Ride the Ridge Bike Challenge

Riders...here is a weekly opportunity to ride, meet some new people, and enjoy a fine ale or two!

CANCELLED: The Ride the Ridge team and High Meadow administration announce that, due to continued Covid case growth in the Hudson Valley, Ride the Ridge 2021 has been canceled. For a longer explanation, please visit www.ridetheridge.org. Thank you for your understanding. Stay safe. Wear a mask. Ride on!

https://www.timesunion.com//New-750-mile-Empire-State-Trai

Does your bike need some TLC? Here's a great event and a way to support the YMCA programs!

Just a (sad) reminder to all you riders out there....

Ride the Ridge is cancelled for 2020. Ride the Ridge is cancelled for 2020.

One of Ride the Ridge's founders reported today that a friend and avid cyclist was killed during a ride after being struck by an SUV. It's a stark and horrible reminder that drivers often aren't aware (or don't care) about cyclists. Always stay vigilantly alert, wear bright clothing, put reflective decals on your helmet, have flashers on the front and rear of your bike, and stay to the side of the road as much as possible. (NOTE: the photo is not the bike involved...it's just an image to demonstrate what can happen)

https://youtu.be/aav7J_S9ji0

In case anyone does decide to ride some of the courses this weekend, a few things you should note: 1. Leggett Road stinks. They are starting to re-pave it and there are sections of loose gravel. Take it slow there! 2. Likewise, the turn off of Lucas onto Berme Road has one nasty spot of loose gravel right at the turn, so if you're coming fast off Lucas and hit the turn, it's risky. ... The rest of the 11 (which is the beginning of the 50) is fine, and the 30 is OK. I'm not sure about any of the rest of the 50; since the pandemic I haven't been on any of those roads. If anyone has a road report, feel free to leave it here. But about the 30... Ashokan Road isn't a smooth as I'd like for an extended downhill, so if you feel so inclined, I would suggest you do it backwards. Go up Ashokan, do the Reservoir and come back down 213. The climb up Ashokan is easier than climbing up 213, I think, and the downhills on 213 are much smoother. Regardless of where you ride this weekend, I hope you ALL get out and Feel The Burn! I'm actually going to take my 16 year old daughter on her first 50 on Sunday, going over the Walkway to Hopewell Junction and back. A few less hills for her first time at that distance, but in a few weeks she will be ready for the Ridge. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

What should we have done? Either yesterday or today, we would’ve had to make a decision about Ride the Ridge based on the weather forecast. Here are the forecasts for Saturday and Sunday. What would you have done? Kept the event on Saturday as planned or moved it to Sunday? Just a reminder, Ride the Ridge has been postponed so there is no ride this weekend! The new date is October 3, 2020.

Having to postpone Ride The Ridge has been so depressing. I had also never removed it from my calendar, so this morning my phone sent me the notification that I have an event coming up this week, which just reminded me AGAIN of how disappointing this all is. But normally the WORST part about organizing and putting on an event like Ride the Ridge is that you can never participate in it. Since it's postponed, and I am not scrambling to get the event ready, I'll ride the 30 tod...ay, and I'lll ride the 50 next weekend anyway! I don't believe I can park in the school parking lot, so perhaps I'll park at the library across the street, or one of the other closed businesses nearby, and for the first time in the 13 years that I've been with Ride The Ridge, I'll actually get to ride the course instead of putting out the signs and troubleshooting. It certainly won't be the same without Paul as DJ and MC, and all the food and kids milling around and the water stops and the WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS who all make it such an amazing event every year! In October, we will ***hopefully*** get to put on that party again. But the 50 mile course is still breathtakingly beautiful, and maybe forgetting to remove it from my calendar was what I needed to remind me to get out there and ride it again! The maps for all the rides are still up on RideTheRidge.org, and I would love to encourage all of you to get out on some of those courses. Again, you can't park at the school, but there is plenty of other parking near the school, and every one of those route is gorgeous. The 30 certainly has some challenging climbs but the Reservoir section and the gorge by Ashokan Rd. make it all so worthwhile! The 11 is mostly a beginner's ride, but it, also, travels along some lovely roads. This pandemic has sidelined, cancelled, or postponed so many rides, races, and events, but the roads are still there and your health and fitness are important! So get out there and ride the ridge, ride the res, or just ride!

A reminder: Ride the Ridge 2020, originally scheduled for later this month, has been rescheduled for October 3, 2020. Until then...stay safe and ride on!

An update on RTR 2020...we are moving the event to the Fall of 2020.

An update about Ride the Ridge 2020 from our Event Chairperson

Did you ride this weekend? Post some photos. Warm weather is here! Whoo-hoo!!