Fall foliage, fresh local produce, and the scenic roads of the Hudson Highlands – that’s the winning combination of the Forest Ride. This year’s bicycle ride to support the Black Rock Forest Consortium has a new name and new options for shorter rides and other exciting activities, but it still promises beautiful scenery, incomparable camaraderie, and abundant support over the Columbus Day weekend, October 10-12. With summer coming, now’s the time to sign up as a rider and get in shape!
The Forest Ride offers bicyclists four options: a three-day ride of either 150 or 185 miles, and a one-day ride on Sunday of either 100 miles or 62 miles (a century or “metric century”). All cyclists will start and end their rides at Black Rock Forest and travel over country roads, enjoying the peak of fall foliage and sweeping Hudson Valley views.
Three-day riders will gather at the Forest by 8:30 on Saturday morning (the Ride organizers will help cyclists arrange transportation for themselves and their bikes). The first day’s ride will be a 25-mile warm-up, followed by lunch, an ecologist-guided hike in the Forest, and dinner at a private Hudson Valley estate, the home of a friend of Black Rock Forest, before spending the night in the award-winning Forest Lodge.
On Sunday, the one-day riders join the group, for either 62 or 100 miles through the hills of Orange County and up through the Hudson Highlands to the Catskills and back. On Monday, the three-day cyclists will break up their 60-mile ride with visits to local farms for samples of super-fresh produce and cheeses, ending with a victory celebration at an organic vineyard.
This year’s ride is produced by Global Impact Productions, which has successfully organized fundraising bicycle rides for a variety of not-for-profit groups. They will provide complete support for the riders, including “oases” with snacks, water, sports drinks, stretching advice, bike techs, medical assistance, and lots of cheering, as well as signage, sweep vehicles, and more. Together, the Consortium and Global Impact are seeking volunteers for this crew, as well as cheerleading and other activities; more information about volunteering, as well as riding, is available on the ride’s web site.
The Forest Ride is a fundraising ride, so participants must raise at least $1800 from family and friends for the three-day ride or $900 for the one-day ride. Riders can take advantage of fundraising assistance, training, and bike tech advice.
“That a busy working mother of two elementary school students was able not only to complete the challenge of the ride, but also to thoroughly enjoy the experience, is a testament to the wonderful support and camaraderie provided by the event organizers, volunteers, and bikers,” says Forest Ride co-chair Lisbeth Uribe, a School at Columbia teacher. Other co-chairs are Bill Kelly, Jim Bixler, Justine Yeung, Scott Wood, and Bill Schuster.
So visit www.forestride.org and start training for an unforgettable experience that will help support education and other activities in Black Rock Forest
