On Sunday, March 26 a dozen GrNY riders joined in the Unofficial Frozen Apple Ride (a completely informal group ride). There were around 30+ riders at the start, so a big group. The official Frozen Apple Ride was supposed to happen in March of 2020, but was cancelled due to COVID restrictions. It was sponsored by the Westchester Cycle Club (WCC), Pedal Peekskill, and River Outpost Brewery. Laura (of WCC) thought it would be fun to bring it back as an informal group ride, which was a great idea.
It was a lot of fun! It was great to meet a number of new riders and enjoy some dirt roads with good scenery and very few cars. Some of our faster riders did an extended route, so we would finish in a similar amount of time to other GrNY riders. Some of us gathered at the River Outpost Brewery for burgers and beer after the ride. That was a fun post-ride stop, though be forewarned that they were very busy on what was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. Getting beer from the bar wasn’t too hard, but ordering food was hit-or-miss (they closed the kitchen to new orders periodically to allow them to catch up).
The route is mostly on dirt roads and pavement. HOWEVER, expect a challenging forest trail around mile 18 (shown in blue). If you don’t feel comfortable riding all of it, walking won’t slow you down much. It’s an uphill grade, so nobody will be going particularly fast. It’s also a fairly short section. Also: Sunken Mine Rd and the forest trail are not maintained in the winter and are snow-covered for much longer that you would expect in the winter and early spring! One rider visited the route just a week earlier and found large sections covered in snow. Most riders parked at Lents Cover Park, which worked out well.
Main Route (42 miles, 4100ft): https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42308101
Extended Route (48 miles, 4800ft): https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42308406
The extended route doesn’t add a lot of new roads. It largely crosses over the original route. It was created so that faster riders would end in a similar amount of time as slower-moving riders. This worked out well.
OUR ACTUAL RIDE: https://www.strava.com/activities/8783273906
