Gunks rest days: Road or MTB Bike

Headed to the Gunks next week. Should I bring a Road or MTB bike for non climbing days?

The road biking in the area is spectacular. Long straight flats, even longer descents, some steep climbs, very scenic, etc.

The mountain biking in the immediate area is kind of blah (mostly flat carriage roads with families riding hybrids on slicks), especially if you only stick to trails where MTB is actually permitted. There is some stuff further out, but you can hop on your road bike next to your tent and instantly be on a great ride.

The main road (RT 44/55) through the area has a lot of sharp turns at 45-55MPH. It wouldn't be a good place to assert your right to the road, if you know what I mean. As long as you stay near the side and don't cruise two or three deep you won't have problems. I see alot of angered bikers who literally almost get killed daily on the road below the Uberfall. They just don't care or aren't aware of the speed of the traffic in both directions. Last Sunday two bikers were taking up the entire lane and one of them almost got clobbered, then was cursing out the driver of the vehicle who IMO hadn't done anything wrong. Self righteousness will only get you killed cycling.

This time of the year the traffic isn't bad, but from May --> September you wouldn't catch me riding any of those roads with a bike. My $0.02

Fwiw, I don't bike much. There's just not a lot of good trails and I guess I'd rather just climb.

Sorry for the O/T rant!

There's also Peterskill if you want to do some top roping and rest from leading.

Bring your hiking shoes and go to the Catskills. Well, that's what I would do. I was raised in them hills so I'm a bit partial.

Adam Paashaus wrote:Bring your hiking shoes and go to the Catskills. Well, that's what I would do. I was raised in them hills so I'm a bit partial.

That's a VERY good idea. Tons of FREE public lands within 30-60 minutes drive from Mohonk.

Peter Erin wrote:Headed to the Gunks next week. Should I bring a Road or MTB bike for non climbing days?

I like road biking out there - what are you looking for? There is flat, scenic riding around Ashokan Reservoir. There is some climbing too (44/55 from Rt 209 climbs ~1200' in ~5.5 miles and passes an overlook on the way past Peterskill to the West Trapps; Mountain Rest Rd climbs ~1000' in ~3.3 miles up to the Mohonk Mountain House).

This ride is about 35 miles and includes both of those climbs. We started from a parking lot in New Paltz, but you can start near the preserve and cut a little bit off. We also went down 44/55 where we intersected from Granite Rd so we could have more climbing.

This ride started and ended the same, but we added Ashokan Reservoir. Ashokan Rd was nice, and the trail along the reservoir was a neat place to ride. There was a port-o-potty there at the time, too. This ride was closer to 60 miles - I think I had some issues with my GPS and the distance and elevation totals were off.

JSH wrote:I'd avoid 44/55 between New Paltz and the cliff due to the touron factor.

I've never had any issues biking it, but I ride on roads a lot and am used to traffic. It was definitely the busiest part of the ride. There is a nice shoulder for the climbing part I mentioned. From New Paltz to the Brauhaus though you will be sharing road.

The rest of the rides I linked are on less busy roads.

If you have any experience as a road cyclist, the roads around the Preserve are neither especially curvy nor too heavy with traffic. It is a fantastic area for road cycling, in my experience.

Take a look at this website:

Bike Hudson Valley-- Roberts

Go to the section on the New Paltz area:

New Paltz rides

There are great flat rides and hill rides. Every time I rent a house in the area I go for a couple of hill rides. Love it.

There are plenty of good country roads around NP, but I would avoid Rt 299 if you can. Lousy shoulders and lots of traffic. You should have no trouble avoiding 99% of it. I see someone already posted some good links.

For Mt. biking, head down to Stewart State Forest (AKA Stewart Airport) in Newburgh for lots of single and double track. If it is rainy, stick to the Mohonk and Minnewaska carriage roads. Stewart will likely be a mud pit. Here's some info on Stewart: Stewart State Forest

Kathy

I almost forgot about Lippman Park in Warwarsing, not far from the Gunks. Some very technical trails in there.