Well...


I went Coasting this past Sunday.


Did 108 miles, a circle route...across into New Jersey, Northwest to Harriman State Park, North through the park, summit at Bear Mountain, crossed the Hudson river on the Bear Mountain Bridge, then South a bit along the riverside until Ossining, then traversed two ridgelines to the East until finally getting onto the old NYC Putnam Division Right of Way which has been converted to a bicycle path...





Great ride, stupendous weather, it was a bit of a grunt at parts but nothing major. I wanted to go faster but my compadre, and old, broken, former CAT3, with some trophies, kept us at an overall 14.2 mph ..He's got hip, back, pain issues...


Anyhow... we warmed up for the first 40 miles to Sloatsburg. Complained about life, people, significant others, family, etc.. Was a brisk mid 40s in the morning.


Now, pardon the photos, my cameras settings were a bit bonked, and I kept hitting the wrong buttons, etc...so, my exposures ain't up to my usual snuff.


At our first "nature" break, somewhere close to the Saddle River, this copse of trees caught my eye:





I didn't take too many photos traversing Joisey suburbia...Here's a little crook, just passed the Southern entrance into Harriman State Park:





Where the magic begins... Seven Lakes Drive, Northbound to Bear:








I had packed some of MY Cubano sandwiches for the ride... Jamon Serrano, cilantro, lime & cumin marinated pork loin- sliced thin, all on a fresh toasted and smashed baguette, with melted aged Gruyere, schmeared with French butter, Dijon, and dressed with some organic bread and butter pickle chips. Here's the lunch spot by the side of Lake Tiorati:





Not quite Spring yet in these parts, we're just flirting with some green. Anyhow, Rak, my riding partner, wasn't feeling doing the Summit to Bear because his hip was bugging him, but I'm like a moth to flame, I didn't ride 67 miles to not climb Mt. Bear...Not a bad ascent at all, 4.5 miles of mostly 5%, pitches to 11% here and there, nothing a little grunt & spin can't take care of..From the top:





I did the descent but was ticked off because I got stuck behind a car doing about 27mph on the way down. I managed to pass them at a point and open it up a bit.


Picked up some water at Lake Hessian and then headed on to the bridge:





Bear Mountain Bridge... (Rak...):