The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music has opened and the temporary exhibit about the “Born to Run” album has closed. Time to update my fun bike ride around Springsteen’s Jersey Shore.
And I did it on his birthday no less.
Though if I’m honest, testing the ride on his birthday was just dumb luck. But we did get a post card with his baby photo.
My new route has many of the same stops as the original: 10th Avenue and E Street in Belmar, the Stone Pony and Madame Marie’s in Asbury Park, the Born to Run house in West Long Branch… I’ll let you read the original rather than repeat the details.
What you do need to know: The new ride is touch shorter at 21 miles. But it will take you longer to do because of the Center for American Music, located on the campus of Monmouth University. We spent two hours there and I know I didn’t experience everything. (The ground floor examines all kinds of American music; the second floor is all Bruce.)
Do I look like a rocker in bicycle gear?
Yes, the Springsteen Center has bicycle racks, just a little tucked away.
The museum educator spotted my group of 8 locking up and came out to snap a photo. Will we end up in the newsletter or social media?
We were running a bit late for our timed entry tickets, but he assured us that the place runs on “rock and roll time”. Take that however you want. We still barely made the hourly showing of the introductory film narrated by Bruce.
The other big news: The Born to Run house narrowly escaped burning down just hours before we got there.
This is the house in Long Branch where Bruce wrote all the songs for his breakthrough album and is just under a mile from the Center. The three-story house next door caught fire in the middle of the night, and winds were crazy strong because of a looming nor’easter. Hoses were still hooked up (but flames were out) when we walked our bikes down the sidewalk on the street behind the house, and the smell of smoke was everywhere.
The burned-out house has since been demolished, but somehow the little one-story bungalow came through unscathed, according to reports.
Nor’easter aside, it’s much nicer to bike at the Jersey Shore when it’s not peak season. Yes, those strong winds pushed us around a bit, but we just rerouted away from Ocean Avenue as much as possible. Later, we let the wind blow us back to Belmar.
