May is National Bike Month
National Bike Month was established in 1956 by the League of American Bicyclists to promote the benefits of bike riding and to advocate for a Bicycle Friendly America.[1] The benefits of bicycling range from leisure, fitness, and cutting commuting costs, to helping create a healthier planet. With so many reasons to love biking, why not give it a try? If you are in need of a bike or have one you’d like to donate, the Boys and Girls Club of Mercer County runs a bike exchange where donated bikes are repaired and resold to the public. For more information, please visit: https://www.bgcmercer.org/bgc-bike-exchange
There are many great biking trails in Mercer County, most of which are listed below! The Mercer County Library System also has books about the benefits of biking, the history of the bicycle, and manuals to help you keep your bike in top shape.
Local biking trails
Mercer County Parks—including Mercer County Park, Mercer Meadows and Baldpate Mountain—have biking trails for all levels of ability. For more information, click here: https://www.mercercounty.org/departments/mercer-county-park-commission/recreation-events/passive-recreation
The New Jersey Trails Association, created by the D&R Greenway Land Trust, maintains a website with local trail maps and guides. It is a great resource for discovering and learning about trails near you: https://njtrails.org/
Parks and trails that can be used for biking:
- Michaels Farm Preserve
- Trolley Line Trail (West Windsor)
- Etra Lake Park
- Mountain Lakes Open Space Area
- Laurie Chauncey Trail at ETS (mountain biking)
- D&R Canal State Park – Bull’s Island to Trenton
- Abbott Marshlands: Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park Towpath – Duck Island
- Veterans Park
- Abbott Marshlands: Roebling Memorial Park (Bicycling is permitted around Spring Lake and from Spring Lake to Watson Woods and the Tulpehaking Nature Center.)
Do you have a favorite local area for bike riding? Let us know in the comments below!
Interested in more NJ Trails? Check out these books
- Road biking New Jersey : a guide to the state's best bike rides
- Short bike rides in New Jersey
- Family-friendly biking in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania
Trails Outside NJ
- Best bike rides. New York City : great recreational rides in the five boroughs
- Best easy bike rides Washington, DC
- Epic bike rides of the world : explore the planet's most thrilling cycling routes.
- Best bike rides. New York City : great recreational rides in the five boroughs
Benefits of Biking
How cycling can save the world
“In How Cycling Can Save the World, Walker takes readers on a tour of cities like Copenhagen and Utrecht, where everyday cycling has taken root, demonstrating cycling's proven effect on reducing smog and obesity, and improving quality of life and mental health.”
A hole in the wind: a climate scientist's bicycle journey across the United States
"An epic bicycle journey across the American hinterland that explores the challenges of climate change alongside a diverse array of American voices."
Bicycle History
Bicycle: the definitive visual history
“Bicycle showcases classic and cutting-edge bicycles and traces the evolution of cycling from the nineteenth century to today.”
Two wheels good: the history and mystery of the bicycle
“In Two Wheels Good, writer and critic Jody Rosen reshapes our understanding of this ubiquitous machine, an ever-present force in humanity's life and dream life-and a flashpoint in culture wars-for more for than two hundred years.”
“In the tradition of The Boys in the Boat and Seabiscuit, a fascinating portrait of a groundbreaking but forgotten figure--the remarkable Major Taylor, the black man who broke racial barriers by becoming the world's fastest and most famous bicyclist at the height of the Jim Crow era.”
- Revolutions : how women changed the world on two wheels
- Magic spanner
- On bicycles : a 200-year history of cycling in New York City
- Gironimo! : riding the very terrible 1914 Tour of Italy
- The cyclist who went out in the cold : adventures riding the Iron Curtain
All About Bikes
"Everything you need to know to purchase, maintain, and ride a bike for recreation, commuting, competition, travel, and beyond!”
“This book is the one practical manual every cyclist should have--right next to the toolbox or stashed in a pannier. A quick but comprehensive intro chapter on finding the right bike for every need (and why so many cyclists are sure they need one of each!), which includes detailed information on what to look for in a new or used bike, when to pay a little more for components, and where you can economize creatively.”
[1] https://bikeleague.org/events/bike-month/
- by Isabel, Ewing Branch
Very nice article
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