Bikes | Scott Meyers

I had planned on riding the Ardsley Acres 400K back in July, but with the smoke from the wildfires, paired with the severe thunderstorms and tornado warning, I held back. Fortunately, I was now able to redeem myself. This route passed through some similar areas, and also allowed me to revisit a few familiar and favorite areas.

The ride started in Paramus, NJ, at 7 a.m. There were a good number of people there, but the majority were riding the 600K, which followed the same route, with an additional 200K leg continuing from the original location. I hadn’t really been out this way in a while, so it was nice to revisit the area. When living in NYC, we’d frequently drive up through Paramus to go hiking in the Harriman State Park area and occasionally stop at Campmor.

The air was nice and crispt this morning as we weaved our way northeast toward the Hudson river passing through quiet residential neighborhoods with some nice subtle warmup climbs sprinkled in. A few standouts before crossing the Bear Mountain Bridge included a fast winding descent as we initially approached the Hudson, and then a brief pass through the Jones Point Path, a bike and pedestrian path alongside marshland and some large rock formations with brilliant views.

Once over the bridge, we headed north on 9D (Bear Mountain-Beacon Highway), which I had previously driven across, but had never ridden. We continued on 9D up into Cold Spring for the first control at Dunkin’, passing hikers scurrying along the roadway towards the Breakneck Ridge trailhead.

From there, it was a short ride to the light in Cold Spring, where we turned east onto 301 (Cold Spring Turnpike), which was pretty much the starting point for last year’s Cold Spring 200K, offering some fantastic rolling hills with brooks and ponds along the north side.

I was drinking a ton of water and eating quite a bit along the way, so I was feeling pretty energized and maintained a faster pace than I had planned for. For the most part, up until the next control in Sharon, CT, the ride was a blur. I made it a point to take a solid thirty minute break in Sharon at the farm market. I ate a sandwich and some cantaloupe, refilled my water bottles, and kicked it in the shade for a bit next to the Le Gamin Café. It wasn’t really until just before Sharon that I started to feel the heat of the sun beating down on me. Leading up to that, the angle of the sun this time of year helped keep many of the roads covered with enough shade for a pleasant ride.

After that, it was up through Salisbury, CT, and then hooking west just near South Egremont, MA. This section through the next control in Hudson, NY, was also a bit of a blur. I was making pretty good time and enjoying myself, but focusing on making it to the next control.

In Hudson, NY, I met Paul in the parking lot of a Stewart’s. The sun was pretty fierce at this point, and there wasn’t much shade in the parking lot. He provided cold drinks and we chatted with him for a bit until another rider showed up.

Not long after cruising onward from Hudson, I heard a loud pop, and my rear tire was drained of all its air in seconds. This was my first long ride with tubeless tires, and I had managed to get a nice, inch long gash on the sidewall of my rear tire. It was impossible to plug, so I threw a tube in it, but the tube was ever so slightly pushing out of the gash. Fortunately, I brought along two tubes, as the first’s valve length wasn’t sufficient for this, new to me rim. With a small hand pump, I managed to get the second tube decently inflated, but not really do an ideal PSI (The next day, I ordered a more appropriate pump).

As I pressed on, I felt a slight bump on each rotation of the wheel. I had to stop a few more times and pump more air into it until it was fully seated. Initially, I was worried that the gash was too big and that putting too much air in would expand it. But after a few more hours of riding, around landing in Red Hook, NY, I had started to regain trust in the tire and tube and their ability to carry me home, and I was able to loosen up a bit.

The highlights in this segment included the approach to Poughkeepsie, NY, which included crossing a few pedestrian bridges, and a break from the road on the Dutchess Rail Trail.

Eventually, I made it to Fishkill, NY, which was the penultimate control. There, I chatted and snacked (Coconut paletas) with a few folks, including Tak who was visiting from San Francisco and riding the 600K, and I ended up cruising along with him until the other side of the Bear Mountain Bridge.

The remainder of the ride was a bit of a slog, partially due to riding the same roads and also due to the fact that it was approaching midnight. I had only managed to sleep an hour or two the night before, followed by the three-hour drive to the start. I put some Fela Kuti on, took it easy, and eventually made it back at around 12:30 a.m.

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