I have a bike-riding (as in cycling) son living in Manhattan, who wants to do some serious bike riding outside the city. He's got his bike and plans to get on a train at Penn Station and get somewhere within an hour or so where he could find a few hills. Presently, he's thinking of New Jersey. Does anybody have any suggestions? Where can he go?

North Shore long island would be nice

I always see lots of bike riders in NJ on route 9W on weekends. He could cycle to thr GW Bridge, cycle cross the bridge and get on 9W. There is a bike path that runs along the Hudson. It begins way downtown but I don't know how far up the upper west side it goes.

If he's looking for mountain biking trails, then Garrett Mountain Park in/around Paterson (off of Valley Road) is nice believe it or not. The interior trails are pretty well maintained. I don't know about trains from Penn Station but there is a NJ Transit train that runs from Hoboken to Montclair. From there he would have a bit of a haul (5-10 miles?) finding Valley Road and headed towards the park but Montclair is a pretty scenic town and would also do for an asphalt ride and some challenging hills.

Sorry, should have said that he's got a road bike, not a mountain bike, but he likes the hills more than the flats (well, he really hates "flats," but that's another story). The Montclaire idea sounds good--I'll mention it to him. Do you think there's any place where you could just get off the train and start riding without having to navigate through a bunch of city streets? I'm in California, so I might be dreaming. He doesn't know that much about areas outside of the city, either. Guess this will be a good way for him to explore.

He should get in touch with a cycling club. Talk with members, or bike shops, to see if the type of riding the club does fits his riding style - some are strictly racing, others strictly offroad, some have a variety, even slower "stop and smell the roses" rides.

A good place to start would be http://www.bikeleague.org

I think that many of the trains out of GCT heading north (MetroNorth trains) can take him to places out of town with excellent cycling too. New Jersey has some terrific cycling too - I was surprised what a nice state it is because I always pictured just the route along the Turnpike & Parkways.

Check out:

http://www.nycc.org

and

http://www.cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/gol.../ride_library/

Thanks for all good advice. I'm passing it along, especially the one about the New York Cycling Club. I'll let you know what happens. I think he was going to try a ride this weekend, unless the weather prevents it.

Mention to him that the 5-Boro Bike Tour is Sunday, May 5! It's 42 miles long, and is a fun way to see NYC. I did it 2 years ago, and I'm signed up for it this year.