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So I wound up deciding to forgo the brevet and do a long bike ride originating from home instead. I've been intrigued by a century route originating in Albany that a friend shared with me a year or two ago, so yesterday seemed like a good day to give it a whirl. The first part of the ride was along an already familiar route, 25 miles up to Grafton Lake State Park. It was beyond that point where things got more interesting, best appreciated by the route's elevation profile:
The 25-mile ride up to Grafton Lake previously felt like a bit of a climb, but from this elevation profile, well, the best was yet to come.
Grafton is also at the top of this loop, if you'd like the get a sense of the full route:
I didn't take any photos of the next bit, but immediately beyond Grafton, the road descended and then began to climb steadily through some beautiful, quiet forest. I don't know if this was a seasonal thing, but there were hardly any cars, so there were long stretches where it was just me, on my bike, on a hill, listening to the wind blowing through the still-bare branches of trees. When I reached the top, I found I'd arrived at the Taconic Ridge State Forest, which looks to have some nice hiking.
Descending the other side, I at last found myself in the Berkshires. Another part of the motivation to complete this loop was that the ride I missed also traveled through part of the Berkshires, so I've been keen to check out the area.
I soon arrived in Williamstown, and found myself a little boggled at encountering Williams College. Williams was one of our rowing archrivals when I was an undergrad, and I'd had high school rowing teammates who went there, but I hadn't known exactly where Williams was located. So I guess now I know? Williamstown was generally lovely, if a bit hoity-toity. Anyway, the most important thing about all of this is that I finally spotted something out in front of their art museum that seemed worthy of a photograph:
If you look closely, you'll notice giant landscape eyeball art! What's not to love?
In any case, after a photo and a second breakfast burrito, it was time to keep moving. Also not pictured, all the houses with amazing arrays of daffodils. Daffodil heaven!
I think I should note that my memory of the overall route and elevation profile was pretty hazy at that point, so I wasn't sure whether I was maybe misremembering about the big climb in the ride, and so maybe that Taconic Ridge was it? One way or another, the roads as I headed out of Williamstown soon set me straight: that big, looming peak in front of me was none other than Mt. Greylock itself, which the route was about to head up. The Taconic Ridge, which had been a decent climb, was merely a warmup. Ulp.
There was just a slight hitch: the gates across the road up to the summit were closed and locked! Was the road closed??
Closer inspection revealed a sign that simply warned any bicyclists who might dare venture forth, that the roads weren't maintained at all during the winter, so proceed at one's own risk. Seeing no snow or other foreboding signs, I decided to proceed.
I paused for a very brief photo just before starting the climb.
I love how photographs magically flatten out steep roads.
In any case, if I thought I'd done some climbing already, I was in for a surprise. This section was narrow, winding, and STEEP. It made the climb up South Mountain in Phoenix seem like a walk in the park. I spent the vast majority of time in my lowest gear, alternating between standing and sitting, just to keep the bike limping forward. My speed kept dropping to the point where the spoke beads on the front wheel started sliding up and down; ordinarily the centrifugal forces keep them whirled out towards the rim. I also kept thinking back to a hilarious early-aughts fixed-gear blog where the author talked about "turtling" his way up some hills.
Eventually, I was rewarded with some absolutely spectacular views. Mt. Greylock is the highest peak in Massachusetts, at just under 3500 feet.
This scenic pullout was an excellent excuse for a stop. In this photo, you can just make out the view of the memorial at the very top of the mountain, looking only slightly eclipsed in height by the neighboring radio tower to the right:
Some of the valley below, with purple mountains majesty and whatnot:
A brief look back at the road traveled up so far, with all its switchbacks and hairpin curves:
Some of the outstanding rock to ogle, so different from the mud mountains in Washington:
Interestingly, I didn't see a single other person up until I got very close to the very top, when suddenly there were people all over the place! I didn't talk to anyone, just paused to take several photos before carrying on my way.
Obligatory summit photo
War memorial at the summit (talk about a phallic symbol!)
Even more spectacular views, this time off to the south, thanks to a clear, sunny day:
I guess in the summer one can even stay up at the summit, in the lodge, pictured here with a wee poof of a cloud:
And of course, the Appalachian Trail crosses right up and over here, so there are more rustic accommodations for hikers to stay, too.
And then, the descent.
It turns out that the majority of the throngs of people I started seeing had come from the south approach to the summit, where there was parking at the year-round Visitor's Center. The road out to the south was also generally more gradual than the approach I took from the north. I stopped in briefly to use the restroom and refill my water bottle, and then I was on my way once again.
I don't have too much to say about the return route, except that I am not a huge fan of bicycling on NYS Route 43. It was generally tolerable up until around Averill Park, but after that it was just too darned busy, and I was buzzed twice by people driving cars too close to the shoulder at points where the shoulder was narrow. Also, someone put a couple more hills in that section, just for fun, and by that point I was kind of over the hills, if I'm being honest. If I do this ride again, I think I'd head back through Troy instead of trying to book through Rensselaer, to avoid some of the worst of the traffic.
All in all, though, that was a good 9500 feet of climbing over 100 miles. A full and epic day on the bike. A reasonable consolation ride instead of the brevet.
The 25-mile ride up to Grafton Lake previously felt like a bit of a climb, but from this elevation profile, well, the best was yet to come.
Grafton is also at the top of this loop, if you'd like the get a sense of the full route:
I didn't take any photos of the next bit, but immediately beyond Grafton, the road descended and then began to climb steadily through some beautiful, quiet forest. I don't know if this was a seasonal thing, but there were hardly any cars, so there were long stretches where it was just me, on my bike, on a hill, listening to the wind blowing through the still-bare branches of trees. When I reached the top, I found I'd arrived at the Taconic Ridge State Forest, which looks to have some nice hiking.
Descending the other side, I at last found myself in the Berkshires. Another part of the motivation to complete this loop was that the ride I missed also traveled through part of the Berkshires, so I've been keen to check out the area.
I soon arrived in Williamstown, and found myself a little boggled at encountering Williams College. Williams was one of our rowing archrivals when I was an undergrad, and I'd had high school rowing teammates who went there, but I hadn't known exactly where Williams was located. So I guess now I know? Williamstown was generally lovely, if a bit hoity-toity. Anyway, the most important thing about all of this is that I finally spotted something out in front of their art museum that seemed worthy of a photograph:
If you look closely, you'll notice giant landscape eyeball art! What's not to love?
In any case, after a photo and a second breakfast burrito, it was time to keep moving. Also not pictured, all the houses with amazing arrays of daffodils. Daffodil heaven!
I think I should note that my memory of the overall route and elevation profile was pretty hazy at that point, so I wasn't sure whether I was maybe misremembering about the big climb in the ride, and so maybe that Taconic Ridge was it? One way or another, the roads as I headed out of Williamstown soon set me straight: that big, looming peak in front of me was none other than Mt. Greylock itself, which the route was about to head up. The Taconic Ridge, which had been a decent climb, was merely a warmup. Ulp.
There was just a slight hitch: the gates across the road up to the summit were closed and locked! Was the road closed??
Closer inspection revealed a sign that simply warned any bicyclists who might dare venture forth, that the roads weren't maintained at all during the winter, so proceed at one's own risk. Seeing no snow or other foreboding signs, I decided to proceed.
I paused for a very brief photo just before starting the climb.
I love how photographs magically flatten out steep roads.
In any case, if I thought I'd done some climbing already, I was in for a surprise. This section was narrow, winding, and STEEP. It made the climb up South Mountain in Phoenix seem like a walk in the park. I spent the vast majority of time in my lowest gear, alternating between standing and sitting, just to keep the bike limping forward. My speed kept dropping to the point where the spoke beads on the front wheel started sliding up and down; ordinarily the centrifugal forces keep them whirled out towards the rim. I also kept thinking back to a hilarious early-aughts fixed-gear blog where the author talked about "turtling" his way up some hills.
Eventually, I was rewarded with some absolutely spectacular views. Mt. Greylock is the highest peak in Massachusetts, at just under 3500 feet.
This scenic pullout was an excellent excuse for a stop. In this photo, you can just make out the view of the memorial at the very top of the mountain, looking only slightly eclipsed in height by the neighboring radio tower to the right:
Some of the valley below, with purple mountains majesty and whatnot:
A brief look back at the road traveled up so far, with all its switchbacks and hairpin curves:
Some of the outstanding rock to ogle, so different from the mud mountains in Washington:
Interestingly, I didn't see a single other person up until I got very close to the very top, when suddenly there were people all over the place! I didn't talk to anyone, just paused to take several photos before carrying on my way.
Obligatory summit photo
War memorial at the summit (talk about a phallic symbol!)
Even more spectacular views, this time off to the south, thanks to a clear, sunny day:
I guess in the summer one can even stay up at the summit, in the lodge, pictured here with a wee poof of a cloud:
And of course, the Appalachian Trail crosses right up and over here, so there are more rustic accommodations for hikers to stay, too.
And then, the descent.
It turns out that the majority of the throngs of people I started seeing had come from the south approach to the summit, where there was parking at the year-round Visitor's Center. The road out to the south was also generally more gradual than the approach I took from the north. I stopped in briefly to use the restroom and refill my water bottle, and then I was on my way once again.
I don't have too much to say about the return route, except that I am not a huge fan of bicycling on NYS Route 43. It was generally tolerable up until around Averill Park, but after that it was just too darned busy, and I was buzzed twice by people driving cars too close to the shoulder at points where the shoulder was narrow. Also, someone put a couple more hills in that section, just for fun, and by that point I was kind of over the hills, if I'm being honest. If I do this ride again, I think I'd head back through Troy instead of trying to book through Rensselaer, to avoid some of the worst of the traffic.
All in all, though, that was a good 9500 feet of climbing over 100 miles. A full and epic day on the bike. A reasonable consolation ride instead of the brevet.
