Blue Mtn: 06/14/09

What a great weekend - two mtn bike adventures in row. Just finished the Blue Mtn "Fat Tire" Festival in Peekskill, NY. Talk about slick rock!! Joined a colleague, Seth Reichlin, and explored some great new trails, including the Depew (can't wait to go back) and El Capitan trails (wow! - I'll wait to clean this one when it's dry). The rocks and trails were saturated, which made for lots of slipouts. Seth made it through some real tough courses. Did a lot of the other trails (like SIS) in reverse from what I'm used to. You would never think there was a big mtn bike festival in the park, as there seemed to be no one on those trails that we rode. Festival itself was cool: lots of demo bikes, et,. but just the cameraderie around loads of people enjoying this unique activity.

couple more pics from Saturday...

Great June day in the Hudson Highlands. Hank Schiffman, Scott Blau and I rode a robust 32 miles, with 3540' gain, 4:15 riding time. Probably 8+ mph average. From Manitou rail stop, we rode up South Mtn Pass to old Redoubt Road (double and singletrack through forest and open fields). Then an ascent to the White Rock outlook (above left) with views south to Greymoor, Hook Mtn, Hudson River. We then had a long and descent through the Osborne Loop trail network, with a great view of West Point along the way (the banner above). After a brief stop, we climbed up to hills of Fahnestock SP and rode the Chimney Hill and Stillwater trails.

Long Gap Between Posts

What outdoor rides have I been up to? Since the warm weather started in March through early June, riding has been generally every other weekend and usually on the road.

Here are some of my longer road rides during this period:

3/22/2009: NYC to Rockland County/South Mtn, Calls Hollow/Gate Hill/7 Lakes Drive/Rte 17/US 202 in Oakland/Return to City via Co 512. (90 miles)

3/28/2009: NYC-brewster via US 9/Rte 100/US 202 (55 miles)

4/5/2009: NYC-Danbury-Westport (90 miles)

4/11/2009 NYC to Bear Mtn (via Bradley/Tweed/Hook Mtn/South Mtn/Calls Hollow/Gate Hill/7 Lakes/Perkins/Peekskill (75 miles)

4/25/2009 NYC to Beacon via Harriman/Storm King/Newburgh (85 miles)

5/2/2009: Westport to Poughkeepsie via Easton/Botsford/Sandy Hook/Roxbury/New Preston/Cornwall/Sharon/Amenia/Shunpike Rd/Salt Pt Tpk (109 miles)

5/3/2009 a rainy 5boro bike tour (45 miles)

5/16/2009 Westport/Poughkeepsie Same route as 5/2/09

5/23/2009: Catskill Mtn climbs: Phoenecia, Slide Mt Pass, Blue Hill, Denham Mtn/Red Hill (74 miles)

5/24/2009 Mountain Bike: Stillwell Woods (Long Island) with NYC-Mtn Bike Group (see pics here: http://tinyurl.com/l96yvg