Riding past Perkins on Seven Lakes yesterday, I noticed a sign saying that the road was being repaved June 1-July 23. Will be closed during the week, but open on weekends.
Pros: smoother ascending, safer descending.
Cons: more and faster auto traffic, esp. motorcycles (as per Ron Roth)
At any rate, the state seems to repave the road every 20 years, whether it needs it or not. Someone on Hank's ride joked yesterday that it hadn't been repaved since it was built under FDR.
Perkins repaving
Anyone know if Seven Lakes Drive is on a repaving schedule, or when the last time it was paved is? The downhills from the 106 circle heading toward Sloatsburg are brutal! Is it even safe to descend at 30mph+ on those hills (from a bike damage perspective)?
I went by Perkins Drive this weekend. Do not expect a beautiful smooth top to bottom surface when completed. They are not grinding the old road away and laying down a new surface. They have just repaired the worst parts on the lower part of the climb. There are shoulder to shoulder fixes, but only for 10 to 30 yards.
At 12:30 on Saturday the gate was still up, despite the fact that the sign says that the road will be open on week-ends. I lifted my bike over the gate and enjoyed a blissful, traffic-free ascent. The tar had not completely hardened in some places and a little debris kicked up into my drivetrain. By 1:00, they had opened the gate and the road was humming with traffic.
The first mile up Perkins is still a patchwork. But what nice smooth sailing on the final mile.
I don't remember the resurfacing of that section being complete last Saturday--which must explain why the climb was so hard then.
Cars and motorcycles were at a relative minimum this afternoon--a good reason to go when rain is predicted. And if it does rain, the gates are closed to motor traffic.