Quaker Ridge

Description: Southeast Dutchess County, NY and adjoining Connecticut. 45 miles, hilly  (3300 vertical feet). 49 miles with Variation A. 31 miles, if finish at Dover Plains and use Metro-North train to get back to the start (Variation B).  This requires obtaining a Metro-North bicycle permit in advance.  60 miles, hilly, with the finish to Brewster station. 

Highlights:  Lots of beautiful scenes on quiet back roads.  Ken Guyer introduced us to this gem.  It's a good example of the kind of rides you can experience by joining the Mid-Hudson Bicycle Club.

Characteristics:  One long hill, and lots of smaller hills.  Mostly quiet roads, but some high-speed / high-traffic segments.

Hill climbs:  Total uphill climbing is about 3300 vertical feet.  The longest climb is about 800 vertical feet at an average grade of 2.6% (including some short non-climbing "rest" segments) -- but one steep segment of this on Quaker Hill Rd goes to about 7% grade for 150 vertical feet.

Variation A:  This adds 200 vertical feet of climbing. 

Variation B:  If you end the route at 31 miles at Dover Plains, total climbing is about 2100 vertical feet). 

Finish to Brewster:  This adds about 1100 vertical feet, including about a section of 150 vertical feet at about 8% grade and another section of 100 vertical feet at 7%. 

Downhills:  There are some long steep downhills.

Traffic:  We've found this to have a somewhat lower traffic interaction risk than most other routes on this website.  We found the few segments on high-speed roads to be reasonably manageable.