I would prefer ride there and take the train to come back. Also if we stop at the brewery for eating wouldn't be a pain in the neck to ride back just after a beer and a burger?

In for taking the train roundtrip. Can also be swayed for the ride there and train back if thats what the majority is going with.  

I will ride up and train back. I want more than 1 beer at Peekskill...

I should have made this more clear - I'm taking the train back! I was thinking "90 miles and climb Bear" epic, not "8 hours in the saddle" epic 

@SebastianVidal when are you thinking about leaving BB for this epic day?

I'm also game for a change up if the majority is gonna ride up. Any chance of an earlier GWB meet up though?  I'd be down for leaving a bit earlier.  I need to be back in Manhattan by 4pm, so the 2:31 train is the one I'd want to hit.

@DanReiners Haven't gotten that far in my planning. I don't have to be back at any specific time so I was probably just going to go with whatever the majority was thinking in terms of timing. 

can we say 8 am gwb? too early or is it ok?

I like 8 am gwb and would love to get on that 2:30 train at the latest as well to catch the latter part of the rangers game.

https://www.strava.com/activities/561304700

If we take the same route as last year moving time after the bridge will be about  4.5 hrs. Last year we had 2 full hours of not moving. I think we can improve upon that a bit and have no problem making the 2:30 with some burgers and beers.

Also in. Will hang with you guys as long as I can which should be for most of the ride, if I fall off the back, I'll be fine on my own and will regroup at Peekskill. 

8am GWB / 7am BB works for me - excited for this one

Hmm...

I was at bear a few weeks ago and there are signs prohibiting cyclists from crossing the palisades and going around traffic circle. I hear that police have been enforcing this new rule. 

So the "bear recon" ride is really a seven lakes drive recon. Whereas if someone wants to "climb bear" that may have to be a separate ride. As Bruce pointed out, one can connect the traditional Bear mountain climb (Perkins drive) and 7-lakes via route 112, but this may be a big ask from those of you riding from BB. 

Maybe we can try to arrange a meeting point (or at least share phone numbers) so that the train group and ride up group can connect up there. It looks likely that I can drive up there and would be able to take up to three people with me. Only caveat is that pick up and drop off would have to be manhattan. I could do it at GWB terminal so you can take train rest of way. 

Patrick, 

Its definitely a risk. I've been up to Bear, connecting to Harriman via 7 Lakes twice in the past month. The first time we saw signs, the second time we did not. Neither time did we see a cop or have an issue, and the 2nd ride we had a group of 10. On 4/16 another friend rode the same route and was pulled over by the cops and was informed that a cyclist had been hit there earlier that day so they were enforcing the no bikes policy. They let him and his group off with warnings. 

How's everyone else feel about risking it?

I has confuse, could someone plot offending section on a map? I vaguely remember there being some weirdness getting to the bridge after Seven Lakes Dr. 

In the likely event that we see other riders coming from around there, we could ask what they saw, and make a decision on the spot. 

I still plan to take the train to Peekskill (or perhaps catch a ride with Patrick) because I want to spend my time in the saddle time riding around up there. Getting to the race course from the Bear Mountain Bridge via 9W also takes us by some backroads around Stony Point that look enticing. Here's a possible route for the train group:



Pretty nice, eh? Easily tweaked, too: We could do more or fewer race recon laps (the route above includes two-ish). We could climb Perkins to the observatory at the beginning of the ride, at the end, or not at all (but really, we should climb it). 

I made a lil route in Strava for the GWB folks (https://www.strava.com/routes/8387056). 82 miles from the GWB, so should be just short of or right around 100 miles from Brooklyn. Open to any variations of this, I made it mostly to get an idea of how long the day would be. 

@MaxThorn my vote is for Perkins after riding the course - the above route was made with that in mind. 

I'd be good with this but I would stay on the path until we get to haverstraw if we're going to bother to meander down there

If the ride-up group plans to leave the GWB at 8 a.m., what time do y'all figure to arrive at the start/finish line at Lake Welch? My Strava data from last year's recon ride, which followed a similar route to the one Sebastian shared, shows that once we left the GWB we arrived at Lake Welch about 3h 10m later. So, around 11 a.m.?  

Max, I hope to do much less stopping, but we'll see

last year we did clauseland and water tower on the way up. combine waiting for me at hilltops to regroup with bathroom breaks and a relaxed pace and you get 3+ hours. i think we can bring that down a bit. 

For those not going on Bear recon tomorrow: as I have to be home by noon, and am woefully out of shape after two weeks off the bike, I'm planning a quick jaunt to the RR ranger station and back, departing from Grand Army Plaza at 7am. Any takers?

Will Kalbacker said:

last year we did clauseland and water tower on the way up. combine waiting for me at hilltops to regroup with bathroom breaks and a relaxed pace and you get 3+ hours. i think we can bring that down a bit. 

Yea I would vote for skipping bradley/clauseland and water towers, save time and energy and go straight to the start line...

@BenFinoRadin - I also have to be back by noon & I'm out to get in 3-4 hours, after a few months of no long riding. What say we meet up with the group at BB @ 7 AM and then just do our own thing once we cross over the GWB? It'll just take me longer to get to GAP then just meeting at BB... plus we'd get to ride with more folks

I'll be at BB at 7. I have a structured workout once over GWB so that's as far as I go with the hardcore group, but anyone is welcome to half-wheel or suck-wheel while I do my intervals. It'll just be a bunch of back and forth on 9W with a bathroom/snack stop at Market.

Brian Miele said:

@BenFinoRadin - I also have to be back by noon & I'm out to get in 3-4 hours, after a few months of no long riding. What say we meet up with the group at BB @ 7 AM and then just do our own thing once we cross over the GWB? It'll just take me longer to get to GAP then just meeting at BB... plus we'd get to ride with more folks

Word

agreed - 7 AM BB. If I'm there on time, it's a good day. If not, I'll be chasing per usual.

I am aiming to get to bear mountain around 9:30 AM tomorrow. I'll be at the George Washington Bridge at 8:45 AM if somebody wants a ride.  I'm planning on doing several laps of the race course and probably going up to Perkins as well. Hope to catch some of you up there. Text me at 516-987-6404.

Probably heading back around one.  I plan on stopping at red beard so if somebody needs a ride and is ready to go home at that point happy to give you a lift. 

Speak up if anybody out there still wants to ride MetroNorth to Peekskill. Otherwise I'm gonna catch a ride with Bruce. Either way: see y'all up there.

i'll likely do some kind of openers/recovery stuff tomorrow heading out from GWB more around the normal time of 9am gwb or later. any takers?

i think we've reached PEAK FRAGMENTATION of the group ride with all the goings-on tomorrow!