Jersey Jaunts - Biking in (and around) New Jersey
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NAV buttons	Bike Tour of Edison Distance: Approximately 29 miles (loop) Topology: Flat  Surface: Closed streets (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010) Update 2007 - The 2007 tour was expanded to include the borough of Metuchen. There were tee-shirts given out again, and the route was slightly different to include Metuchen, the Metuchen police and public works also provided support and a stocked rest stop (granola bars!). The route was about 29 miles, unfortunately I didn't have my GPS to get a more accurate route and distance. Edison Township runs a 25 mile police “enveloped” tour on local roads in mid May (May 21 in 2006) around the township, of particular note is the stop at the Edison tower, a large monument erected on the site of Thomas Edison’s laboratory, where he invented the light bulb. This historic site is surprisingly quite, located among residential streets and set back off the road. Blocked from view by the neighborhood’s tree lined streets, the huge tower goes unnoticed until you are its base. This country owes much to Edison for his inventions, yet few people outside the local area know about this site. The ride is generally slow as are most enveloped rides with the lead pace running between 12-15 MPH; however at certain points (critical intersections, etc.) the lead is held to allow the envelope to consolidate into a single pack. This is a kid friendly ride, with more than one tuckered out little-one riding the SAG at the end. Besides SAG support the ride provides 4 predetermined rest stops with water, two of which contain real restrooms. In 2006 there was a $5.00 registration fee, and they gave out free tee shirts. The ride runs about 4 hours, and starts at 9AM. Kudos to Edison for taking safety seriously, the SAG contains not just an equipment truck, but a bus, and First Aid vehicle, in addition both bike EMT’s and “bike cops” are imbedded in with the riders, at one point I counted at least 13 police cruisers participating in traffic control. Here is a link (for 2006) to the ride info/registration form on Edison Township’s web site. Here was the route map in 2006. Here was the cue sheet for 2006 (from the township web site). Here is a GPS route (connected waypoints) for your GPS in gpx format (save the text file with a .gpx extension). Here is a GPS track (bread crumb trail of waypoints in gpx format) for the 2005 tour. Directions to Edison Municipal Complex The Central Jersey Bicycle Club is an active participant supporting this ride.