To celebrate our partnership with NYC-based Priority Bicycles for this year’s bike giveaway donation and membership drive, we asked the belt-drive bike manufacturer for a guide to something our Mountain Time zone-based editorial staff previously thought impossible: A bikepacking trip from the heart of Manhattan. Read their trip report, then click here to see how you can win a Priority Gemini Smart.Shift Gravel bike.
Bikepacking might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you picture New York City, a megaopolis known for banking, late nights, and a slice at all hours. But what many people don’t realize — and what the Priority Bicycles team came to fully appreciate on this ride — is that there are hundreds of miles of trails just outside our sliding subway doors.
On this ride, you can escape the city via a quick train ride, then pedal hundreds of miles to your heart’s content. While we rode out and drove back, the route is easily scalable from an out-and-back day trip to a simple overnight to multi-night epic. Our goal wasn’t just to prove to ourselves and others that bikepacking from the heart of Manhattan was possible, it was to inspire folks to find routes in their own backyards — even if that backyard is a 20-million-person conurbanation. Because if us New Yorkers can find a two-wheeled escape right out our front doors, anyone can.
But along the way, we all learned another important lesson: Sometimes it’s more about the people you’re riding with than where you’re riding to. Here’s how we did it, and how you can, too.
****
Last year, still riding the high of July’s RAGBRAI 2024, we pitched a fall team trip during a Priority meeting. The concept? Ride 239 miles from our Manhattan headquarters in Tribeca to our Montgomery, Pennsylvania, warehouse — the hub of our direct-to-consumer operation. Suggestions flew. “We should do it on kids’ bikes!” “Why don’t we take beach cruisers?!”
That got our gears — or gearboxes — turning about how fun and casual we could make this ride. With the idea in mind, we set some concrete expectations:
- Whether someone packed for full self-sufficiency or needed a little backup, the ride would be accessible for everyone.
- We wanted an easily accessible route
- With a larger group, food, water, and camping get even more complicated; we wanted to make that part of the planning as simple as possible.
They were all good decisions because the logistics of getting eleven riders from NYC to central Pennsylvania — some with full bikepacking setups, some with little more than a backpack — was complicated enough. We created a shared document for gear coordination, a separate thread for route planning, and a Google Map to track campgrounds, food stops, water fill-ups, and train access. Then, we used Komoot to block out the ride in broad strokes. This gave us an idea of how we could break up the ride into achievable days. There were some solid stopping points: NYC to Frenchtown, Pennsylvania, (67 miles); Frenchtown to Jim Thorpe (71 miles); and Jim Thorpe to Montgomery (101 miles). It would be ambitious, but with clear paths and only 7,750 feet of elevation gain, it felt doable. Especially after we decided to take a train from Manhattan to New Brunswick, New Jersey, and thus avoid starting our trek with a 25-mile slog through urban commuter traffic. Instead of riding the same route back to NYC, we shuttled back via van and U-Haul truck.
Day 1: NYC to Frenchtown – 67 miles
We met at Penn Station and caught a 5:30 AM NJ Transit train, which allowed bikes, to New Brunswick ($15.75). Then we grabbed breakfast at Dunkin’ (not sponsored), performed pre-ride checks, and rolled out. Within minutes, we were on the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park Trail, and it felt like we were a world away from Manhattan.
Our crew ranged in experience from Tour Divide veterans (lookin’ at you Ryan Van Duzer) to newer cyclists with just 20 miles under their belts. The initial nervousness about keeping the group together across miles of canal-side gravel trails quickly faded into the background as we immersed ourselves in our surroundings.
The first day was defined by that feeling: being close to home but totally removed. We settled into a rhythm as we wound along the canal, weaving behind neighborhoods and gliding through town after town. When someone said, “Oh … we’re in Trenton?” it reminded us how far we’d come and how quickly we disconnected from the city.
The tow paths were easy: beautiful views, languid water to chill the air, and a plentiful tree canopy to block the sun. The miles ticked along as groups spread out, ultimately landing at the Tinicum Park Campground on the canal. Hammocks went up, tents unfolded (some for the first time ever), and we ended the day with burritos in Frenchtown, just a couple of miles away, before crawling into sleeping bags.
Day 2: Frenchtown to Jim Thorpe – 71 miles
The next day was a smooth-gravel blur. The trail rolled northwest through Bethlehem toward Jim Thorpe. It was effortless and meditative. Seventy-one miles is a long ride for a larger group, but the tow path was easy to follow, so speedier riders could easily pedal ahead. One major learning was that we could have pre-planned two to three meetup points throughout the day to allow us options for big stops or short ones. With large groups, it’s easy to lose 15 to 30 minutes chatting, waiting for group members, or eating snacks.
Given some of those stops, we arrived in Jim Thorpe about 45 minutes before sunset. There is a 20-minute climb from town to 100 Mile View Camping, and upon seeing the fun to be had at local bars and restaurants, we had our “big shift.” We were exhausted, had to get camp set up, and had 100 miles planned for the next day, but the town’s charm stopped us in our tracks. The obvious question popped up: “Why are we stressing ourselves out. Why don’t we stay longer?”
We had a great group, a campfire burning, and our friend Line brought us pizza and snacks. We made the call: Reduce the mileage of our final day and stay in Jim Thorpe a little longer. We earned this moment. Why rush?
Day 3: Jim Thorpe and Beyond – 36 miles
Instead of starting a century ride at 5 AM, we had brunch in town which had a Harry Potter vibe and was home to cool bakeries and great coffee. After wandering through shops, we got on the bikes and soaked in the final few trail miles, having renegotiated with our van driver to pick us up closer to Jim Thorpe. The day was unstructured, low-key, and full of laughs — exactly what we all needed.
It was the best decision we could have made, but it was only because we had a solid framework in place and our goals in mind. We knew the route, our stops, and the access points. We didn’t feel like we missed out on 65 miles; we felt like we gained an amazing day with friends.
If you’re worried about the finish, you’ll miss the ride—the leaves, the sounds, the jokes, the people. Keeping the group together meant no one got dropped, and everyone had a better time because of it. When we get together and look back on the trip, we don’t talk about the mileage or elevation — we talk about campfire stories, unexpected moments in tiny towns, and how fun it was to get out there and poke around close to home.
Turns out, escaping Gotham doesn’t require a Batmobile — just a belt drive, a good crew, and maybe a few burritos. You don’t need superpowers to leave the noise behind, just a plan, a patch kit, and people who are down for the ride. We went from the shadows of skyscrapers to hanging by the campfire in a matter of hours, and it reminded us that adventure isn’t about how far you go — it’s about how open you are to the unexpected.
If we can roll out from Manhattan and find peace on gravel paths and in sleepy towns, so can you. The city will always be there. The trails? They’re closer than you think.
The post Escaping Gotham appeared first on Adventure Cycling Association.
