All these years, I’ve had it in my head that I love fall riding because it comes at the end of a long season of racing. Just as the crisp air rolls in and the leaves start to change, I breathe a sigh of relief that I made it through another season of racing unscathed (and usually with impressive palmares for the team to boot). But, even without a full season of racing in the rearview mirror (and with the world seemingly falling apart), it turns out that fall riding is still the best riding. Matt, Lisa, and I experienced just that this past Sunday. 

After checking the foliage maps and opting to be more adventurous than our relatively short leaf peep ride last year, we headed north to Westchester. Matt chose the route: a figure-8ish 50 mile loop starting at a cute coffee shop in North Salem. Weaving through back roads, gravel roads, steep climbs, and an OFF LIMITS trail (shhh), we clocked in at 4 hours with 4,718 feet of climbing. Although I spent most of the ride trying to keep up with Lisa on the climbs (and consequently feeling like I was having a heart attack), it was simply a gorgeous day of riding. I might opt for my cx bike next time I do this route, as we rolled over some roads with some pretty big boulders leading to a couple of flats. But most of the roads were delightful, and we even managed to find that elusive “Goldilocks gravel.” 

We hit up a farm on the way home and loaded up on apples, squash, cider, and of course, fresh cider donuts (the other best part of fall riding).

And, of course, because it’s the best, it never lasts long enough. Colder temps and black ice will be here before too long. Friends, make sure you get out there and enjoy some fall rides before it’s too late!