Ride 7: New Jersey
The Garden State
State: New Jersey (#7)
Area: Cape May
Route: loop around the southernmost tip of the state, beginning and ending in Wildwood Crest
Final Mileage: 50.22
Date: May 2, 2021
For our first ride of 2021—and our first ride post-vaccination!—we picked another nearby state: New Jersey. There were several possible candidates for this ride, as the Garden State has plenty of great trails. However, as soon as we discovered a 46.5 mile, pre-planned route around the beach town of Cape May, the decision was all but final.
If you’re unfamiliar with Cape May, it is a cute little seaside resort town situated on a peninsula at the southernmost tip of the state. Among the town’s many aesthetically pleasing features was its architecture, with large Victorian homes on nearly every block that evoked images of America’s early colonial years.
The town’s cozy vibe and beachside location made this no-brainer for state number 7. And because of its getaway appeal, this also became our first ride for which we had both of our SOs in tow!
So the four of us—Alex & Mary Kate, Meagan & Michael—made the ~3.5-hour drive from our respective homes on a Saturday. It was a gorgeous spring day, and upon arrival, we went straight to the Willow Creek Winery, posting up with some delicious wine and Dole whip sangrias and snapping some admittedly adorable photos in the process.
After a nice dinner near downtown, we headed to our hotel for a short night of board games before turning in for a good night’s sleep. Then, just before 9:00 am, Alex and Michael took off for the ride, while Mary Kate and Meagan galivanted around town getting into all kinds of mischief (or so we choose to imagine).
It may be difficult to believe, but this bike route—to which we made a few minor alterations to get us to 50 miles—was even more scenic than we initially expected. The ride took us past several major sights around Cape May, including in downtown, the Delaware Bay coastline, and a boardwalk next to the Atlantic Ocean.
From our hotel in Wildwood Crest, we started south toward downtown. About 8 miles in, we made a quick pit stop at the downtown mall area so Alex could caffeinate.
We then moved along to the Cape May Lighthouse, which, first built in 1859, is still active today and overlooks both the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean.
After a short visit there, we were on our way to the Delaware Bay coastline, which was arguably the prettiest segment of the whole ride.
From there, we pretty much powered through the rest of the ride, stopping only for a quick snack around midday. The final half included traversing roads through the Pinelands National Reserve and crossing the (somewhat precarious) Middle Thorofare Bridge before landing back in Wildwood Crest and riding the boardwalk to the finish. We celebrated with our ladies by eating a late lunch at a delicious restaurant called Exit Zero—which was converted from an old gas station—and walking along the Cape May Beach before heading back home.
Minus some headwinds toward the very end of the ride, this was one of the chillest, most peaceful rides we have done to this point. No major hijinks or crazy stories to share with you (I’ll save that for our New York adventure...). Just a fun time with some great gals in a cool American town.
