Mountain Lakes Park – Page 2

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

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

Tag: Mountain Lakes Park

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