Bear Mountain (again)

The Bear Mountain ride described in the post below was so satisfying that, three days later I turned around and did it again. The only tweak this time was that I made it a touch harder by including a loop around Lake Tiorati that I had missed the other day (and that added about 400 feet of climbing). The loop also had the benefit of taking me by the public beach at Lake Welch at around the 50 mile mark, which I thought would be about perfect timing for a dip on a hot day.

So I did:

Being a gorgeous Sunday, the beach was jammed -- although in this picture I've moved away from the roped swimming area, with lifeguards, where there was barely a free patch of sand. And, behind the beach, is a huge grassy area, where tons of families, mostly hispanic, have set up barbecues, soccer games, etc. and are just generally having what looks like a great time with their kids. All for an $8 parking fee ($0 if you're on a bike!). In all, a lovely oasis, in Harriman State Park (in Rockland and Orange counties), not that far from NYC (and definitely not to be confused with the distinctly less lovely, undeveloped and no longer maintained -- if it ever was -- Donald J. Trump State Park in Putnam Valley).

I've had people (OK, two of you) ask what do I carry on a ride like this, and how? If you look closely at the picture above, you might notice that I have a rather large seat bag under my saddle. It's a great device -- the Viscacha bag from Revelate Designs. It's light-weight, water-resistant, and has a roll-top closure like a dry bag has -- and it holds a ton (the entirety of my, er, necessities for my 5-day Cape Cod ride fit in it). As importantly, you can use it on a road bike, including carbon-fiber frames and seat posts, without having to deal with trying to install a much heavier, and most likely incompatible, rear rack and pannier set.

So for this particular ride it's carrying a pair of shorts, underwear and t-shirt, all to change into at the bathroom at the Peekskill Brewery -- so that the hour train ride back to NYC is not uncomfortably spent in sweaty, tight, bike clothes -- a can of suntan lotion and a tube of chamois creme -- a small lock -- some power bars -- and a bathing suit and a camping towel. My phone and wallet go in a small top tube frame pack (which exists, but is not so easy to see in the picture above). All for a total weight penalty of about 5 pounds (the bag itself, empty, is under 14 ounces).

The only wrinkle in the day was that the Lake Tiorati loop road, unlike three days ago, was closed to traffic. Of course, I thought "How hard could it be for a bike to get by?" Well, harder than I thought:

A bridge had been totally ripped out! But I managed to traverse it without incident, ducking under a few cable barriers and around some concrete ones -- even keeping my shoes dry -- and the positive benefit was that there were absolutely zero cars the entire way!

So, without further ado, the full day's route: