The best time to ride to the shore is usually in the early fall just after Labor Day. This is when the weather is still nice but most of the crowds are gone. Normally I head to Belmar but this year I decided to head back to Sandy Hook since I haven't been there in a couple of year.When you put a ride in the PFW book a month in advance you never know what the weather is going to be. I was lucky because the weather this past Sunday was great. It started out a little cold around 50 but is was sunny with almost no wind with temperatures heading towards the mid 70s. There was much discussion on how to dress for this weather. (i.e. Should I wear a jacket and/or tights or just go with the arm warmers). I always try to travel light so since it was sunny and I knew it would warm up quick. I decided to go with just the arm warmers because I knew if I took a jacket I would just be taking it off in an hour and have to carry it for the rest of the ride.
I had a good crowd of some of the regulars along with a few new people. We started from Monmouth Battlefield Park and headed out through Freehold. The roads from the park through Freehold aren't really nice but early in the morning there wasn't much traffic so it wasn't too bad.
I wasn't paying attention on the way out of Freehold and made a wrong turn. I tried to get back on track by going though a side street but ended up hitting a dead end. Needless to say I got the usually ribbing from the group (i.e. Joe) for making a wrong turn.
After a half mile back track we were back on course. When I ride to Sandy Hook I try to stay on low traffic back roads but there are a few spots where we have no choice to go on roads with moderate traffic. This is no big deal it just means there are times when we have to ride single file and be on the look out for traffic. Everybody was riding at the same pace so it was easy to keep the group together. Until we hit Navisink Rd.
Navisink Rd is a set of rolling hills that aren't really steep or hard but it did spread out the group. The rollers stretch out for about 3 miles so at the end I decided to stop at a turn to gather the group. This ended up having the opposite effect. I stopped at an intersection and wasn't exactly sure if we wanted to go straight or turn right. As I was deciding which way to go some people ended up going straight others went right. After a few minutes I determined that we wanted to make the next right not this one. I thought that everybody that made the right had come back but when I got to the next corner I realized we were missing a couple of people. I also did not see the people that went ahead.
I ended up going back to get the people behind us and Joe made a call to the people ahead to tell them to come back. Eventually we all got back together but then in the next mile somebody dropped a chain and somebody else stopped to take a leak. So for about 10 mins the ride was a little chaotic but at least I didn't loose anybody. Another couple of miles we were at the Quick Check on Rt 36 for our first stop.
Right before we left a tire spontaneously blew on Marks bike while it was just sitting there which was kind of strange but it was a front tire so it was a quick fix.
We then headed down to Sandy Hook. There is a bridge you have cross to get to Sandy Hook which doesn't have a shoulder so you just have to watch the traffic as you cross the bridge and take the exit to into the park. I have done it a bunch of times and knew what to expect. Or at least I thought I did. It turns out they are putting up a new bridge into Sandy Hook so the traffic pattern has changed. Half of the old bridge is now gone to make way for the new bridge and there is only one lane in each direction with no exit into Sandy Hook. To get to Sandy Hook you just go over the bridge and make a left at a T at the end of the bridge. The exit ramp has been removed to make way for the new bridge.
The made it a little messy getting into Sandy Hook but there were only a few cars on the road so nobody seemed to mind when we had to block the lane to get over the bridge and into Sandy Hook.
Two years ago I took a good picture on the way into Sandy Hook when you're on a little hill heading into the park. From here you get a view of the beach with New York in the background. I was going to try and take this picture again but new bridge now blocks the view and this shot is no longer possible.
Once we go into the park we stopped at the first parking lot to use the bathroom and get a view of the beach and New York. We were ready to ride again when we realized Mary was still in the bathroom which was strange. Five minute later Mary comes out and says she actually go stuck in the stall because the door would not unlock so she had craw out underneath. Pretty funny.
Since the park wasn't crowed I decided to take the Multiuse path to start our tour of Sandy Hook. This is a more leisurely way to view the park and a nice change of pace. The weather at this point was perfect. It was warm enough that you didn't need a jacket and very clear. The last time I came to Sandy Hook I didn't get a chance to take pictures of some the interesting things in the park so this time I stopped to take pictures of the Nike missiles as well as the light house and and old cannon. At the Nike missles we got off the Multiuse path and just rode around the roads of Fort Handcock.
While riding along the roads I found that they extended the Multiuse path through Fort Handcock all the way to the end by the Coast Guard Station. So if you wanted to you could just use the Multiuse path to see all the sights.
The group spread out a little during the sight seeing but we all gathered up a the entrance again to start the trip home. Normally you just head south out of the park then take the exit to Ocean Ave to head to Shrewsbury. When we tried to do this we ended up going over the bridge that we came in on which is not the way home. After making an illegal left/U turn which brought more derogatory comments from Joe we were on Ocean Ave. I think the only way out of the Sandy Hook on to Ocean Ave is to actually take the Multiuse path into Sea Bright. Which I will do next time if I go back before they finish the new bridge.
The ride back to Freehold was uneventful. There was no head wind so we had a pace line moving at a good clip most of the way back. We made our usually rest stop in Little Silver. When we got back to Freehold the traffic was a little heavier so I took the back way around town with out getting lost which of brought another derogatory comment from Joe.
Wemrock Rd was bumper to bumper traffic because of something happening at the Deli there so it was a little hairy getting by the cars on the right.
We got back around 1:30 pm which was earlier than I expected. It was a good ride. I really enjoyed the ride around the beaches and fort in Sandy Hook especially in the nice weather. I will have to do this ride on a more regular basis.
