Westchester County NY – Page 2

2023 Spring Gravel Series Recap

GrNY’s “Spring Gravel Series” (SGS) included 5 rides over 5 weekends and was great fun! Each ride had three speed groups, which corresponded to different route lengths (short, medium, long), so everybody would finish at about the same time to socialize after the ride. Join our Strava group to be notified of future rides (but see here first: https://grny.org/category/about-grny).

Just want the routes from each ride? Here’s a collection in RidewithGPS:
https://ridewithgps.com/collections/1897351?privacy_code=5fvuXMgvhsk25x93

SGS1 – Katonah, NY (May 6, 2023). Our first Spring Gravel Series ride of the year was an awesome time! Thank you to everyone who showed up and made it the fun day that it was. We travelled on some of Westchester’s most scenic rural roads. Many of us celebrated together after the ride at Paulie’s Deli, which has only about 5-6 taps, but always good stuff in them. Today’s selection included Lawson’s Finest Liquids: Sip of Sunshine, Maine: Lunch, and other non-IPA beers, of course. Those cold beers were well-deserved!
Photos and ride stats (Steve’s Strava profile):
https://www.strava.com/activities/9023394582

SGS2 – Dover Plains (May 13). It was an awesome ride. The long distance group had a fast bunch and we cleared this beautiful course impressively quickly. This route includes many of Dutchess County’s best dirt roads, including some hidden gems. We tackled the gorgeous streamside climb through Wassaic (Tower Hill Rd), Ludlow Woods Rd, Deep Hollow Rd, and so many other great spots. We saw everything from forests with deer hopping across the trail, to farms full of animals, to ridges with long pastoral views in the distance. Many of us capped off the ride together with burgers, ice cream, and beer.
Photos and ride stats (Steve’s Strava profile):
https://www.strava.com/activities/9066076684

SGS3 – Pawling, NY (May 21). Beautiful and fun ride! Thanks everyone who joined us today. The weather was perfect (warm enough for comfort, but not hot enough to overheat), and the condition of the dirt roads was really good. There were only a few rare spots that were soft from the previous day’s rain. And the route was as beautiful as I remember it. Many of us celebrated with cold beer and food at O’Connor’s Public House after the ride.
Photos and ride stats (Steve’s Strava profile):
https://www.strava.com/activities/9115448504

SGS4 – Cold Spring, NY (May 27). Awesome ride with a huge turnout! Much of the ride took place near Fahnestock State Park, with lots of fun and challenging climbs. We found all the hills today! The “long”, “medium”, and “short” distance groups accumulated ~7500ft, ~5400ft, and ~4800ft, respectively. There were beautiful forested roads, ponds, crazy climbs, and steep descents. A really fun time! Some of use stuck around for beer, ice cream, and snacks by the Hudson River in Cold Spring.
Photos and ride stats (Steve’s Strava profile):
https://www.strava.com/activities/9152286381

SGS5 – Far Hills, NJ (June 3). Spectacular ride. We traversed some of the region’s best rural roads, tackled the rugged climb through the Teetertown Ravine and later traveled through the spectacular Lockwood Gorge. The rest of the ride was wonderfully scenic, too. We had a great turnout – and missed a few from the group photo, as always. Most people joined us for drinks and snacks at the park after the ride. It was great to catch up with returning riders and to meet many new folks!
Photos and ride stats (Steve’s Strava profile):
https://www.strava.com/activities/9196314449

Questions? Feel free to reach out to Steve (track.smart@gmail.com).

Dirty Send-off Ride – Last Day of 2022 (RAD and GrNY)

On December 31, 2022 a group of RAD Cycling Collective and GrNY riders bid farewell to a good year of riding. We started at Bedford Memorial Park in Westchester County, NY. It was a cool and wet, but not-too-frigid winter day. We didn’t see any sunshine, but we were treated to some dramatic foggy vistas. This relatively short route (46.5 miles) has plenty of quiet dirt roads, about 1.5 miles of forest trails, and some generally quiet paved roads connecting everything together. There’s a good bit of climbing, too. Over 4000 ft according to my GPS.

Conditions were pretty good on the dirt road sections, despite a bit of earlier rain and folks made it back before the real rain started. Thank you Brian from RAD Cycling Collective for organizing! I was overdue for a good gravel ride. And the ride lived up to its “dirty” billing! Especially on the trails!

ROUTE LINK: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41679350

ACTUAL RIDE: https://www.strava.com/activities/8317524985

NOTES:

– We started at Bedford Village Memorial Park, but you could easily start this route from Golden’s Bridge if you are arriving by train.

– Sections of the Mountain Lake Park trails had some deep mud when we traversed them on Dec 31, 2022. This section of the route might be better enjoyed during the summer and during dry weather. Also expect that snow will be very slow to melt on those trails during the winter and early spring seasons.

There wasn't much of a view from the Cross River Dam on this foggy day. — There wasn’t much of a view from the Cross River Dam on this foggy day.

Mountain Lakes Park. View from a small foot bridge on one of the trails.

Post-Turkey Gravel Ride in Westchester, NY

Post-Turkey Gravel Ride in Westchester

On November 26, a group of 20 riders descended upon Katonah, NY for an after-Thanksgiving gravel ride in Westchester, NY. Riders tackled either a 66 mile route with well-over 6,000 ft of climbing or a 50 mile route with over 4,000 ft of climbing. Both routes traverse some of the best dirt roads in Westchester County and include an always enjoyable (if a bit challenging) dirt climb through Mountain Lakes Park. Both routes were exactly the same for the first 44 miles, which made it easy for folks to ride together, whether they chose the short or long routes. I did my best to organize us into three pace groups, but I think the folks in the slower two groups were eager to ride hard and ended up chasing the fast-moving front pack of riders (inevitably splitting up into smaller groups as they dropped back). Regardless, it seemed like everybody had a good time! Some of us stayed after the ride for beer and food at Paulie’s Deli. My thanks to all the GrNY and RAD Cycling Collective folks who came out on this day! It was a great way to burn off some Thanksgiving calories.

ROUTE LINKS:

– 66 miles, ~6000 ft, https://ridewithgps.com/routes/39540733

– 50 miles, ~5000 ft, https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41450355

ACTUAL RIDE: https://www.strava.com/activities/8172624966

NOTES: In general, this route sticks to well-maintained dirt roads, with the exception of the climb through Mountain Lakes Park. That park road is considerably rougher, but still isn’t particularly technical. All of our riders did fine on 35mm or larger gravel bike tires.

One of Westchester County's many well-maintained dirt roads. — Riders enjoying one of Westchester County’s many well-maintained dirt roads.

Riders pausing to enjoy views from the Cross River Dam.

All the Dirt Roads in Westchester County in One Ride*

*All of the reasonably connectable dirt roads.

I’ve had a few requests for this route, so it seemed worth making a quick post to the GrNY group, so it can be found in the future.

ROUTE:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37819854

This route attempts to include all of the reasonably-connectable gravel and dirt roads in Westchester County in a single ride. The ride is 99.6 miles and somewhere between 9,500 and 10,500 feet of climbing depending on whose GPS you believe. Most of these dirt roads are nicely maintained hardpack, with the exception of Mountain Lakes Park which is a bit rougher. Dirt road conditions can change rapidly, so use common precautions.

Is it really *all* of the dirt roads? Not quite, hence the asterisk. Short dead end streets, highly isolated road sections, and some small pieces of longer roads were skipped. This avoids adding many paved miles just to add small segments of dirt. This route does not include multi-use trails, like the OCA (Old Croton Aquaduct trail). It focuses on dirt/gravel roads.

As for the ride itself, I’ll cut-and-paste from my feed on November 20:

Epic day on the bike. Ellis and I completed a Westchester gravel century with the goal of hitting all the dirt roads in the county. We started early, so we would have plenty of daylight and had a blast. So many beautiful forests, farms, and horse country estates.
Forewarning for city folks: mornings are a lot colder here. Bundle up! It was 28F when we started, but turned into a lovely day.”

Halloween Gravel Ride in Katonah, NY

A dozen riders showed up on Halloween morning, including a few people who were riding with us for the first time. Welcome! It was fun meeting all of you!

We covered some of Westchester’s best dirt and quiet paved roads. Given the major rain storm the night before, we opted for hard-packed dirt roads and took the “main road” through Mountain Lakes Park, rather than the trails. It’s more of a rugged jeep trail for much of its distance, rather than a road, but it is the least-muddy and least-technical path through the park after rainy weather. Aside for temporarily losing a rider or two, who managed to zip past our appointed lunch location, everything went smoothly.

After the ride, a few of us grabbed beers and food at the deli next to the commuter parking lot. They have a little beer garden outside and had some solid brews available, given the small number of taps on offer.

-Steve
Strava: Cyclosaurus (Steve)
Email: track.smart@gmail.com

** Route details are below **

The complete route is ~63 miles and >5000 ft of elevation gain. It can be shortened to 55 miles or even 48 miles if anybody is running low on time or energy. It is not obvious in this direction of travel, but The Market at Union Hall is on the corner around Mile 28. I updated the route to make it clear that there is a potential food stop at that location. For drivers, there is a large commuter parking lot, just a couple of blocks from the train station.

ROUTE: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37901198

[For those who don’t know, Strava events disappear from the group page when they are done. I sometimes post routes or other information after a ride, so folks who can’t join us can ride the routes later.]

Two Speeds Gravel Ride in Westchester

May 9, 2021: What a fun ride! We had a nice group (8 of us) show up for Sunday’s two-part gravel grinder in Westchester. The weather was perfect for riding. Sunny, but not too hot.
The entire group did Part 1 of the ride (37 miles with ~3000′ of climbing), which featured some of the most pleasant gravel roads in Westchester County. Views included forests, fields of horses, and beautiful reservoirs.

After lunch, half the group continued for “Part 2B” of the ride (another 26 miles). This section featured the challenging climb up to (and through) Mountain Lakes Park, which is always an adventure. The climb goes from pavement, to rough gravel, to cobble-sized rocks, to a final segment that is probably best traversed on a mountain bike. We were bumping over rocks for the latter half of the climb. I remember saying to Brian “It gets pretty rough up ahead”. I believe his humorous response was “It’s not rough enough already?!” That wild climb through Mountain Lakes was followed by some lovely descents and rolling terrain until the end. Our choice of the shorter version of “Part 2” was a good one. Rain drops started falling as we returned to the Train Station parking lot. Perfect timing. Strava clocked the total ride at ~63 miles and 5300′ of climbing.

A few photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/mcc3hGoHnzihAccH8

PS: I’m planning at least one big gravel ride on Memorial Day weekend (May 29-31). Maybe two. Reach out if you have preference/requirement for a particular day that weekend (Sat/Sun/Mon, weather-dependent, of course). I’ll post details and potential options to this group as we get closer to the time. Email: track.smart@gmail.com

Awesome Gravel Roads This Past Weekend…

This past Sunday a guy from Out Cycling and I did a scouting ride on a circuitous, hilly 45 mile route between Mount Kisco and Golden’s Bridge and it was incredible… Even without leaves on the trees, the scenery was beautiful, and the homes and farms along the way were nothing less than picturesque.

Very little time (maybe 15%) was spent on semi-busy paved roads – the type most road cyclists ride on. The rest of the time was on lovely rural roads and at least half of that time was on gravel. The cars on those back roads weren’t in a rush to get anywhere and were incredibly polite and seemed to value everyone’s safety. It was an awesome experience. We even came across a rider on horseback!

There was only one place along the route to stop for food and fluids (located in North Salem). It was über cute and turned out to be owned by couple I knew (something I didn’t realize until the day before the ride).

I had 650b x 47mm tires on and they really helped. The ride would have been impossible on skinny tires and probably pretty jarring on my 700C x 35mm tires.

Here’s the route…
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38749233