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Description of this Bike Ride

A shorter scenic and moderately hilly route in and around Harriman St Park in NY, finishing with a climb (and decent) of Bear Mountain from the W side (not as long). This route, much like the Bear Mountain Training 50 starts in the Bear Mountain Lodge parking lot. Like that one, suggest you arrive early (6-7 AM), not only for the lack of T Zee traffic or free parking, but it makes a terrific morning ride, without shooting the whole day driving, etc. From there there's no warm up as you ascend Seven Lakes Drive to the crest at Perkins, but on this pass continue W down Seven Lakes and then up to Lake Tiorati (a great easy/long 500 ft climb up through the forest). From there you travel along Seven Lakes, a fantastic rolling hill ride through the lakes and up country above the Hudson. At Kanawauke Circle do a 270 (degrees) to head up to Lake Welch. This is a relatively easy 300' climb with some steeps, but better, works up through Pine forests and silence early in the AM. At the top you cross under Lake Welch Parkway, so continue to the entrance to Lake Welch Rec area, exiting out the North end back onto LWP. Here, hold on tight for a fast downhill, can hit 45-50 mph on this, so be careful. Be even more careful at the turn at the bottom, there's a left exit that loops back up Lake Welch Pkwy (at first). Again, take this exceedingly slow. There is absolutely no benefit to momentum since at this point you start a 600 ft climb back to Tiorati. What's the rush? Incidentally, at this point you are following the Harriman Triathlon course, so it's fun recon if you haven't seen it. Everybody (meaning most who haven't seen it or pre-rode it) seems to blow up here because the legs get a long cool down and then come back on full power for 12 minutes. People start sprinting back up hill and...Boom. This is another great climb through pine forests, a rushing stream (more early-late spring), heavy cover, ferns, fields, and then the Lake. You go up another 100 ft after you first hit the lake and then come back to Tiorati circle. Great rest stop with the lake, bathrooms, etc. After, head back down 7 Lakes. It's not a steep climb or descent which makes the next 4 miles a pleasure. The road in some years is rough in patches so keep alert. At the bottom you come to the only obstacle/bummer of this ride, but it is navigable. At the Rt 6 turning circle, do a 180 and continue on the entrance back on the Palisades Interstate Pkwy N. Here you need to make a 200 yd sprint from the left entrance to the right exit back to 7 Lakes and back up to Bear Mountain. The Palisades traffic is not as bad as you may think, but again you need be extremely cautious throughout, even until you're off the exit and on 7 Lakes proper, as cars probably don't expect to see you there on the right. Cars' closing speed here is also faster, so stay conservative. Readily achievable, but not your normal intersection. From here, climb 180 ft to Perkins, which then takes you 650 ft up and 2 miles to the top of Bear Mountain. This climb is mostly 5-6% with a couple of steeps around 7-8 after the first forest section, fairly steady other than that. Unlike most climbs in this area this one offers increasingly good views as you climb, so you get some reward and feeling of progress. At the top, on a clear day you can see NYC to the South clearly. Bring a small camera or phone version. Once you've soaked up the views, to head down, bear Left and up a little rise back to Perkins. If you go right you descend to a dead end on the E side of the mountain, despite what the map shows (and have to climb back up-haven't you had enough yet?). On the way down Perkins you can stop on the N side of the mountain and look N up the Hudson. A great spot. From here descend and take a left at 7 Lakes continuing down a total of 4 miles to the parking lot, which you can enter on your left at the park police offices, a bit tired, but you'll already look forward to next time. Psalmon says 2,750 ft of primary climbing, which is about 90 ft/mi. About 20 miles of this ride are recent/smooth pavement, how nice. Probably about 2 hours for reasonably good riders working moderately hard. We call this very hilly 'round here, but on this ride most of the grades are piece o' cake (which you'll deserve after). UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE: As of 5.1.10 the Cedar Pond Road is closed to car traffic. Barriers exist at just after the Lake Welch Parkway split at the south end, and about half way up CPR. The road IS accessible and fully in tact for bicycles. No damage is apparent and one can walk around barriers. As always caution is advised, but given the isolated nature of this road and long descent down LWP, the route can be continued as mapped.

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