Trip Report: Fall Rides (& Vibes) Were Immaculate in New York

In October, I flew back east for a trip to New York, where I'd lived for almost 10 years.

But I have a big cycling event coming up in November, so I had to figure out a way to keep 'training' – even if, in my context, training is casual and not regimented at all. So, in classic 'let's make a busy trip even busier!' fashion, I flew my bike back to New York with me, and to be honest: it was a fun time. I rode a bunch, both in and out of the city, and went on some immaculate fall rides (h/t my favorite NYC weather account, @nymetroweather). We visited at the perfect time because vibes and weather for our trip were both sky high, 10/10.

I have no idea how to start describing this trip because we did SO MUCH and were in so many places.

We stayed in Brooklyn for a week, catsitting one of our favorite cats, Perilla. We shared food and laughs with so many friends. We finally attended "Sleep No More," an interactive theatrical reimagining of MacBeth. I went to my old OrangeTheory gym where I'd spent hundreds of hours, and it felt like I'd never left.

After a week in Brooklyn, we took the Amtrak to Saratoga Springs, where my friends Johan and Laura were getting married. It was essentially a mini college reunion for me, and so fun to see some of my oldest friends again (🫶). We spent the weekend in Saratoga before jetting off to Las Vegas for the 2024 National Ergonomics Conference. Daniel had been invited as a budding office chair influencer, and me? I was there as a supportive ergonomics WAG (and camerawoman and producer).

As all these friend catchups and exciting events are happening – not to mention working as usual – I'm also trying to keep up my riding. I'm only a month away from my biggest cycling undertaking yet, an 8-day, 400-mile women's cycling rally in Arizona (eek!). So I'm schlepping my bike around, trying to carve out time so I can get some miles in.

This post details two of my longer rides from the trip. Both took place outside of New York City – one in Cold Spring, NY, and the other in Saratoga Springs, NY. There were other shorter rides in New York that were impactful for other reasons, but they're not worth a full breakdown. I'll talk about them later in my post, though.

I had a road ride planned in Las Vegas but scrapped it entirely. A couple of deterrents: it was HOT (high 90s), navigating traffic on the Strip seemed... awful, and I was so sick of packing/unpacking my bike by that point. Yes, I could have overcome all these excuses and gone for a ride anyway, but I didn't, so Vegas was a rest week.

Ride 1: Cold Spring Gravel

SGS24-3: Cold Spring (bailout)

BAILOUT OPTION: You’ll grab food with everybody else at Boyd’s General Store. Then you will switch to this route. It takes the direct paved rout... - 37.1 mi, +3639 ft. Bike ride in Cold Spring, NY

Ride with GPS

Route Overview

• Distance: 37.1 miles
• Elevation Gain: ~3,600 ft.
• Surfaces: 17% unpaved
• Thank you Jason M. for the route! Jason is an old colleague from my very first job in New York. Even though we hadn't been in touch for a long time, I always see him doing all these fun rides and bikepacking trips in the area. When I decided to ride upstate, he was the first person I messaged. Clearly, I asked the right person, as he immediately sent me this Cold Spring route and a library of other awesome-looking rides.

Highlights

• Some of the towns in upstate NY are just so dang charming in the fall. Cold Spring is no different. What a place to cycle: idyllic dirt paths, cute houses, sunlight glinting through leaves of gold, amber, and burnt red. It was incredibly peaceful; I could go long stretches without seeing other humans. I loved the solitude and quiet in such a gorgeous setting.
• To get to Cold Spring, you take the train (Metro-North, Hudson line) from Manhattan. HUGE plus! Convenient, inexpensive, and no need for a car. For the best views on a journey leaving Manhattan, sit on the left hand side of a northbound train.
• I was feeling good at mile 18, so I decided to tack on a bonus 7 mile gravel loop. I'm so happy I did, as that loop was one of my favorite parts of the ride.
• The Appalachian Trail intersects this route! That was cool to see. My first clue to this was a guy trying to hitchhike in Fahnestock State Park. He stuck his thumb at me as I passed, we shared a laugh, and I pedaled away wondering what he was doing there. A few minutes later, I passed a signpost for the AT, and it made a lot more sense.

Route Notes

• The unpaved portion of the route was hard-packed, smooth, and easy to ride. Nothing too technical.
• There is a surprising amount of climbing on this ride. But because it's spread out across the route, it didn't feel that bad. There are definitely a few notable climbs, but it's not like Mt. Tam or Hawk Hill here in SF where you're climbing to a summit. The worst for me was the hill immediately leaving town from the railroad station (the first one of the day). My legs always feel like absolute garbage at the start of a ride, so I hate an early climb.
• I rode this route on a weekday morning so car traffic was minimal. But the cars that passed were zipping by, even in some residential areas. In one of the first neighborhoods I cycled through, a woman out on her lawn warned me, "Be careful! People drive fast here." Some roads on the route do have higher speed limits (up to 55 mph), so I routinely checked over my shoulder for cars.

Ride 2: Saratoga Springs Road

Saratoga Springs - Route From Jason (10/12/2024, 34 miles) | road ride | Komoot

trmao planned an outdoor adventure with komoot! Distance: 56.3 km | Duration: 02:45 h

komoot

Route Overview

• Distance: 35 miles
• Elevation Gain: ~1,500 ft.
• Surfaces: 100% paved (road ride!)

This was a SUPER special ride because I got to ride with Jason Hare, who I hadn't seen in years! Jason was my first manager when I moved to New York and started working for a healthcare tech startup called ZocDoc. Getting that job on his team is what allowed me to move to Brooklyn, arguably changing the trajectory of my life forever. Riding with Jason was definitely not on my bingo card for 2024 (or ever!), but it was such a special way to reconnect and catch up.

Jason is truly one of the most wonderful and supportive humans ever. He is so generous with his experience, positivity, and encouragement, and has a way of making you feel like a million bucks. When I reached out to Jason to let him know I'd be in Saratoga Springs and asked about routes, he immediately offered to put a ride together for me.

He also offered to ride with me if I wanted company. Jason has to slow way down for me, so this was such a kind gesture. I am a mismatched training partner for him, to say the least. To give you an idea of his fitness level, he does Ironmans. (IRONMANS!) Meanwhile, I'm over here putting a bunch of heavy stuff on my bike and fueling my rides with Scandinavian Swimmers and dried mango. I did warn him in advance this was going to be a recovery ride for him, so I think/hope he knew what he was getting into.

Jokes and riding differences aside, I was so grateful to have that time to reconnect with Jason. What a wacky and wonderful life. People from ZocDoc are truly the best. I'm actually realizing now that both of these New York rides wouldn't have happened without ZocDoc. Jason M., who provided the Cold Spring route above, also worked there. As did my best friend Melissa, who I wrote about in my Denver trip report. In short, I guess what I'm saying is ZocDoc is unofficially (and unknowingly) my blog's first sponsor.

Highlights

• It was so fun to see another part of Saratoga Springs! Since we were in town for a wedding, everything else outside of this ride centered around Saratoga's historic district. It was great to explore and see a different side to the city by bike.
• Saratoga National Historical Park (which includes Saratoga Battlefield) was a definite highlight of the route. A quiet, beautiful place to ride on a Saturday morning.
• Good company always makes a ride fly by. This 35-mile ride felt short, probably because we talked nearly the whole ride. I bet the same route would have felt longer, harder, and more intimidating on my own. As someone that prefers running alone, it's been eye opening to see the benefits of group riding. Riding with others is WAY more fun, plus it's easier to go faster and further.
• After finishing, I actually learned from Strava that this was my third longest ride to date. And I wasn't gassed! I felt like I had more in the tank. Neat to see (and feel) firsthand how I've gotten stronger over the last few weeks of consistent riding.

When I'm back in New York, my body knows. I slip back into the city like I'm slipping on an old familiar bathrobe, before I'm even aware of what's happening. My gait quickens. I move with intention. My RBF returns. I remember which subway exits will deposit me closest to my destination.

It's easy for me to go on auto-pilot when I'm back in the city. I've walked these streets a million times. Every neighborhood is chock full of memories, whether from my regular commute or a drunken 2 AM night out with friends. I can easily wind up back in the past.

So this time, to have my bike... well, my bike is undeniably a symbol of my present. I wasn't a cyclist when I lived in New York. The traffic, pedestrians, and congestion of the streets had always deterred me from cycling in the city. I preferred the control of being on my own two feet.

So, this visit felt different. This time, I rode my bike. I looped the park that kept me sane during COVID, circling two, three, four, five times. I rode my bike alone. I rode my bike to catch up with old friends. I rode my bike while catching up with old friends. I took my bike on the subway. I took my bike on the train. I hauled my bike through JFK Airport, through Penn Station, onto Amtrak. It felt like an extension of me in many ways. I racked up over 100 miles in New York, and I felt like a city biker.

I actually find myself thinking about those shorter, city rides a lot. I think it's because, on those more casual rides, I get to play 'pretend' with New York again. Maybe this is what my life would be like if I lived here and I was a cyclist. Maybe this would be a regular Wednesday commute for me. New York conjures my past. It was surprising and refreshing to speculate about a future here. It never crossed my mind to do that before. I never considered going back.

On the return from Cold Spring, I got caught up in the rush hour commute back to Brooklyn from Grand Central Terminal. Once I hit the bike lane on Second Ave, I joined a school of eclectic people. We were all coming or going from different places: people heading home from the office, parents with cargo bikes, delivery boys. But we also all the same, funneling down Manhattan on our two wheels. I fell into line with them.

Somewhere in Lower Manhattan, we hit the milled portion of Second Avenue. Work crews had removed the top layer of paved asphalt, leaving behind a rutted road. We all slowed down as we bounced and jostled towards the Manhattan Bridge. The Citibikes around me made a cacophony of mechanical clacking, their riders hanging on for dear life. It looked like they were all working jackhammers. I actually started laughing out loud at the absurdity of the situation. How is this the bumpiest part of my entire day?And while I was laughing at the hilarity and backwardness of the situation, I was laughing in happiness, too. Because who would have thought I'd ever be here? On my cute blue speckled bike, returning from Cold Spring, riding down this unpaved, torn up road in Manhattan. This was my present in New York, and it was an incredible place to be.