I've mentioned this to a few of yall as my goal event for this year.  Well NYC Velo (the organizers) finally released the details.

https://www.bikereg.com/fire-tower-brevet

Which tier are you planning? And in one go or in multiple trips?

I signed up for tier 1.  1 go. All in. Maximum fun.  Unlimited shenanigans.

I could be convinced, 55 hrs feels doable.....I think...I am planning on doing the Cold Spring 200k in September. 

Very intrigued. I've never done a multi day riding trip, what's the plan? Ride straight through the night? Stay overnight in a hotel? Camp? 

I'm planning to time it to stay at either an airbnb or hotel.  Looking at the profile, most of the climbing is in the first ~200 mi.

Right now my thought it leave on a Friday afternoon/evening.  Ride through the night and get to the hotel about 20-24 hrs later on Saturday.  Get some sleep, then finish up on Sunday in time for the 48hr limit.  Based on the pace I did at Markagram back in September that should be doable - even more so with multiple people.

I don't have time to test and work out a camping set up, but that would be significantly faster (you can stop almost anywhere and it's waaayyy easier to get out of bed in the morning).

Which part of this is the “fun” bit 

If you can wait that long I can probably find a weekend for mid-September or later, though there are enough crazy cyclists in NYC that the top 20 spots could be taken by then.

Hitting up a comfort inn with indoor plumbing sounds a lot nicer.

Mid-September is able as late as I'd want to go weather-wise.  If you can nail down a date that works for you sooner rather than later then I'm cool to wait till then.

Nice!  I still gotta pick mine up from the shop.  I'm hoping I can catch Andrew and ask course recon questions but I have a feeling I'll need to use my gravel tires.

Yeah that was my thought, seems like it is mostly pavement but some of the climbs are gravel and seems maybe fine to sacrifice a bit of speed for comfort. 

Gravel tires like 32 GP5k or ones with tread?

With tread.  I'm planning to use my by-ways or something similar with a smooth part in the center.

According to the bikereg page, the route can be done on 28s.

Also, I made an alternate route that basically hits all the towers within 200 miles, then as flat as possible back to NYC.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/51831692

Looking at some of the finishers so far I might try and scout the Beacon FT location, it seems the dirt road to trail is a bit sketchy in locating your way and seems like a leave the bike and hike to the tower and back for a bit. I bought a card and am planning on doing a big outing labor day weekend to test out how I do riding tired.

@RyanCollins FYI Greg and I are planning on doing this Sept 26/27/28 (starting Friday). Do you want to join or are you riding solo?

@David Yang
Pencil me in for that weekend, I have a busy work week leading into that weekend, but I'm going to train for hitting that weekend, I'll confirm in or out as soon as possible though. I plan on riding long Saturday and then joining the Brooklyn Ride on Sunday as a start. 

RyanCollins said:

Looking at some of the finishers so far I might try and scout the Beacon FT location, it seems the dirt road to trail is a bit sketchy in locating your way and seems like a leave the bike and hike to the tower and back for a bit. I bought a card and am planning on doing a big outing labor day weekend to test out how I do riding tired.

That's pretty much exactly what I'm thinking re:beacon.  It does look like there are multiple ways up but I'm not familiar to know which is best/easiest.

Came up with another route.  While it is ~20 miles longer, it has 5000ft less climbing.  It also gets us to our Airbnb at mile 155ish for a solid first day.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/52084627

Also started putting together a packing list for a ride/race like this (1-3 days w/o camping).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dk0EdidHEOA_37rhXVxClawWuQdnsyaO/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=112293586277564033654&rtpof=true&sd=true

I uh... think I'm going to explore a larger cassette or a smaller chainring...

Or flip flops 

You'll be good.  That'll be the start of day 2.

Hiking Shoes may need a second use, brake pads too. I think my plan is gravel bike with my thunderburts, the roll pretty fast on pavement, TT bag for SNACKS, frame wedge for chargers and BS and my Tailfin rack for clothes and shoes. I'll have a hydration vest too for that long stretch. 

Sick!  

How do you like the Tailfin?

I love it, I got the one with bosses on the struts so I put anything cages on it and strap small bags to the sides, keeps the fork clear which I prefer. I also HATE saddle sway and have an older apidura saddle bag that I find to be only fine. Tailfin is expensive but really well designed. Did 5 days with it in May with great success. 

I went through and broke the route up into a Day 1 and Day 2.  Day 2 will likely see us riding well into the night.

Day 1:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/52393729

Day 2: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/52396797

I also made an alternate for Day 2 that cuts out 6.5mi and 1000ft of climbing: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/52394022

Hope you feel better @David Yang . I'm out of town this upcoming weekend, but around the rest of the month. Should we plan on a gravel/cx bike long ride and talk through logistics? Obviously all are invited. @GregHoge seems we should do the alt day 2 if it cuts out probably 45min or riding? What is everyone using for lighting? 

Wanna plan on the weekend after next to plan logistics?  9/12 or 9/13. I'll be out of town every other weekend.

For lighting I'm using a Magic shine RN3000 up front and a niterider cherry bomb 100 in the back.  I think with a power bank those should cover everything.

Let's try for Saturday 9/13 - I'm planning on a "big ride" that day, hoping for at least 100mi, but may look to do more. Open to any routes.

My biggest issue right now is getting a no-eyelet rack. I've tried all of my old Carradice commuter packs, but they all bump into the back of my thighs - okay for a 45min commute, but now I remember why I switched over to a dedicated rear rack and pannier setup back in the day.