Day 2 The Berkshires

Day 2 of the bike vacation found us still feeling good from the previous run up Greylock. Today we headed down to the town of Great Barrington for a ride around the Berkshires. I had gotten most of the roads for this ride from the Road Biking Massachusetts book. My original plan was for a 50 mile ride but I shortened it to 44 miles and took out a few hills to make it a little easier. I was a little stiff from the Greylock ride but after about 10 miles was feeling good. This ride was mostly rolling hills with only a couple of steep spots. The ride is a south/north loop between two mountain ranges. The weather was perfect. It was in the mid 70s, light winds and scenic views in all directions. After climbing Cooper Hill, which was the toughest hill of the day, We had some really views of the surrounding landscape. We then had a 5 mile loop that brought us into Connecticut and pass Ashley Falls (we didn't actually see the falls since they require a hike to see them).

 From Ashley falls we headed north pass Mt Everett, one of the tallest mountains in the area, before finding a deli in South Ergemount for a break. We continued on pass some nice farmland and some rolling hills.We hit a couple of unexpected dirt roads along the way. The Road Biking Massachusetts didn't mention anything about the dirt roads but neither of them was a problem since they where very hard packed dirt that lasted less than a mile before turning back to asphalt.

The last part of the ride was the hilliest part as we went around a mountain's called Tom's Peak. The climbs were in the 3% range so not too bad and we past by some interesting houses that were definitely own by artists as there were some interesting sculptures in the front yards.

We had some nice down hills as we headed back down into Great Barrington and back to the cars. After the ride we headed to West Stockbridge for lunch on our way to Kingston. There wasn't much to the town but we manage to find a new cafe that had some amazing salads and sandwiches. It was a nice find.

Two hours later we were in Kingston at the Roadway Inn. This was your normal sub standard hotel but was good enough for a couple of nights. After checking in and getting settled we headed into Kingston for dinner. The outskirts of town reminded me a little of Paterson NJ so I was concerned that we won't find a place we would want to stop to eat but once we got to the water front it was much nicer. We ate at a Italian restaurant that had really good food then stopped at a Stewards for ice cream before heading back to the room.

So today we had a good ride, two really good means and ice cream. All in all a good day. 

Mt Greylock.

Click Here for More Pictures from the Trip

Mount Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts (3491 ft) and a popular place to get a view of the Berkshires. The state park that contains Greylock has a lot of great hiking trails as well as a road to get you to the top where you can see the landscape of the surrounding three states on a clear day. Most normal people take a car to the the top to see the view but if you are a biker that likes to climb, Greylock is usually on your list of mountains you want to conquer.

This year my annual bike trip took us up to the Berkshires with the goal of climbing Greylock. I had been thinking of climbing Greylock for years and had looked at the profile of the climb. Basically you start at 1600 ft and 8 miles later you are at 3491 ft so you have to climb just under 2000 ft. If you look at the route we took you can see the profile of the ride. The climb comes in two parts. There is the profile of the first 3 miles where you ride up past the visitors center. This part starts out steep in the 10-12% range then levels off to around 5-6% before flatting out for a couple of miles. The last part to the profile to the summit looks like more or less a constant 6% climb.

I spend a lot of time planning rides and looking at elevation profiles to decide how hard a ride will be. I knew that ride up Greylock was doable. What I didn't know how hard it would really be since I don't do long climbs on a regular basis. Each ride and climb has its own character that can't be measure by elevation gain or grade. In order to understand a climb you have to experience it. I know this sounds a little zen but as those of us that ride know there are hills of the same grade that feel totally different. That is why we climb, not to prove that we can are strong enough to do a tough climb but to gain an experience and understanding of what if feels like to conquer a hill. The truth is that climbing Greylock was a very enjoyable experience that wasn't as hard as it looked.

The climb up Greylock started from our 2 bedroom condo in Jiminy Peak where Cheryl, Ron and I started. As we turned out of our condo complex onto the rode we had an unexpected climb for about a mile before heading down into the valley. Along the way we picked up an former Princeton Free Wheeler DaveF who drove over from Saratoga where he lives now.

We didn't have much of a warm up before we entered state park and started the climb up Greylock. As the profile suggested the first mile and a half was a little steep and although I spent most of the climb in my triple I didn't really have to strain that much to make it up to the visitor's center which is 2 miles into the climb. I know Cheryl and Ron where concerned with the length and steepness of the climb but ground up the hill with out much complaint.

Eventually we all made it up the visitor's center where DaveF was parked. He has been a little under the weather so he decided to end his ride here and just sag in his car the rest of the way. After a quick break we continued up the hill which varied between 3-6% for the next couple of miles. After this we had a down hill followed by some flatter sections.

Then we hit the last 3 miles to the summit. This was a more or less constant 6% grade which was a grind but we all settled into a comfortable pace and worked our way up. Alone the way we stop a couple of times to enjoy the view since it was a clear day.

Dave rode ahead in his car and took pictures of us on the way up. I don't have any of the pictures that he took but will post them when I get them.

The last half mile to the summit was a left hand corkscrew that gave us full view of the surrounding areas. Like all high scenic views there is no way to capture the detail and vast landscape on the type of camera that I was dragging up the hill. Trust me through it was a spectacular view.

At the summit we took the required picture by the sign showing we all made it up to the top then spent a few minutes walking around the admiring the view before heading down hill. Before the ride I was actually more concerned with the downhill then the climb because it is steeper and from what I had read the road really wasn't in good shape.

Luckily for us that had recently repaved the road so it was a smooth downhill ride for the most part. The only problem was the BEAR! we saw just below the summit. The bear was in the shadows on the side if the road so it looked like a large garbage bag until we got closer. It was a small brown bear that quickly disappeared into the woods as it saw us so I could not get off a picture.

The north side of the mountain that we descended is a little steeper than the way we came up with some hairpin turns of 17%. Our hands did get a little tired of squeezing the brakes on the 7 mile decent so we stopped once a few miles from the bottom to rest our hands and let our rims cool off.

Once we left the park the road turn to crap with a lot of pot holes but the grade wasn't as steep so it was bearable. We got a great view of the top of Greylock as we passed by a lake. When I saw the view I couldn't believe that we had actually made it up there.

We stopped in Willamstown for our break in a nice coffee shop. We ended up being there a while as we wanted to catch up with DaveF.

The hardest part of the whole ride was the last 10 miles back to the condo. It was mostly up hill but that wasn't the problem since it was a very shallow grade. What made it hard was at that point I realized that my legs were a little shot from all the climbing. It was also in the mid 80s and sunny so it felt hot.

All it really meant is that we were a little slow getting back to the condo. The weather was still nice so after a brief rest we headed out to the unheated pool, then the heated pool and finally the hot tub to sooth our tired legs.

By the time we got back from dinner I was feeling no worst than I do after a normal hilly ride. In fact I think I actually felt better than normal since I now can say I've been up Greylock and it wasn't that bad.