Trains and Bikes in the Catskills

 

This week's Bike Overnight route was pieced together by Kevin Newman, who has this to say about himself: "I have been, on and off, a member of Bikecentennial/Adventure Cycling since 1976, when I rode a fully supported tour across Virginia on the new TransAmerica Bicycle Trail. When not working on my websites, I enjoy cycling the backroads of the Hudson Valley and a bit beyond."

Kevin begins by humming the praises of Empire State bicycling: "With two Adventure Cycling interstate routes passing through New York -- the Atlantic Coast Route and the Northern Tier -- and the Adirondack Loop completely within the state, I was surprised to see that there have not been more Bike Overnight adventures submitted for New York. The MTA Metro North Commuter railroad link from here in the mid-Hudson Valley provides numerous possibilities for the starting location of cycling adventures, both long and short. Quite a number of people have already taken advantage of this bicycle/rail-transit link for the start of a day ride or overnighter." 

Kevin's write-up, titled "'Training' to Ride the Central Catskills," takes you on adventure from Grand Central Terminal in New York City to the 700,000-acre Catskill Park -- which, he says, has the feel of a national forest.

"While not nearly as large as the Adirondack Park upstate, Catskill Park still encompasses a very large area, and contains villages and hamlets within its boundaries. The central Catskills of northwest Ulster County are rather like the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, with numerous peaks topping out at 3,500 feet or higher. The highest peak in the Catskills is Slide Mountain, 4,180 feet, which is in this area."

Kevin's story is somewhat unusual in that he hasn't actually pedaled the route as he presents it, but has concluded that it would make a good overnighter. "While I have not ridden the exact Bike Overnight described in the narrative, I have ridden the SR/BR 28 section as part of a three-day tour that started in Pine Hill. And the route to the Ashokan Dam was part of a day ride I did recently."

Read his entire route description at BikeOvernights.org, where you can also scroll through our collections of stories and Photos of the Week -- including this week's image, which comes from the June 18, 2012, post Alaska: Bears and Bikes and the Midnight Sun, by Kate Batten. 

BikeOvernights.org Photo of the Week, 09.28.12.

Top 3 photos by Kevin Newman; bottom photo by Kate Batten. 

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BIKE OVERNIGHTS is posted every Tuesday by Michael McCoy, Adventure Cycling?s media specialist, and highlights content from BikeOvernights.org. Previously, from March 2009 through January 2012, Mac posted weekly at Biking Without Borders. He also compiles the organization's twice-monthly e-newsletter Bike Bits, which goes free-of-charge to nearly 46,000 readers worldwide.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/10/trains-and-bikes-in-catskills.html

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