Distance 21.6
Elevation Gain 1374 ft
Start/Finish – Saranac Central School

This little ride initially was focused on Priest Rd which The Wrench believed to be of Mountain Goat caliber. Well, much like everything else in life, all is relative. The third member of our trio was a highly motivated cyclist who I’ll call The Schoolmaster. I’m not sure about The Wrench, but I believe The Schoolmaster might be someone who appreciates self-flagellation by bike.

The evening was warm and earlier threat of thunderstorms did not materialize. Riding with new people is always interesting. There’s the social aspect, but also the physical and mental aspect of casual-competitive group-riding. Sometimes I wish we could leave the chatting part for a different setting as I find it sometimes can be distracting and possibly dangerous. Fortunately we enjoy relatively trafficless roads around here. I could go on about this aspect of riding, but it might start sounding gay – not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Saranac Ramble – Priest Rd – Pup Hill Rd

(Full Size Map)

The ride started at the Saranac Central School parking lot at Picketts Corners. Not a bad spot to start a ride, don’t really like to ride on Route 3, but we were all big boys and willing to play road warrior. Old habits die hard and I rode the front toward Moffitsville and True Brook Rd. Keeping things conservative, it wasn’t long before the chatting behind me began to resemble vultures hovering behind my rear wheel. Luckily, the start of True Brook Rd quickly arrived and we made a quick stop for water at the “bathtub”. We didn’t stop long. With little time to enjoy the babble of True Brook, we arrived shortly to the bottom of Priest Rd, the alleged Mountain Goat Climb.

I had never ridden this road before. And it turns out The Wrench had only reconnoitnered “sometime in the past” by car. It was a hill, fun and all, but we were not satisfied. The Schoolmaster suggested Pup Hill Rd. Oh yeah! At the bottom of Priest Rd, we toured the backstreets of Redford and crossed over Route 3 to Wilson Rd. This short bit was pleasant and returned us back to Route 3 for a rapid descent back to Moffitsville and the bridge over to Pup Hill Rd. Nice.

Pup Hill Rd actually climbs the side of Russia Mt. and the origin of those names escapes me at the moment. Some great enthusiastic action and another quick descent back to Redford. If we had more time and inclination we could have stopped for a meal at the Redford Diner. The return leg basically was the reverse of the beginning. Over Priest Rd and down True Brook Rd to Route 3. Very shortly we were back at the parking lot of the school. (BTW, I was willing to be the caboose, but somehow ended up locomotive again)