Today's Ride

Yes I think you're right Jason. Pretty sure it's a Sears brand. I think I got this bike in 1984. I'm kind of amazed I've held on to it all this time.

Got my surly teenager out for a ride today; drove over to Nyack Beach State Park to use their path along the Hudson. As always, the place was packed; picnickers and walkers and such. The crowd thinned out once we got a little bit away from the parking area.



Not sure what this used to be. This area is full of old dilapidated structures though, stone walls and building foundations almost everywhere you go.



Got to the end of the part that runs next to the water and climbed up the hill toward Rockland Lake State Parj. Junior got pretty pushed about climbing that hill. About halfway up I had dig deep for a truly inspiring pep talk for the kid. "I'll do it later is the same as I'll do it never". The cliffs here are pretty.



We eventually got off the pavement. Junior got pissed at the muddy spots.




In the way back we came a different way through the trees. I don't blame him for walking down this bit. It was steeper then it looks. I rode it and the kid couldn't even be bothered to snap a pic for me.



Finally got the bikes a little muddy. Junior admitted he had fun in the end.

Brownski wrote

Yes I think you're right Jason. Pretty sure it's a Sears brand. I think I got this bike in 1984. I'm kind of amazed I've held on to it all this time.

My go to roadie is 25 years old. It's got really good bones. It's on it's 3rd drive train. If you have a good frame, you can keep the bike for a very long time. I spent more on the last groupo than I did when I bought the complete bike. I will be looking for gen 4 in a couple of years.

This is the bike path viewed from the water

Quick ride this morning in Lake Placid overlooking town and Ironman

The Cape Cod Rail trail makes for some very civilized biking. Not all the roads around here are bike friendly but there are bike paths everywhere. I was able to bang out 18 miles pretty quick after dinner tonight.



They seem to have put a lot of effort into making the paths useful for getting around, rather then just exercise venues.




Met these two guys near the end. This is from way way far away. I zoomed in big time for the pic. I barked at them about a hundred yards away until they made their way off into the woods. I still waited a bit after that to head down the path.



I let this guy be my ginnea pig. He didn't get sprayed so I figured it was safe.

Cool path, it runs behind my inlaws house...I have been riding it for almost 28yrs , it is now becoming a tourist destination.

FYI some of New Englands best MTB trails are on the cape too..

Thanks Jason. I got on some of the trails in Nickerson state park while I was up there, not sure if they were sanctioned for bikes or not. The rangers admitted there were trails but wouldn't help me beyond that.Yesterday I finally checked out Blauvelt state park and the trail was a lot of fun but I was getting attacked by bugs so I cut it short and went back to Nyack beach again. I've been getting a lot of short rides in this summer. Lots of fun.

If anyone wants a tour of the Blauvelt trails hit me up...it's a cool 5 mile circuit

Seen on toady's ride in Califon, NJ. (In case you were wondering what happened to Sly when he stopped making movies.

Peter Minde wrote

Seen on toady's ride in Califon, NJ. (In case you were wondering what happened to Sly when he stopped making movies.

Shhh! Nobody told Sly he's done yet.

I usually avoid Harriman's lake areas on the weekends nowadays but I've found myself in North Rockland a lot lately, babysitting a relatives dog, so I thought I'd bring my newly-tuned-up very-old-bike along today and take a look around. After not riding for a week or so, I left my truck at the edge of the park and climbed up the hill toward Lake Welch.

This is the view from the dam across the lake towards the public beach.



For whatever reason, the place wasn't nearly as crowded as I've seen in the past. Still not exactly my cup of tea though.



This is the boat put-in. When all I had was a little fiberglass canoe, I would register it with the park and the Harriman lakes were my primary paddling area. A couple of them have  gated parking areas which you can pay a little extra to get a key to. It's worth it.



Lake Welch is a legitimately beautiful spot.

Right-on Brownski.  Your rig is a classic.  

My day camp  use to go to Lake Welch 45 yrs ago....

Scouting a new (for us) ski line in the Blewett Pass area.  Much of the skiable terrain off Tronsen ridge is low angle North/Northwest facing slopes.  Really awesome stuff over here for a waxless setup.  We were looking at a much steeper line on an East,NorthEast facing slope.  I wouldn't ski it, but my partner (15 yrs younger) is getting a sled, and wants this one to be part of his "Return on Investment."   The approach is long (10 miles from the pass).  Descending the East facing slopes requires a lengthy exit.  The sled somewhat nullifies the approach time, so the East/Northeast facing slopes in this area become much more accessible.    

The ride is an 11 mile point-to-point with 4200 ft descending vertical that includes 1800 ft climbing.  It climbs 750ft right out of the gate to the summit of Mt Lillian.  From there it's a series of mentally challenging technical problems sprinkled among a few short pulse lifting hike/scrambles.  Some fast flow sections with short vertically exposed areas along with a few lengthy rock staircases make this a fairly technical ride.        

The GPS track...



Some pics...

Looking West at the Enchantments... a bit hazy.  A rapidly expanding fire is burning South of Blewett Pass


Looking Northeast across Devils Gulch.  Horselake Mtn in the Center... Columbia River and Canada far in the distance.


Standing dead since the Table Mountain fire in 2012
 

Steve Ovitt of WPM did some more work on our trails, hardening three wet areas.  They aren't really that much of an issue for us as we usually do our riding in late summer, but it was something I wanted to get done. Here's the "wet spot" on the yellow trail.


Pumped!

Hey Harv, are your bike trails the same as your xc trails or separate? Either way that's nice

Saw this in Dobbs Ferry, thought it might interest somebody here

Yeah they're the same trails they're ski trails that we mountain bike on that have now been improved to make the mountain biking better and dryer.

When you work with Steve the first thing he asks you is what do you want to use the trails for?  I said skiing and also biking and of course walking so the are designed with skiing primarily in mind, but biking too.

It's all about what's the proper turn radius for the equipment that you're on it's a compromise between Ski & Bike a little bit.