Took a ride down to New Paltz this morning to check out the bike. New Paltz is a nice little town and when I rolled in I remembered being there before. A former girlfriend and I went down to visit some wineries and I remembered that while we were driving around I had remarked it would be fun to ride some of the climbs there. Well today I got my chance. They even have a place in town (Mexacali Blues, yes this seems a little bit like a hippy town to me) that sells fish tacos. Sweet. I was in a hurry, and I had some homemade chicken Tikka Masala in my car (ladies I can cook too), so no tacos after the ride today. Anyway, the ride.
I parked in town, just off of 299 (make a left at the Groovy Blueberry, just before the small bridge after you drive throught town) on a side street. Don’t drive up to the Mohonk preserve to park, unless you want to pay $10. The lot also may be full anyway, since the Mohonk is one of the premier rock climbing spots in the USA.
Rode out 299 from town. I pass Butterfield road on my right which is where you make the right hand turn from, onto 299 as you near the finish of a loot, so I am now on the course. 299 has no shoulder and gets a good bit of traffic, so not great for riding, but this is the only part of the course with no shoulder and/or much traffic of any kind. Up to the 44/55 intersection the road is sort of a stairstep climb (like the ride from Whiteface back to town at Placid), with flats and sections of 3-4% grade. Not too bad. When I got to 44/55 I knew I was on the course so that is where I started my lap. There is a little Deli/store here and it is the only place on the loop to buy anything, so if you need water/gatorade, this is where to get it.
Start up route 44/55 3-5% grade and the Mohonk preserve (the actual transition area) is about 1/2 mile in. Soon a 180 switchback. After about 8 minutes the climb crests and there are some down hill sections as you climb to the real crest an Minnewaka state park. It takes 21 minutes to hit the park. Now a long somewhat windy downhill, easily 40 mph, great views of the valley. Several miles and then the road sweeps to the right about 90 degrees. Maybe a mile to the first turn (Granite Rd), this is a 180 turn so better slow down.
Granite is long and meandering mostly flat, only saw one car in 5 or 6 miles. Road ends at a stop sign and you make a right onto Towpath. Road narrows a bit a few hills up and down. Kind of desolate, but cool scenery (This is where you would expect to see headless horsemen). This road winds quite a bit, so you need to pay attention. Again only one car in 5-6 miles. It ends at Rt 6 and you make a right.
Route 6 is basically about six miles of climbing, with the last 2-3 miles a steady 6-7% grade with a few 8% spots maybe. By the top of the climb I was working a little bit riding the 25 and out of the saddle. Max heart rate was only 152, but for three times up this, a 27 or compact cranks would be a good idea. Creat at the Mountain house. Couple of miles of steep winding descent. Then a stop sign (on a pretty steep grade, be carefull) and right onto Butterfield, mostly flat back to 299, where you do the stairstep climb back to the start of the loop.
It took 1:36. I raced an Olympic distance yesterday hard (so I was tired when I started the ride) and did not push the ride today, but I think three laps at this pace would be a very respectable bike split. I decided to do the climb back up to the state park one more time, to see how it feels the second time. Feels a little harder this time and it takes 22 minutes (+1 minute). Ride all the way back to town, for a total of 2:44 (roughly half the climbing, so say 3500’ on the day). A recovery day Dev Paul would be proud of.
Thoughts.
27 or compact cranks good idea.
Need to ride the first lap very easy.
There is only one longer climb (2-3 miles on rt 6), everthing else is shorter 3-6 minute climbs with flats or downhills mixed in.
A road bike with clip-ons might be better than a tri bike. There is a lot of fast descending and the course is relatively meandering. My Cervelo is about 3 pounds lighter than my road bike and stiffer in the bottom bracket, so I will be riding a tri bike if I race.
Very scenic, road surface is good.
New Paltz looks like a cool place to visit.
That, and the fact that I could fish the SC version, and still have time (and energy) to do some rock climbing afterwards.