Bash Bish Bash is a 2-day, 1-night, self-contained 5BBC weekend bicycle trip to Dutchess and Columbia Counties, New York, and Bash Bish Falls State Park, Massachusetts. Our ride leaders are Jim Zisfein (jzisfein@yahoo.com) and Manny Sanudo (msanudo@rcn.com). We will also be joined by Time's Up leader Richard Brause, who introduced Jim to this ride.

Information on 5BBC weekend trips, and instructions for signing up for Bash Bish Bash, can be found here.

Trip itinerary and price

On Saturday, August 22, 2009, we will meet at Grand Central Station at 7:15AM and take Metro North Railroad to Patterson. (If you would prefer to get on at 125th St. or Fordham Rd., that can be arranged, but please tell the ride leaders in advance.) We then ride our bikes to Copake Falls, a distance of approximately 50 miles on the acclaimed Harlem Valley Rail Trail and low-traffic country roads. In the Copake Falls area there will be optional activities including a short hike to Bash Bish Falls, a visit to a museum of the industrial history of the region, a bicycle ride up a steep mountain road to a spectacular vantage point, and a refreshing swim in a pond formed from an abandoned iron ore mine. Dinner will be at the historic Taconic Wayside Inn. Our overnight accommodations are in a slightly funky but comfortable lodge with indoor bike parking.

On Sunday, we will pedal 50 miles across the width of Columbia and Dutchess counties from the Taconic Mountains in the east to Poughkeepsie on the Hudson River where we catch the train home. We will stay mostly on low-traffic byways while the mountains give way to rolling hills and the rural countryside gives way to residential suburbs. In the city of Poughkeepsie we will ride a newly paved section of the Dutchess Rail Trail and check out progress on the much-anticipated Walkway Over the Hudson that opens in October. Our ride ends with the best chili you ever ate on an outdoor deck overlooking the Hudson River. You can expect to get home in the early evening.

The trip price of $165 includes accommodations (semi-private room w/communal bath), Saturday night dinner, Sunday morning breakfast, and Metro North train fare.

What if it rains?

The short answer is we're screwed. That's an inherent problem with self-contained group rides: you have to ride from place to place, you can't just hop in a van and go to the movies. (On the other hand, this trip is less than half the cost of our van-supported trips.) The only indoor activities are at the above mentioned ironworks museum, the restaurants we go to, and hanging out at the lodge (there are card tables downstairs).

The longer answer is that your leaders are capable and experienced foul-weather riders who can take just about anything that Mother Nature can dish out. We're not intimidated by a few raindrops and hope that you won't be either. The trip is "rain or shine". Make sure you bring appropriate rain gear. If conditions become extreme, the leaders reserve the right to shorten the ride to 20-25 miles each day from Wassaic to Copake and back; we would forego the segments to Patterson and Poughkeepsie. If you decide not to show up because of weather, we won't be able to make full refunds (the accommodations are prepaid and nonrefundable) but we might be able to make partial refunds for things we didn't buy, like your meal or train ticket.

How to prepare

Bash Bish Bash will not be strenuous by bicycle touring standards. The hills are fairly gentle (except for that optional mountain in Bash Bish Falls State Park), and the pace will be moderate. However, 100 miles is still 100 miles. This should not be your first ride of the year. We suggest that you get out on some 5BBC day rides if you haven't already done so.

We're going to the mountains, but you don't need to bring a mountain bike. Most of the roads we'll be traveling are better than the roads in NYC. The bike you're comfortable with on long distance rides – road bike, hybrid, or touring bike – is the bike to bring on Bash Bish Bash.

Make sure your bike is ready. Do the 2-minute bike check (or have a shop check your bike for roadworthiness). Recheck tire pressure the day before the ride. Remember to bring basic bike repair equipment (at minimum: 2 spare tubes, patch kit, pump, and tire levers) and a water bottle.

Clothing and supplies are best carried in panniers or a rack trunk, although a backpack will suffice. Bring what you need, but don't overpack. Whether it's on your bike or your back, you will be schlepping it for 100 miles.

What clothing to bring will be partly dictated by the weather forecast, but remember that the weather in the Taconic Mountains might be different than the weather in the city. Pockets of rain can form in the mountains when the forecast is for clear from NYC to Albany.

Unless conditions are extreme, a reasonable selection of clothing (what you wear plus what you pack) would be:

• 2 bike jerseys
• 2 bike shorts, padded
• swimsuit for swim in Ore Pit pond, towel is optional (dry off with a bike jersey instead)
• soft-soled shoes for walking if your bike shoes are the hard soled clop clop type
• "nice clothing" for Saturday dinner is unnecessary, Taconic Wayside Inn doesn't have a dress code
• rain gear – this is not optional – we suggest a raincoat that is hooded and waterproof
• helmet – also not optional – without it, no ride, no refund

Don't forget your medications, personal care items, sunblock, mobile phone, camera, and money. How much money? Your food expense should be no more than $50 (remember, 2 of your meals are already paid for) but in a worst-case scenario of major mechanical failure or injury you might need cabfare for up to a 30-mile ride to the nearest train station. We suggest you bring a minimum of $150.

This will be fun!

If you can't wait until August 22 and want to try riding this now, here's the cue sheet.

We think you will enjoy this trip. Bash Bish Falls is a gem. Although nobody will confuse it with Niagara or Upper Yosemite Falls, it's in a beautiful setting and so close to home. We will ride the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, one of New York State's best greenways. Much of our riding will be on scenic and low-traffic country roads – bicycling like it oughta be. You will finish this ride wanting more of it, which you can get whenever you want just by taking a Metro North train.