# Suggestions for Greenwood Lake area ride?



## Rash Larue (Oct 11, 2007)

I'll be staying in Mahwah on business with a day to kill in the week of August 16. I'll be driving up from Maryland and will have my road bike with me. 

Anybody care to share local knowledge on hilly rides around Greenwood Lake or elsewhere nearby? I should have time for a 50 miler or so, and I'll ride out from Mahwah rather than bike out of there, especially if someone can suggest a good parking area/starting point.

Thanks for any help you can give me.


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## lennon2666 (Jul 17, 2009)

If you want a ride where vehicle traffic isn't so busy, I would say everywhere around Greenwood Lake/Sterling Forest. Skyline Drive to the southeast is quite a climb, but traffic can be heavy, even when it's not "rush hour". Otherwise, West Milford has some decent tarmac, and I've rarely been there and seen vehicular traffic get intense. Wawayanda area is also nice.

Final thing I'll say is there are a lot of backroads that can make for a hilly ride, though some roads aren't super well kept. The area is your oyster. Enjoy.


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## fiddlers25 (Aug 15, 2009)

what i usually do is park at a shopping center on Rt23 just west of 287. you can see where it is at the start of this route: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/pompton-wanaque

there are a couple of good hills on this route include Skyline. i only do Skyline on Sunday, i've heard it gets kind of busy at other times.

there are more hills if you head to upper greenwood lake, or just north of Greenwood lake on Rt 17 or just off 17 there on Kain Rd.


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## Rash Larue (Oct 11, 2007)

Thanks for the advice. I'm here this afternoon, finishing up a little work and won't have quite as much time as I expected.

I'm fixing to do about 35 miles, starting at Ringwood State Park.

Here's the overview:

View attachment 175222


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## lennon2666 (Jul 17, 2009)

How was it, Rash?


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## Rash Larue (Oct 11, 2007)

Well, when I drove by the entrance to Ringwood SP, I didn't like the road conditions -- too much traffic, no shoulder, too many potholes. So I followed my projected route by car over to lower Greenwood Lake, and by then it was raining, so I drove around the two lakes and liked the looks of those roads, parked in the lot at the A&P, and, when the rain quit, I put in at Union Valley Road and Elm Street (blue push pin on the map below). I headed up over the hill and around the upper lake, then back down and around the lower lake, and then back up the hill one more time, to the intersection of Warwick Trnpk and Lake Shore Drive (point 7 on the map), where I turned around and came back down to the start.

Overall, it was a great ride, not as long as I planned, but with monstrous total climb -- over 3700 feet for a 31.3 mile ride. Funny thing is, it really didn't feel that hard, and I finished in 2:02, about 15.4 mph, which is better than I usually do with that much climb. 

I'm not sure why I did it so fast (for me) or why it didn't seem at all difficult. Couple of theories. I usually ride early in the morning, and this ride started at 4:45 pm -- maybe I'm stronger then? Or, I've been riding a lot of intentionally hilly routes -- torturing myself up and down the river valley around here -- in prep for a hilly century in September. Maybe that's working? Or, the profile of this ride was two longish climbs separated by a lot of easier riding -- that sort of profile might be easier to make time on then a lot of up and down, up and down? At any rate, I expected that Warwick trnpk climb to be more grueling than it was.

Thanks for asking!

View attachment 175411


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