stayfed

Hey everyone.

So I rode River Road for the first time on Monday. I can't believe how much fun I had! I went past the Ranger station and then turned around. Was I supposed to keep going?

Anyways I was wondering if people could recommend similar rides. I was hoping to explore something new Saturday morning.

Thanks everyone.

Papa Tom

'Don't know exactly what you liked about River Road (there's a lot to like), so it's hard to recommend another ride for you. My site at https://nyrides.freehosting.net has a bunch of trails and paths in the New York/ New Jersey area.

Have you done the West Side Greenway? The Westchester County Trails? Man, I envy you for even being able to get out there and ride in this weather!

stayfed

Wow awesome site! Thanks I am going to a look at these tonight.

Papa Tom

It hasn't been kept up-to-date as much as I'd like, so when you find a ride that looks interesting, you might want to ask around the forum for current info!

dendawg

Seven Lakes Drive and adjoining roads in Bear Mtn / Harriman State Park. You can do it all sorts of ways and of course there is always the climb up Perkins. If you don't feel like riding all the way from Brooklyn you could drive up or take Metronorth to Garrison or Cold Spring and ride from there

stayfed

I'd really like to try out Bear Mountain. I think on Saturday I'll go to River Road again but take into 9W. I haven't done that yet and I've been reading that it's nice. I wonder if the hills will be icy on Saturday morning.

jerseyJim

If you mean you went as far as to Alpine on Henry Hudson dr then yeah you want to continue up 9W into Piermont on Ferdan and up River Road to Nyack. As said above anywhere in Harriman and Seven Lakes Dr is about the best riding in the area.

If you want to head further into the area you can always drive over the GWB and park at the Fort Lee Historical Park just south of the bridge and start your ride from there.

stayfed

I don't drive. Story of my life. I made it up to a Ranger Station and I didn't know where to go after that so I turned around. If I would have went to the left I would have made it on to 9W right?

stayfed

Anyone know if it will be safe to ride River Road tomorrow morning or if it will be too icy?

cafzali

If you want to climb Seven Lakes and/or ride to Bear, take Metro North's Port Jervis branch (run by NJ Transit) to Sloatsburg and ride from there. 7 Lakes is only a short hop from the station. Do yourself a favor, though and check the train schedule,as service is not as frequent as other MNR branches. Alternatively, you can ride down to Suffern, which only 3 miles and have much more frequent service.

stayfed

I went on a ride out to River Road today. After the Ranger Station I hopped onto 9W and ended up getting lost. I ended up going out to Nyack and at one point 9W turned into something pretty scary so I turned around and went down to Piermont and took the 9 bike path.

Anyone know what I did wrong? I was hoping to do a 100 mile loop but ended up only doing 67.

You can check out my Strava Map here if you want to take a look and let me know what I could've done.

https://app.strava.com/activities/44832638

Thanks

cafzali

Next time you hop 9W, make sure you stay on Bike Route 9. Most of it tracks 9W, but some of it detours you off the more "hostile" sections near the turnoff to downtown Piermont and other areas where there's very little, if any, shoulder. Several cyclists have gotten killed along the bad stretches in recent years, so I generally try to avoid it. Drivers are aggressive enough, I figure it's best not to put myself on sections of 9W where visibility for drivers is tough because of curves, etc.

There are green signs that designate Bike Route 9.

jerseyJim

Once you got into piermont you can take river road north all the way into Nyack.

stayfed

Gotcha. I just looked on the map and realized I turned right when I got into Piermont and should have went left. I'll try again this saturday!

Papa Tom

By the way, when the weather is nicer, it's worth a short side trip out to Piermont Pier. I also used to enjoy riding the Nyack Beach trail in Nyack State Park. It runs along the water for about a mile and a half, then heads up into the mountains. Not sure what's left of it after all these storms, though.

stayfed

I am going to check out the Nyack Beach Trail on Saturday. I actually rode up to the entrance because I missed the turn to get back onto 9W. I actually didn't like 9W after Piermont. Too many cars. I'd probably enjoy it more with a group. I turned around at Stony Point.