Depending on how many folks come carpooling will probably also be an option!

Last call to give us your Foliage ride date preferences (https://kissenacycling.wufoo.com/forms/zetsges0c7safe/)!  We want to nail something down this weekend to give folks enough time to plan and so we can still get a reservation at the Brauhaus.

BTW Strava from last year for anyone curious:

https://www.strava.com/activities/7932101095

If you haven't had a chance to get out of NYC this year and your gravel/cross/mountain bike is giving you side eye this is the adventure ride you were waiting for. The route is easy enough for roadies, challenging enough to keep it interesting, and the views are incredible.

And seriously, Mountain Brauhaus is:

In case you were on the fence😆

@David Yang

What date has it?

Mark your calendars, cause we're going leaf peepin'!  We're heading back to Minnewaska State Park for the 2023 edition of the KCC Fall Foliage Ride.  Afterward we will be dining on the finest German cuisine the Hudson Valley has to offer at the Mountain Brauhaus. Come join us for bucolic views, bikes, and brats. (RSVP below)

Saturday, OCTOBER, 21st @ 9am 

Where to meet:
41 Springtown Rd, New Paltz, NY 12561
https://goo.gl/maps/ktVh8rXbfCBoKoSr5

The route:
https://www.strava.com/routes/3137226619035246810

How to get there:
I know a few of us will be driving up and are more than happy to carpool if someone needs a ride or has space.  Post up here or in Slack if that's you.

Food:
After we've ground some gravel, we'll head over to Mountain Brauhaus for some food.  You can check out the menu here to see if it's something you're interested in:

https://www.mountainbrauhaus.com/menu/

RSVP:
Let us know you're coming so we can get an accurate headcount for the Brauhaus, please RSVP here: 

https://kissenacycling.wufoo.com/forms/z16jt64r0y7ovx7/

Awesome!

How gravelly is this route? As in, is it ridable with low pressure 28mm tires in my road bike or would that be very uncomfortable?

LennartZandbergen said:

Awesome!

How gravelly is this route? As in, is it ridable with low pressure 28mm tires in my road bike or would that be very uncomfortable?

I think it is a bit borderline. The ride is almost all gravel. I remember we rode a couple of technicalish and wet rocky sections last year. It is just us noodling, so it is not a race, but can you bring your cross bike?

That was one of the dates I couldn't make it Have fun guys

Grant , cancel your other plans !!!!

Those pictures are so much fire. Sigh.

Jules said:

Those pictures are so much fire. Sigh.

I'm sure you can get a business trip to coincide.

MY FRIENDS, WE HAVE RESERVATIONS FOR 8 PEOPLE AT MOUNTAIN BRAUHAUS AT 230P.

PREPARE TO FEAST.

7 people RSVPed to the ride, so I added one more to the reservation for an even 8.

***If you didn't RSVP to the ride, PLEASE let me know as soon as possible so I can try to squeeze everyone into the reservation!

David Yang said:

MY FRIENDS, WE HAVE RESERVATIONS FOR 8 PEOPLE AT MOUNTAIN BRAUHAUS AT 230P.

PREPARE TO FEAST.

7 people RSVPed to the ride, so I added one more to the reservation for an even 8.

***If you didn't RSVP to the ride, PLEASE let me know as soon as possible so I can try to squeeze everyone into the reservation!

forgot I needed to rsvp.  If there's space, I'm in. otherwise, I'll live.  I'm in first for the riding.

I went up there yesterday with the fam and friends for trail walking and it was gorgeous. Should be pretty close to peak foliage this coming weekend when we ride!

Saturday forecast in New Paltz, NY shows some rain late Friday into Saturday mid morning. Woods should be dry and most of what we ride will be on gravel. The only extended muddy section I foresee will be the rocky single track circling Lake Awosting. Should make for some dramatic photos!

Outside of an outright downpour or dangerous conditions the ride is on!

FYI without a reservation, Mountain Brauhaus has wait times of 2hrs+ and that's at 3p, so please RSVP ASAP or DM me so I can try to get everyone in together!

Finally: How is everyone getting up there? 

Dave,
     Assuming I can jump in someone's car somewhere, I'm in.   I checked the metro-north train schedule amd the first train out of NYC arrives in Poughkeepsie at 8:57am and it's a 10-mile ride from the station to the starting point of the ride.  

I'll be hitting up Park Slope to pick up Greg first and have room for one more if I can tetris a 3rd bike in the trunk (prob mine since it's a small frame). Plan is to get up there by 830a and it takes just around 1hr 30min from NYC so...

Dave get's moving around 545a...
Greg get's picked up around 615-30a...
JP get's picked up around 645-7a...

Cool?

@David Yang

I"ve got a trunk rack that can handle two bikes.  It's a long-discontinued style, called a Hunchrack, and is designed to take two bikes with the front wheels removed.

 my own bike fits in most trunks with both wheels removed.

Who's still going ?

Me.  Looks like the rain is supposed to stop by 9ish tomorrow morning.

If someone is still willing to drive me up there, I'm still looking to go.

But I will see what kind of fender action I can involve.

I'm still on!

Just DMed everyone in Slack who RSVPed to the ride. If you never signed up message or @ me if you're planning on coming!

Great ride today.  

Dave Yang, Greg Hoge, Jaime, Mark Taylor, Patrick, and myself plus a special guest.  Eric Schlauch, a one-time kick ass MTB and crosser lives up there, was looking for company, and asked on to our ride.  Of course we said yes.  

The skies were heavy and rainy and we couldn't see the mountains from the parking lot and couldn't see the valley from the mountaintop.  Which lasted for the first two hours or so, then it cleared up.  Mark was in a destructive mood, crashing in the parking lot, loosening a cleat, needing to tube a tubeless tire, and breaking a fence in Mohonk.  Can't take him anywhere.

It rained basically the whole time--only the last 20 minutes or so were in the dry.  I even saw my shadow.

We cleaned up after and went to a mountain haus to sample German and Hungarian specialities.

https://www.strava.com/activities/10081078574

Yes awesome day out again , views were epic and company even better , tires , not so 

Good times with some great friends, great trails, and excellent food afterwards

Not to make this a love-fest, but truly an amazing ride and I'm so glad I get to do it with friends new and old every year. This one - even with rough weather and mechanicals and wrong turns and cutting the route shorter to make our reservation - had it's happenstances that makes every year unique and wonderful and worthy of KCC lore:

• Randomly running into Eric - who sheepishly said he missed his group ride and if he could ride with us - little did he know we would be riding with *him*
• Jaime joining us even if he was out of riding shape, got to check out climbing gear in town at New Paltz for his future ice climbing adventures
• Hitting the end loop of a foot path and ice skating up rocks in our MTB shoes to see the incredible views.
• Rabbit soup. I'm sorry Mark, it was delicious.
• We broke Greg's bad luck streak of mechanicals on all his gravel rides.
• We may have unfortunately passed the "ring" curse to Mark (you didn't happen to watch a mystery VHS tape recently, did you?).
• Mark may have superpowers that whatever gear he comes in contact with spontaneously explodes. He will need to learn how to harness them.
• Somehow the drive into Manhattan and Queens - Totally acceptable!

Can't wait to do it again - maybe sooner rather than later? The season is still in full effect and we live 20 miles away in leaf country up in Rockland and Westchester...