Tour de Taconics

Saturday, a friend and I took Metro North's Harlem line to the last stop - Wassaic, NY - and set off on a route that would feature a double ascent of the Taconics: east-to-west, then west-to-east. Unpaved both ways. Plus a formidable hardpack climb in Columbia County on the ride back to the train.

The route was a combination of roads I'd scouted earlier this fall, with about 16 miles of dirt over the 81-mile ride. We kept a good pace and didn't stop much... not many photos from this ride. But topo maps provide apt illustration.

Mt. Riga Road - mile 16

The start of this climb in Salisbury, CT is punctuated by a large stone water fountain - top off those bottles! The road starts paved but soon turns to dirt, rising moderately alongside the Wachocastinook Creek. After a while the grade tips up; a one-mile segment mid-climb averages about 9%.

After 3.5 miles you've gained 1000', and turn onto Mt. Washington Rd heading north into Massachusetts. This rocky dirt road gains another 300' before turning to rollers along the top of the ridge. 

Part of the road is closed to car traffic in winter. They don't mess around up here:


After the twisty descent past Bash Bish Falls back into New York, we started the next climb.

Sunset Rock Road - mile 31

This west-to-east beast starts out tame, with a mild incline up North Mountain Rd from Copake Falls. After a mile and a half, you make a right on Sunset Rock Rd: unpaved from the start, it socks you immediately.

This road doesn't have the good sense to follow a creek up a valley in the ridge - it just goes straight up: 12% average for 1.2 miles - with some pitches in the high teens. The road surface is in great shape - almost groomed; that's the one one break you catch on this climb.

We looped around to lunch in West Copake... then on to the last big climb of the day.

Over Mountain Road - mile 55

Seven miles of fabulous rolling Columbia County back roads allowed lunch to settle before we tackled this last monster. When the pavement ends, the grade tips up: around 10% for a little under a mile; the total gain for the climb is about 600'. 

The dirt continues a couple miles past the crest. Back on pavement, you come out of the woods onto the crown of a high, pastured ridge with fantastic views: the Taconics just a few miles to the east, and the massive Catskill Escarpment looming on the horizon 25 miles due west.

We hammered the last 20 miles to Dover Plains; a cold beer on the train capped off the day.