I’ve traveled between Philly and NYC quite a bit since Mary moved down there last year. I’ve driven a U-Haul, taken Amtrak, the Boltbus, the Megabus, the China Town bus and now I can say that I’ve ridden my bike.

This summer my good friend and I rode our bikes from Philadelphia to New York City. It’s something that I’ve been wanted to do for a while now, but before this year I didn’t have the right kind of bike for it. 

With the investment made in a Raleigh Technium, I’ve been using my bike as my primary mode of transportation for the past few months. Commuting to work on a daily basis is no century ride, but apparently it has prepared me enough for the long haul.

A Greenway Marker

Our plan was to ride from Center City, Philadelphia, through New Jersey and right into Penn Station in Newark. The total length was about 100 miles or so. With a bit of research, we found a bike route that spans the entire East Coast. It’s called the East Coast Greenway and it’s a marked route for bikers. Much of the route is on trafficked roads, but about 25% is traffic-free trails. It was just our luck that the route passes through Philly and Newark on it’s way from Florida to Vermont. We were able to score a flippable trail map that attached to the front of the bike to help us navigate.

We took the bus down to Philly with our bikes a few days before to enjoy the weekend and rest before our journey home.

Starting off at 6am on Sunday morning, we rode through Philadelphia as the sun was rising. It was a refreshing start to the ride as the streets were empty and the only thing that any life to it was a casino as we rode by. It was a great feeling to be out riding before the world was awake. 

As we rode out of Philly, we passed through neighborhoods as people were beginning to wake up. As we got lost a couple of times, we argued about which way to go. Not always sure, we eventually figured it out. 

My first and only flat tire caught me about a half-hour outside of Trenton. I’d never patched a tire before, so this was all new to me. A small piece of metal stuck in the sidewall was the culprit. After reading the directions a few times, we were able figure out how to patch it up right. And back on the road we went!

A Successfully Patched Tube

We finally arrived in Trenton after what felt like the longest morning ever. Looking for somewhere to stop for food and finding nothing open, we realized that it was only 9am and the rest of the world was still getting up on a Sunday morning. Just because we had been up for hours didn’t mean everyone else had been too.

We kept on riding and following the Greenway map. It eventually took us to a tow-path that we took more than ⅓ of the way to Newark. The path runs along the D&R Canal, which was put out of use in the 1920s. We got a bit of a history lesson at a church bake sale we stopped at for some lemonade.

We stopped along the path to pick some fresh berries.

We rode that tow-path for as long as we could. Right outside of Princeton we decided to stop for some sustenance. We rode through the beautiful campus of Princeton University and found a sandwich shop that was open that early. After a sandwich and a stop at the local bike shop to fill up my patchex tire, we were back on the tow-path. As the day went on, it was really heating up. I never bothered to check what the temperature was, maybe I just didn’t want to know. But it had to have been in the 90s. We kept pushing on. Stopping every hour or so to fill up our water bottles when we could. 

The R&C Canal in New Jersey

Eventually the tow-path ended and we were back on the street. The Greenway mostly took us through suburban New Jersey towns. It was really great to see all of the little neighborhoods. I had no idea that there is such a large Indian population in New Jersey. We passed a lot of people playing cricket. 

We stopped in parks when we had the chance, to use the bathroom or take a quick rest. But never for too long, we had to keep pressing on. 

A cricket game in Jersey. I still havent figured out how it’s played.

There was a point during the ride, around mile 60 when I felt like I could just ride forever. My legs were numb and I was so focused on the trail ahead of me. At one point I picked my head up and realized how awesome it was to be riding on a tow path running between two bodies of water in the middle of Jersey on a beautiful day. What a great life I have.

After a few wrong turns and a quick ride on the freeway (oops!), we started seeing signs for Newark. You know you’ve been riding a long time when you say “only 30 miles left!”

Once we got into Newark, we could sense that it was close. Though I started to feel a bit nauseous, we kept on riding. The joker who put together the route decided to put in some steep hills in right at the end.

What a feeling it was to pull into Penn Station and see the final Greenway marker pointing to the front door of the station. (The only other way into NYC is through the George Washington Bridge, which would have added another 30 miles to our trip. Maybe next time.) 

We were able to take the PATH train back into the city, where I expected to take the subway back home. I jumped on my bike and surprisingly had amount of energy to ride back to Brooklyn is a sort of victory lap. 

Once I got back to my apartment, I ordered a feast from the local Italian restaurant and then fell asleep. 

I woke up the next morning and rode my bike to work.