2025 Micro-Tour 1 Bikepacking Trip

2025 Micro-Tour 1 was a self-supported 1 night bikepacking trip from New York City to Sal J. Prezioso Mountain Lakes Park in North Salem, NY, covering 58 miles each way.

This was the first bikepacking trip of our 2025 season, so there was excitement in the air, despite the weather.

This bikepacking trip left at 7am from lower Manhattan in about 40 degree temperatures. It was wetter and a bit more windy than most of us had anticipated. Mile 10 was a stop at the top of the  "corkscrew" near the George Washington Bridge, and mile 15 had us in Van Cortlandt Park in the Brfonx.

We headed north on the Empire State Trail (known locally as the Couth County and North County Trailway), through Elmsford, over the Croton Reservoir and past Katonah. For bikepacking out of New York City, this is a great, safe route north.

The last 6 miles brought us hills and some gravel before we arrived at Sal J Prezioso Mountain Lakes Park at 3pm. Since it was kind of chilly, we got a campfire started right away.

The temperature actually rose during the night, and we woke on Sunday to 51 degrees.  But with a serious headwind, and storms arriving late in the day, we had to hustle back to NYC.

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The data the primarily concerns me on a bikepacking trip is my average moving speed, and our overall ride time (including stops).

I have been using the Epic Ride Weather App for awhile now...its great as it gives you weather as you are traversing along a route

This is a collection of things that I wouldn't be caught without on any of our bikepacking trips. I have led over 150 group bikepacking trips, and have developed an affinity for things that just work.

The list may grow or shrink, but will always contain items that have been tested on many, many bikepacking trips. Every one of these items is packed in my bags on every bikepacking trip I go on.