With the warm weather holding out for a few more days, today presented us with a golden opportunity to ride one of my favorite routes, Guymard Turnpike. A road ride, Guymard is on the New York side and we would have to navigate some traffic to get across the bridge.

I met up with Eric and Mike at Action Bikes and Outdoor (the premeiere bicycle and outdoor store in the tri state area), right in the heart of town. We headed out north on Rt. 209 and dodged some midday traffic, enabling us to make our way over the Port Jervis Bridge.

Going under the train  tressel, we hung a left on Pike Street and weaved our way through the City of Port Jervis and over to Rt. 209, a secondary highway that connects Port Jervis with eastern Orange County, NY. Passing the Horse farm by Neversink Drive, we continued on Rt. 209 another few miles and turned right on Guymard Turnpike.

Guymard is a quiet back country road. It runs from 209 over to Old Mountain Road. Starting out, Guymard is a false flat for about a mile as it passes the KOA Camp Ground and goes over the bridge turning right and bears left. As it bears left, the hill steepens and twist and turns for 2+ miles. As you cap the hill and head down the backside, you are treated to a spectacular view of the Shawangunk Mountain range.

After a short descent, we turned right on Old Mountain Road. Old Mountain is another secondary road with not much traffic, but the cars do move pretty fast. Old Mountain Road is a true blacktop rollercoaster. Momentum carries you over hill after hill until you reach Rt. 6, where the steepest part of the ride begins. Turning right on Rt. 6, you are immediately hit with a half mile of uphill pedaling. With our already tired legs, we capped the hill and enjoyed a 3 and 1/2 mile descent, dropping us right at the border of Montague, NJ and Port Jervis, NY.

Turning right into Port Jervis and Left onto River Road and back into Montague, we made our way toward the Milford Bridge. River Road is another rollercoaster, stretching 6 miles through farmland. It ends right at the intersection of Deckertown Turnpike, Rt. 206, Old Mine Road and the Milford Bridge. The bridge, as I’ve written previously, has a steel bike path 5 feet lower than the vehicle lanes, passing over the Delaware River. Once back in Milford, we relaxed and enjoyed some java at the Frisky Goat Cafe. With 35+ miles and 2,388 feet of elevation, this ride is challenging enough for the fittest riders and scenic enough for the most casual riders.