I live near NYC and bike in Harriman State Park just about every weekend. I’m going to Harriman on Saturday, but I was thinking of a change of pace for Sunday. I prefer very rural roads with little to no traffic. I was thinking of taking a long drive to Pennsylvania Dutch Country or maybe the Pocanos and riding there. Any advice? Any other suggestions for good riding within 2-2 1/2 hours of NYC?
nyc to bear mountain & back, classic NYC ride. plenty of other people suffering on that route during the weekends…about ~130 mi (depends on where you start and who you ask)
if you have a good (german) car - you can make it to the finger lakes region (120 mph avg). especially lake canandagua - great cycling!!!
all kinds of terrains other than pancake flat 
it’s probably out of your zone of interest but if you’re interested - check out the highlander tour !
I live near NYC and bike in Harriman State Park just about every weekend. I’m going to Harriman on Saturday, but I was thinking of a change of pace for Sunday. I prefer very rural roads with little to no traffic. I was thinking of taking a long drive to Pennsylvania Dutch Country or maybe the Pocanos and riding there. Any advice? Any other suggestions for good riding within 2-2 1/2 hours of NYC?
http://www.nycc.org/rl_db/ride.aspx?id=142
Lebanon 52. 6,600’ of climbing in 52 miles, and not a single traffic light! Little to no traffic (not that many cars can get up Mount Lebanon 
on nearly the entire route. Only two chances to get water, however, so plan ahead. My best time for the route is just under 3:20 (15.8mph), so be warned.
Probably less than an hour from NYC, depending on getting in/out of the city.
To my mind, just about ANY place in New York is good for cycling, simply because almost all roads seem to have ample shoulders. Here in Ontario, safe shoulders are few and far between, and so I covet New york roads!
There are some pretty good roads in northern Westchester, around Mt. Kisco, Armonk, Bedford, Chappaqua, and north. You can start in N. White Plains and take the old White Plains Post Road (Rte. 22 if I recall correctly, and then just keep going on any number of other roads. The traffic has gotten a lot worse there though since I used to live there. The shoulders are mixed - good on some roads, narrow on others).
There is also good riding in Connecticut, near Danbury, for example.
Ithaca is awesome, but that’s about 4 hours.
Northern Westchester may have more traffic than you like. I ride the roads mentioned a couple of times a week and unless I start early they can get pretty busy. With that said, the shoulders are ok. Also, from Route 22 in N. White Plains you can quickly get to the section of CT that shoots out by the Westchester County Airport. You can go as far as New Canaan without running into too much traffic. I find the roads out there about as empty as the roads I grew up on in rural Ohio. If you ride in Harriman, I’d recommend just shooting across the TZ some weekend and at least checking it out.
Seperate question…
Do you know if the lake is open(life guards) for swimming at Harriman, I think it’s Lake Sebago??
I’m looking to get out of the city on Sunday and heading up to Harriman for the hills and the lake.
Thanks,
Jonathan
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i was there today and they were setting up the lifeguard station and ropes at Tiorati. I assume that Welch and Sebago will be open too.
JC