Harlem Valley Rail Ride & Festival 

Tour Price: $190 plus NYS Sales Tax

This event has been cancelled due to Covid-19.

Do the summer’s most beautiful ride – the Harlem Valley Rail Ride!

The only all-inclusive package that lets you take the train to the ride.

 This ride is a wonderful event that is offered every July that features different routes to ride on as well as a festival!  Choose from 23, 33, 45, 57, 72, 80 and 2-different century routes along beautiful, low-traffic country roads.  Within each route, there will be a 6 mile stretch of the car-free Harlem Valley Rail Trail.

The Harlem Valley Rail Ride also includes an enormous breakfast before the ride as well as a super fun festival after the ride featuring BBQ, a beer garden, music, massages and more!

Gotham Bicycle Tours is pleased to be partnering again with the Harlem Valley Rail Ride for our 5th year to offer a 2-day ride package, with a “warm up” ride Saturday and the big ride on Sunday.  Vehicle support, swimming, Saturday dinner, VIP camping access and Harlem Valley Rail Ride registration are all included when you book this 2-day package.

You can also add discounted Metro-North rail fare for $31 as well as “glamping” to your package!  Glamping is as close to a hotel experience as camping can get. You get the largest available tent we have, an air mattress that feels just like a bed and a sleeping bag. Just bring your own pillow. All the set up and breakdown of the tent and air mattress are taken care of by our team. You just enjoy your tent and your comfy bed. You can also rent individual pieces of camping equipment from us if you need them.

THE DETAILS

The day begins at the Wassaic Metro-North station which is located right at the southern end of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail. This is a beautiful car-free trail that takes you through the fertile farms and historic towns of the Harlem Valley. To get to the ride, you can take Metro-North Railroad to the ride with your bike, or you can also drive and park for free at the station. If you are taking the train, take the Metro-North Harlem Line train that leaves Grand Central at 9:10 a.m.  You can also board this same train at Harlem-125th Street (9:20 a.m.) or Fordham (9:28 a.m.) You can get discounted rail fare from us for $31 round-trip (fare must be purchased 10 days in advance for shipping).

The train arrives at Wassaic at 11:52 a.m. When you arrive, you can store all of your bags in our support van (so you don’t have to ride with any stuff you do not want to carry), have a quick snack (we provide snacks and water) and then you are off on a beautiful ride!

We ride the Harlem Valley Rail Trail for 10.7 miles. It is entirely paved, and flat. The trail ends in the Village of Millerton where Sunday’s Harlem Valley Rail Ride will be based. (Click here for more info).  When you arrive, we will already have “Camp Gotham” set up for you with lots of amenities just for our group, including a large sheltered canopy, cooler with unlimited beverages, snacks, beach chairs, handwashing station and anything else you could want. If you have chosen the glamping package, your tent will already be set up.  If you are bringing your own tent, we will have it there waiting for you and you can pick where you want to set up.

Once you get settled in, the rest of the day is yours to enjoy however you like. We leave Millerton for a 2.5-mile ride on quiet back roads to Rudd Pond. When we get to Rudd Pond you can choose your activity: swimming, boating (boat rental fee extra), hiking, or more bike riding on a pre-planned route that does not duplicate Sunday’s ride.  However you want to spend the day, we meet back at the pond around 6 for a delicious cookout dinner made with local food we bought at a farmer’s market earlier in the day. You will also have access to hot showers before or after dinner if you want to clean off.

After dinner, you can either ride the 2.5 miles back to campsite, or we’ll give you a lift in the van. You can hang out in our common area lit by candlight and lanterns. If you want to enjoy a beer, you can pick some up on the way back and store it in our cooler. Then sleep under the stars and wake up to an awesome breakfast and a great ride on Sunday!  When you come back from the ride, you can again hang out in our area and make use of our amenities while you wait for the shuttle back to the train.  Shuttles leave at 3:45 p.m. and 5:45 p.m.

Cost $190, non-refundable payment. This fee includes your registration for Sunday’s ride which we will automatically enroll you in!

This tour offers gear transportation so that you do not have to carry everything with you along with your bicycle on the train. We can receive your gear in advance and bring it to the tour for you. You can drop off your gear the week before the tour in either Midtown or White Plains and it will be brought to the ride for you. Gear drop off is included in the price of the tour and does not cost extra. You can pick up your gear from our offices the week after the tour. You will be able to access your bags before you start riding on Saturday if you need to.

Need a rental bicycle?  Contact us and we can provide you with some rental options.