begin to appreciate the fauna and flora. The land is rich in nutrients and has an array of wildlife, especially bird watching. There is also a sereneness and quite not found on the east coast.
I was fortunate to get 6 days of early morning cycling in. I averaged 20 relaxing miles per day for a total of just over 102 mi. I changed plans and decided to head north of Sea Isle towards Ocean City and back. I was a nice change of scenery with bike friendly roads. I spoke to one cyclist about my ride to Cape May. He said another great ride is north into Atlantic City. I will have to try that the next chance I get.
This was a great week of easy cycling and relaxing at the Jersey Shore.
KEEP RIDING!!!!!




Sunday, July 5, 2009

Sea Isle City to Cape May

My wife and I really enjoy the NJ shore especially the southern area. We decided this yr to park our Motor Home outside of Sea Isle City. I had some time this July4th and decided to go down early and get some extra fun miles in. I always wanted to try a circular route from Sea Isle to Cape May via the shore line and then head back on the western side of Jersey. I mapped it out on Map quest and it came out to 50 mi. It turned out to be 59 miles total as I did not figure into the equation the in's and out's of the shore line. It was supposed to be 22 mi to Cape May, but,it turned out to be 32 mi, an extra 10 mi. I wish I could say the return trip was as much fun, but, unfortunaltly, it was mostly mayor roads. The good news was they had large shoulders.In 59 mi I was honked at twice by aggressive drivers and had a bag of garbage thrown at me. Being a native New Yorker, I didn't find this too bad. I was a bit disappointed in Avalon and Stone Harbor as they had many cycling signs advising cyclist to ride single file and use lights at night "that's the law", but nothing to advise drives to watch out for cyclists. I must say though all towns have cycling lanes. Wildwood, consisting of north, central and crest had many bike rental places and many safe paths along the shore. Cape May also is a nice place to bike around.I usually like to cycle in a loop, but,I find riding the Jersey Shore, it is better to ride up or down the shore and back.The following day I rode from Sea Isle to Ocean City and back for a total of 30 mi and really enjoyed the ride.All in all I love cycling the southern shore even though I never saw another recumbent rider.I have some videos to share and I hope you enjoy them.KEEP RIDING!!!!