Bicycling the Bayonne Bridge

I have wanted to do this trip for a long time.  I recently saw an updated Bike Path Map of Staten Island and I noticed there was a large park area in Bayonne, NJ that looked intriguing.  Thoughtfully, that NJ bike path has now been removed in the new ONLINE version below by the NEW YORK publishers.

http://www.nycbikemaps.com/maps/staten-island-bike-map/

 I highlighted it in red in a photo below.

Full disclosure. I have a fear of man made heights.  The reptile base of my brain subtly knows that this bridge was built by the lowest bidder, 75 years ago.  Still a great ride.  NOBODY EVER TOLD ME THE DETAIL YOU SEE BELOW, which is why I never did the ride till now.  About a 6 - 8 mile adventure.  Park in the Muni lot at Morningstar and Walker St as shown below.  Free.

Ride to the sidewalk as shown but THERE ARE NO SIGNS to get onto the bridge.  Like famous New Jersey signage, it is HEY, YA JUST GOTTA KNOW.  You will see reassuring Anti-Suicide signage all along the ride.  :)

You can ride most of the way up and down, but right around the peak part of the span you will want to walk your bike because the path is narrowest and we share it with pedestrians.

NOTE: At the end of the Bridge part of the ride, you must carry your bike down about 30 steps.  Not bad, but you must be in good shape to do this.  Horrible note #2: you must carry it back up at the end.  The bridge ride is about 2 miles, one way by itself.






Here is the destination.  After the bridge, it puts you on to W 4th St.  Make your way to the park at the waterfront.  We turned right at JFK Blvd, a major artery not far from the bridge.  Go to the water about three or four blocks more.   It is about a one mile ride through the park.  At the end of the park, you can do some creative navigation to get to 5th St.  There is a healthy industrial business here and lots of warehouses.  We ended up at the Windmill on 5th St, past the Cal Ripkin Ballpark.  That felt like the best place to turnaround as the roads got curvy with more traffic.

The view of the bridge from Mayor Collins Park.




















Hilarious, in that as you enter the park on the right corner, you may be greeted by a big Silcata Tortoise looking for handouts.  Bring kale.  Just kidding.  Seriously, tortoises love kale.

The Bayonne Wind Farm.
Enjoy,
JA