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- Apr 1, 2009
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I climbed South Mt. Beacon on my mountain bike today. The elevation gain was somewhere between 1,300' and 1,500'. That's a lot for me.
Since I lost my way a few times, I'll go with 1,500'.
There's not much to say except, for me, it was pretty epic. The ride was about an hour of climbing--yes I took some breaks-- a lot of riding around the top, and some pretty bumpy, fast descending. The whole thing only lasted about 2.5 hours, but it was as exhilarating as it was exhausting.
I was supposed to do this last weekend with a group from the Westchester Mountain Bike Association, but my plans fell through, so I had to do this solo. Probably not that smart. I was forced to take it easy on the descent for fear of ending up a survival story, or even worse.
Unlike hiking, the pics you take when mountain biking are mostly when you stop and rest, not the hot action shots. My wife took my camera, so all these pics are from an I-phone.
Here are the pics.
After the brutal initial dirt road climb I arrived at Beacon Reservoir:
My final destination was South Beacon Mountain. You can see its fire tower in the back ground of this pic:
I had to get around the east side of the reservoir, so I rode my bike across the dam.
After a couple of hundred more feet of climbing on some tougher trails than the dirt road I spent the first hour climbing, I was at the final approach of S. Beacon Mt. and the fire tower. Let me tell you, it was a lot more fun coming back down the slickrock than going up.
The summit with my trusty steed and the Beacon-Newburgh Bridge in the background.
I climbed the tower and took some pics.
The off limits peak of North Beacon Mt. and a view north up the Hudson River:
Looking back to the reservoir at the top of the main climb:
Random pics off to the south from west to east:
Ruins of the old cable railway up North Mt. Beacon:
Random pics of previous hikes I've done from Rt. 9-D along the Hudson on the way back home:
Breakneck Ridge:
Crow's Nest:
Storm King:
Thanks for looking,
BEAN
Since I lost my way a few times, I'll go with 1,500'.
There's not much to say except, for me, it was pretty epic. The ride was about an hour of climbing--yes I took some breaks-- a lot of riding around the top, and some pretty bumpy, fast descending. The whole thing only lasted about 2.5 hours, but it was as exhilarating as it was exhausting.
I was supposed to do this last weekend with a group from the Westchester Mountain Bike Association, but my plans fell through, so I had to do this solo. Probably not that smart. I was forced to take it easy on the descent for fear of ending up a survival story, or even worse.
Unlike hiking, the pics you take when mountain biking are mostly when you stop and rest, not the hot action shots. My wife took my camera, so all these pics are from an I-phone.
Here are the pics.
After the brutal initial dirt road climb I arrived at Beacon Reservoir:
My final destination was South Beacon Mountain. You can see its fire tower in the back ground of this pic:
I had to get around the east side of the reservoir, so I rode my bike across the dam.
After a couple of hundred more feet of climbing on some tougher trails than the dirt road I spent the first hour climbing, I was at the final approach of S. Beacon Mt. and the fire tower. Let me tell you, it was a lot more fun coming back down the slickrock than going up.
The summit with my trusty steed and the Beacon-Newburgh Bridge in the background.
I climbed the tower and took some pics.
The off limits peak of North Beacon Mt. and a view north up the Hudson River:
Looking back to the reservoir at the top of the main climb:
Random pics off to the south from west to east:
Ruins of the old cable railway up North Mt. Beacon:
Random pics of previous hikes I've done from Rt. 9-D along the Hudson on the way back home:
Breakneck Ridge:
Crow's Nest:
Storm King:
Thanks for looking,
BEAN
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i can't trust myself with such an expensive bike given how often i crash.
