Time and place set for this Friday's Biergarten Bike Ride

We will be meeting at Newark City Hall and will be promptly leaving by 7:00pm.  

Please try to arrive early so we can leave on time as the 15 mile ride will take at least an hour and a half baring any major mechanical problems. 

The sign of a truly civilized society. An actual bicycle way-finding sign
in Bamberg, Germany showing bicyclists the best way to the biergarten.

Back by popular demand, the first edition of the Biergarten Bike Series will repeat the route (see below) taken during last Septembers very popular and well received first Biergarten Bike Ride.  The Biergarten is at the Deutsche Club of Clark, where I'm a member. On the evening of Friday, June 3rd, the plan is to meet in Newark, at a location and time yet to be determined by the folks at the Brick City Bike Collective. Like last year, the ride is 15 or so miles and will be run at a fun, casual, 3-speed and family friendly pace using mostly quite residential streets.  I would also like to use a portion of the East Coast Greenway as it runs south out of Newark and into Union County.

A scene from one of last summer's biergarten nights at the Deutscher Club of Clark

View Larger Map
Approximate route from Newark to the Deutsche Club of Clark.

Besides having the greatest bier culture in the world, Germany is also host to one of the world's finest bicycle cultures. When I visit Germany I will often go for a ride with with friends and/or family on the country's spectacular bicycle infrastructure. On some evenings our final destination would be the biergarten. As such, this is something fun of German culture that I would love to share.

As for the biergarten itself, German biergartens are fun and family friendly environment so children are welcomed. There will be live music at the event along with German foods and plenty of bier (note - vegetarians will have some but limited options). Last call is at 10pm but festivities typically go longer. At the end of the evening people I will escort people the 3.3 miles to the Rahway Train Station so they can take the train back to Newark (and I back to New Brunswick). People also have the option of taking the train from Westfield on the Raritan Valley Line which is slightly closer at 2.7 miles. Either way you will be going home at night so a proper assortment of front and rear lights are a must if you wish to participate.

Don't miss out on this opportunity for a fun filled ride with New Jersey's largest and most authentic German Biergarten as your final destination. 

And while bikes and bier are some of the greatest things that make life worth living, it should go without saying, but drunk bicycle riding IS DWI and will not be tolerated on the ride back to the train station. There will be police on site to enforce this!

The Summer 2011 Biergartern Bike Ride Series is as follows:

• Friday, June 3rd
• Friday, July 22nd
• Friday, August 26th
• Friday, September 30th

2011 Biergarten Bike Ride SERIES starts next Friday, June 3

UPDATED!!

We will be meeting at Newark City Hall and will be promptly leaving by 7:00pm.  

Please try to arrive early so we can leave on time as the 15 mile ride will take at least an hour and a half baring any major mechanical problems. 

Yes you heard right!  WalkBikeJersey and the Brick City Bike Collective are proud to announce the Summer 2011, Biergarten Bike Ride SERIES!

The sign of a truly civilized society. An actual bicycle way-finding sign
in Bamberg, Germany showing bicyclists the best way to the biergarten.

Back by popular demand, the first edition of the Biergarten Bike Series will repeat the route (see below) taken during last Septembers very popular and well received first Biergarten Bike Ride.  The Biergarten is at the Deutsche Club of Clark, where I'm a member. On the evening of Friday, June 3rd, the plan is to meet in Newark, at a location and time yet to be determined by the folks at the Brick City Bike Collective. Like last year, the ride is 15 or so miles and will be run at a fun, casual, 3-speed and family friendly pace using mostly quite residential streets.  I would also like to use a portion of the East Coast Greenway as it runs south out of Newark and into Union County.

A scene from one of last summer's biergarten nights at the Deutscher Club of Clark

View Larger Map
Approximate route from Newark to the Deutsche Club of Clark.

Besides having the greatest bier culture in the world, Germany is also host to one of the world's finest bicycle cultures. When I visit Germany I will often go for a ride with with friends and/or family on the country's spectacular bicycle infrastructure. On some evenings our final destination would be the biergarten. As such, this is something fun of German culture that I would love to share.

As for the biergarten itself, German biergartens are fun and family friendly environment so children are welcomed. There will be live music at the event along with German foods and plenty of bier (note - vegetarians will have some but limited options). Last call is at 10pm but festivities typically go longer. At the end of the evening people I will escort people the 3.3 miles to the Rahway Train Station so they can take the train back to Newark (and I back to New Brunswick). People also have the option of taking the train from Westfield on the Raritan Valley Line which is slightly closer at 2.7 miles. Either way you will be going home at night so a proper assortment of front and rear lights are a must if you wish to participate.

Don't miss out on this opportunity for a fun filled ride with New Jersey's largest and most authentic German Biergarten as your final destination. 

And while bikes and bier are some of the greatest things that make life worth living, it should go without saying, but drunk bicycle riding IS DWI and will not be tolerated on the ride back to the train station. There will be police on site to enforce this!

The Summer 2011 Biergartern Bike Ride Series is as follows:

• Friday, June 3rd
• Friday, July 22nd
• Friday, August 26th
• Friday, September 30th

Biergarten Ride a Great Success

Google "Bike There" Directions Live Up to the Hype
Old New Jersey Suburbs Prove VERY Bikeable

This past Friday I had the pleasure of leading Zoe, Ryan, Marie (all of Brick City Bike Collective) and Mike on the Biergarten ride. All had a blast on the ride and at the Biergarten itself. Zoe was particularly excited about the cake which she didn't expect.

Turnout was a little light, most likely due to the fact that the Tour of Newark was early the next day. This was probably not a bad thing since it got dark rather quickly this late in the year and I was barely comfortable keeping just the five of us together.

What was most remarkable about the trip was the quality of the route chosen by Google and of the beautiful neighborhood streets we rode through. Except for exiting Newark, which left little choice but to ride on busy streets through the old industrial section south of the city center on our way to Weequahic Park, most other streets chosen by the system were the most quite residential neighborhood streets. There were some exceptions and we had to ride on some busier secondary roads but even those were mostly wide in nature and had only moderate volumes of traffic (at least when we rode through around 7pm). I did make a small change in the route near our final destination because Google took us down Raritan Ave through Clark, which I know is no pleasure to ride on as it is four lanes, 35mph and no shoulders with high traffic volumes. A simple route modification to avoid this road was easy and made for a more perfect route.


View Larger Map
Approximate route from Newark to the Deutsche Club of Clark.
Note the route change denoted by the dot.

What was also remarkable was the beautiful nature of the neighborhoods we rode through. This ride was a bit of a venture in discovery for me and for the others that did the ride. So it was a pleasure for all to find that nearly every home was meticulously maintained through all the towns we rode through. The towns we rode through included Newark, Elizabeth (for 1000 feet), Hillside, Union, Roselle Park, Roselle (two different towns), Linden and finally Clark.

The fine quality of the ride only affirmed my belief that New Jersey's older suburban towns, which we have many, are by their very nature VERY bicycle friendly and are in many ways more superior to the towns we dream about in the Western states. All that needs to be done, for the most part, would be to formalize some routes and paint modest, in road lanes and other infrastructure. To make New Jersey the most bike friendly state in the nation really doesn't need to be a Herculean task as many believe it must.

Once there everyone had a blast at the Deutsche Club off Clark Biergarten which attracted over 800 people on a cool late summer's evening. When it was time to go home, I escorted everyone to the Rahway Train Station which Marie noted, "Was all down hill."

All who went along agreed that this ride must be held again next year and now that we know the route, we are hoping to attract many more riders. It will also help to do the trip earlier in the summer so we can avoid riding there in any darkness. Fortunately, the Deutsche Club holds several Biergarten events in the summer, usually one a month, so there are plenty of dates to choose from.

UPDATE! Fahrrad fahrt zum Biergarten

We will be meeting in front of Newark City Hall at 6pm THIS Friday September 17th (not at 5pm as previously mentioned in the previous post about this ride). This is the only change to how this ride will be organized. Complete details below.

The sign of a truly civilized society. An actual bicycle way-finding sign
in Bamberg, Germany showing bicyclists the best way to the biergarten.

We will be riding with members of the Brick City Bicycle Collective from Newark to the Biergarten at the Deutsche Club of Clark, where I'm a member. The plan is to meet in Newark, in front of City Hall at 6pm and ride the 15 or so miles to the Deutsche Club at a fun, casual, 3-speed and family friendly pace using mostly quite residential streets.


View Larger Map
Approximate route from Newark to the Deutsche Club of Clark.

Besides having the greatest bier culture in the world, Germany is also host to one of the world's finest bicycle cultures. When I visit Germany I will often go for a ride with with friends and/or family on the country's spectacular bicycle infrastructure. On some evenings our final destination would be the biergarten. As such, this is something fun of German culture that I would love to share.

As for the biergarten itself, German biergartens are fun and family friendly environment so children are welcomed. There will be live music at the event along with German foods and plenty of bier (note - vegetarians will have some but limited options). Last call is at 10pm but festivities typically go longer. At the end of the evening people I will escort people the 3.3 miles to the Rahway Train Station so they can take the train back to Newark (and I back to New Brunswick). People also have the option of taking the train from Westfield on the Raritan Valley Line which is slightly closer at 2.7 miles. Either way you will be going home at night so a proper assortment of front and rear lights are a must if you wish to participate.

Don't miss out on this opportunity for a fun filled ride with New Jersey's largest and most authentic German Biergarten as your final destination. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to "ajbesold at yahoo dot com" so I have an idea how many wish to attend.

And while bikes and bier are some of the greatest things that make life worth living, it should go without saying, but drunk bicycle riding IS DWI and will not be tolerated on the ride back to the train station. There will be police on site to enforce this!

UPDATED! Fahrrad fahrt zum Biergarten!

UPDATE! The only change to the biergarten ride will be the meeting time. We will be meeting in front of Newark City Hall at 6:00 pm, NOT 5:00pm as previously stated.

Translation - Bicycle ride to the biergarten!

A few months ago I made a casual remark to Zoe Baldwin of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign and Brick City Bicycle Collective that we should join forces and organize a bike ride from Newark to the Biergarten at the Deutsche Club of Clark, where I'm a member.

An actual bicycle way-finding sign in Bamberg, Germany
showing bicyclists the way to the biergarten.

Well it looks like we are going to try and make this happen. The next and last biergarten of the season at the Deutsche Club will be on Friday, September 17th. The plan is to meet in Newark, possibly in front of City Hall at around 6pm and ride the 15 or so miles to the Deutsche Club at a fun and casual, 3-speed friendly pace using mostly quite residential streets (exact details on the meeting location and time will be forthcoming).

Besides having a great if not the greatest bier culture in the world, Germany is also host to one of the world's best bicycle cultures. When I visit Germany I will often go for a ride with with friends and/or family on the country's spectacular bicycle infrastructure. On some evenings our final destination would be the biergarten. As such, this is something fun of German culture that I would love to share.

As for the beirgarten itself, German biergartens are fun and family friendly environment so children are welcomed. There will be live music at the event along with German foods and plenty of bier (note - vegetarians will have some but limited options). Last call is at 10pm but festivities typically go longer. At the end of the evening people I will escort people to the 3.3 miles to the Rahway Train Station so they can take the train back to Newark (and I back to New Brunswick). People also have the option of taking the train from Westfield on the Raritan Valley Line which is slightly closer at 2.7 miles. Either way you will be going home at night so a proper assortment of front and rear lights are a must if you wish to participate.


View Larger Map
Tentative route from Newark to the Deutsche Club of Clark.

Don't miss out on this opportunity for a fun filled ride with New Jersey's largest and most authentic German Biergarten as your final destination. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to "ajbesold at yahoo dot com" so I have an idea how many wish to attend.

And while bikes and bier are some of the greatest things that make life worth living, it should go without saying, but drunk bicycle riding IS DWI and will not be tolerated on the ride back to the train station.