Route Disputes, Fall Color, Two Flats, and the Perfect Day
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: fall riding is the best riding. The team had been anxious to get out for a leaf peep ride for the past several weeks. Despite the late color change and a busy cx season, everything finally came together. The foliage maps lined up with a spectacular weather forecast so we set our sights on a Sunday adventure ride.
We started discussing plans and route options as early as Monday, with Matt and Leah proposing different variations on a theme: take the train to somewhere in the Hudson Valley, ride 60-70 miles, include Storm King Highway, see some leaves, have some snacks, take the train back. Should we include Bear? What about Black Rock Forest? Include Mine Road (will it be open?!), but should we end in Cold Spring or Beacon? The wealth of options is truly a testament to the amazing riding we have, especially considering it’s just outside the best city!
After much debate on the Metro North train, Yosef and Matt finally settled on the ride plans for the first half of the ride. We got off the train in Peekskill and headed up and down South Mountain Pass Road, across Mine Road (where I flatted womp womp) and over the Bear Mountain Bridge to Storm King Highway.
Storm King Highway offers great pavement and breathtaking views, so after zipping up to the lookout point, we stopped for snacks and a route discussion. Where to next? After weighing options and much debate, we settled on continuing through Cornwall to make a little loop that included Woodcock Mountain Road.
After passing back through Cornwall, we made it to the highlight of the ride: Black Rock Forest. I was a little nervous about this, having ridden through a couple of years ago. All I remembered was chunky gravel and feeling a little out of control on my road bike.
Yes, the gravel was still as chunky as I remembered it, but we took the road through the forest in reverse this time, and with more uphill than downhill and more time on gravel under my belt, I was totally fine! I even epically fishtailed and practically went horizontal but somehow managed to stay up (skillz). And, damn, it was beautiful! The color was POPPING and the views were just incredible. I even did a the group a favor by flatting again (different wheel this time) so we could spend more time in the forest! How nice of me.
After Black Rock, we sailed back across Mine Road thanks to the #MattTrain, back over the Bear Mountain Bridge, and up to Garrison to catch the train back to the city. Overall, it was quite an excellent day on the bike at 61.1 miles, over 5,000 feet of climbing, and peak fall foliage. Damn. If that’s not a perfect day, then I don’t know what is!
If you want to try out the much-debated route that we did, here it is:
The Full Gallery by Matt
