Between Bear Mountain and Cold Spring

I took out my road bike on Friday and did a 25 mile loop around the Bear Mountain Bridge area- a truly wonderful riding area if you go during a non crowded time. I road all the way out to Cold Spring and it was my firts time exploring the village and it was beautiful. The main street is lined with old buildings and boutiques and its riverfront town which means they have a park on the water over looking Storm King Mountain- the river i really nice at this spot with cliffs rising up on the west side of it.

I then road back on 9D and went across the Bear Mountain Bridge, I have driven it a hundred times but have never ridden a bike across and it was amazing. The view is phenomenal and I then road around the lake at Bear Mountain and back to my car parked across the bridge.

20 mile road bike loop around Manhattan

There is a time in everyones life when they must acknowledge the beauty of New York City, I did this as I marveled at the crystal clear day reflecting off the skyline of the city which seemed to stretch to infinity as I tried to navigate the stop and go traffic on the George Washington Bridge. The sky was clear, the breeze was cool and dry and my bike on the roof of my car was begging to be ridden.

I had to be in Brooklyn for a free Madeski Martin and Wood show in Prospect park so I drove to the tip of Manhattan and tried to find a spot, not an easy feat- since everything is for official vehicles. I found one near China Town and donned my cycling gear and took off following the east river up to 23rd street where I switched to 1st ave. Then up to Central park for a loop around the park and then down the west side bike path. Beautiful and exhilarating riding as fast as traffic on singing tires pumped to 120 – psi, there is something great to be said about riding the rides of NYC- I have been doing it for 20 years and I love it.

18.78 miles total at an average of 16.5 mph.

My indecisiveness in action

So I gave my buddy Ariel a call this week to see if he was going to be upstate at his camp in Tannersville New York and sure enough he is and he would love to have me which is awesome- because I haven’t seen him in years and I love the area- and will have some great stuff to do on Friday.

Then it hit me- what can I do to utilize my time the best on Friday since I have to be down in New York sunday morning to pick a friend up from the airport. Suddenly my logic started working and I came up so many options its driving me nuts.

Kayaking in North/South Lakes- great swimming and beautiful.

Ride one of my favorite loops in all of the Catskills, routes 214-28-42 back up route 23. I was already thinking of this- it is tiring and hilly but amazing.

Do small hike like Giant Ledge only a couple miles, longer hike like Slide Mountain or maybe Hunter Mountain.

Go mountain biking at Jockey Hill and Bluestone wild forest outside Kingston.

Roll down the windows, remove my shirt, throw on some bluegrass and wander around the rural byways of Greene and Delaware Counties.

Then I realized I have to work tomorrow- which means less time- I have taken off the last 3 Fridays in a row. I figured on working till 12 and then driving up- only an hour and a half drive. Its supposed to be 87 degrees. I’m figuring on mountain biking, hiking and a little driving/wandering.

Ah the life as outdoors nut isn’t always so simple.

Looking for cycling or kayaking partners in the Monsey area

I figure I might as well put it out there- I would love to have someone to ride or paddle with in the Monsey area on weeknights. I pretty much ride every day, going mostly on my mountain bike to Blue Mt, Ringwood and Graham Hills- sometimes farther.

As for paddling I have been mostly going in the larger lakes in Harriman State Park- and am definitely up for anything doable on a weeknight.

If you are interested in riding with me or know of anyone- I ride both mountain and road bikes.

frumsatire@gmail.com

My first road ride around Monsey

I have been neglecting my road bike for some time now, favoring mountain biking because its so much more fun and close. I also am just plain old scared to ride the streets of Monsey, the drivers for one thing are terrible, match that with hitchhikers, and stray children- combined with loads of potholes- and you can see why riding my road bike seemed crazy.

I wasn’t feeling to well yesterday, but it was one of those beautiful days and I felt like riding in a leisurely sense. So I whipped out the old rode bike pumped the tires to 120psi, threw on my spandex and road through the streets of Monsey, and you know what? It rocked!!!

Thats right, once I got out of my neighborhood- which is right by Maple avenue, it cleared up- I left at about 6pm and returned at 7:30pm. I rode up Union to Viola and then down 306 to 202 and took a right- davened mincha at Kakiat park and then road back up Viola to College and then down Maple to home. 16 miles in total- not bad for a slow paced ride- but it felt damned good to just ride without having to drive anywhere.

So I started looking at other routes and want to start riding down to the Hudson River and around Nyack/Rockland Lake areas- it looks like great riding. The drivers were surprisingly friendly and no one cursed at me- yay!!!

I have not posted in a long time- whats been going on

Ever since moving downstate to Monsey from Albany I have been slacking on my posting- I think the knowledge that 100 times as many people read my other blog than this one keeps me from devoting too much time to it.

Anyway I have been really taking advantage of the great opportunities around Monsey and have been riding like mad. Ringwood State Park in NJ is 20 minutes drive from work and I have been slowly figuring the place out. Its a complex network of fire roads and single track- the first few times there I got lost and gave up on finding anything good to ride. I rode there last night and finally can say I am versed in the park.

I rode Graham Hills in Westchester county recently and really liked it despite its small size. It has loads of jumps and some killer downhills, oh and it is all singletrack- so there’s no roaming around on roads looking for stuff to ride.

I have been also riding Blue Mountain in Peekskill and Stewart State Forest in Maybrook- both places see me quite a bit. I am still trying to find time to hit up Sprain Ridge Park in Westchester- but the $5 toll on the Tappan Zee prevents me from doing it. In fact the tolls keep me in check- I rarely even go to NY because of tolls and gas prices. I am lucky I live so close to goodness.

I have also been kayaking a bit in Harriman State Park- have been trying to work on my upper body and get that into shape. Road biking has taken a back seat to mountain biking just because of my location. I always complained in Albany about having no trails close by- but always had great long road rides- its the trade off.

I went to Colorado for Pesach- thats for next post

Urban Dictionary for Orthodox Jews and Monsey outdoors news

I have created with the help of a big fan of Frum Satire my other much more popular blog a site called Frum Slang which is in WIKI form and is intended to be a fully functioning urban dictionary for the frum community(yes it will be mildly offensive) but already it is becoming very funny and a pleasure to see which tersm people have added.

In other news I have been living in Monsey NY for almost a month and I think I am having way too much fun for someone in Monsey. Most people wondered if someone like me could handle such a community and you know what- I haven;’t noticed because I have been riding and hiking more then I have ever been able to do in Albany. While its not as good as being an hour from the Adirondacks. I have become accustomed to leaving work and being on my bike in sub 30 minutes time.

I have been actively riding around the Ringwood area which is 15 miles from my house. I have yet to figure it out, but Skyline Drive offers some great technical after work single track. I have ridden the small skatepark across from Ramapo College and the college itself has some great stuff to fool around on. Stewart State forest was ridden on Sunday (I fell head first into a thorn bush) and then I proceeded to ride a 40 mile road ride in Ulster and Prange counties. I rode Blue mountain reservation in Peekskill on Weds night- I found some great new stuff in there as well.

I have been really hiking big time in Harriman. I have done 3 full day 10+ mile hikes and already am planning on work-night backpacking- due to the fact its 15 minutes to my house. Insane man. I am ready to get my kayak into the water.

My work is awesome mostly due to the hours. I can work 12 hours days but in the middle I will go for a 4 hour bike ride. My boss actually likes what I do, it splits up my time, allows him to look at what I’ve done, and it lets me know I can skip out in the middle of a beautiful day.

If anyone wants to meet up in Monsey please contact me
frumsatire@gmail.com

I moved to Monsey last week and I am loving it!!!

I know that may be paradoxical for someone of my age and marital status to say, but in a little over a week I have realized that the outdoor opportunities are endless within a half hour radius. Just 15 minutes from my door is Harriman State Park, 46,000 acres including 36 lakes- most of which have access for boats. Lots of trails including portions of the Long Path and Appalachian Trails both of which run right through the park. I am also very close to the Hudson Highland and Storm King areas which both have extensive hiking trail networks and I am a 20 minute drive from Ringwood state park which has some of the best mountain biking in New Jersey. To say the least I am pumped. Throw in a 40 hour a week job and the end of daylight savings time- I am going to be in amazing shape within 2 weeks.

To start things off I went hiking in Harriman last sunday, snow covered trails made for slow going, but I hiked up to a startegic sunset viewing spot and sat on a rock and contemplated life and the woods, like a regular Whitman type. Then on Monday I road 20 miles on my road bike on the poorly paved roads of the park, its beautiful riding, but rough with all the bumps.

Friday I took my mountain bike out for the first ride of the season. If I was still in Albany, I probably wouldn’t have ridden until next month. I went to Ringwood and road the cannonball trail off of Skyline drive. I still can’t figure the place out so well, and road until it started raining on me and decided to just go back up instead of finding a loop- it was erev shabbos anyway. It was great riding and would have been better, but I realized my rear shock was blown and needs some new cartridges or something.

Today I hiked for about 5 hours through Harriman and it was amazing. I ended up hiking twice as much as I had originally planned due to trail flooding and no way to bushwack around. I ended up at the Lemon Squeezer which is on the AT and is this huge rock formation that you squeeze through to follow the trail. I also ended up, due to my detour on the Lichen Trail- which took me into the Ramapo Dunderberg trail. These two trails followed this ridge that made me feel like I was above the tree-line somewhere out west. Dead trees and pine trees swayed in the wind and boy was it windy, 35 mph winds, maybe thats why I met only two people on the trail for a whole 5 hours.

This week I am already planning to hike and get to know the trails better in my area. When it gets a little warmer I will be backpacking on the weeknights camping out and hiking out before work, I am pumped.

Riding in the winter gets me to cough and weeze

Sp erev shabbos yesterday I decided to work up appetite and go for a short ride, it was 31 degrees so it wasn’t too bad. I picked a short ride just about 11 miles in 45 minutes or so through some rolling farmland not far from my house. It started off all nice until I realized that my short was riding up my bike and freezing my tuchus off. I must give kudos to whoever thought of windproof fleece though.

By the time I was up to 7 miles or so I was doing the classic weezing that accompanies all winter rides, due to the cold air constricting the lungs. I tried my buddy Jacobs trick of breathing through the nose and out through the mouth so the air is sort of warmed, it didn’t work. It did feel great to be on my bike finally, and due to the lack of snow suitable for xc-skiing, I haven’t had any great workouts in some time.

Looks like I will be doing to winter hiking tomorrow though, and it should be interesting, may even take my snowshoes.

What have I been up to the last few weeks

I have been out and about taking advantage of the pre-ski season warmth that is gracing the land. Tonight is going to be a frost and with that most of the leaves will continue to fall and hopefully some low pressure systems will grace the area and bring some damned snow already. I wanted to be able to ski some over the Thanksgiving holiday, and most New York State mountain biking trails are closed for hunting season. I remember last year that towards the end of shotgun season they open up, but for now I am limited to some trails in the Adirondacks and stuff down near Poughkeepsie.

Since the last time I wrote, I have done a sunset, night hike up overlook mountain and it was beautiful with an almost full moon illuminating the colorful forests. Gold is dominating in the Catskills. I have been riding my road bike pretty steadily in the past week due to my non-diverse mountain biking options. I did get to ride the Skidmore trails in Saratoga a few times and I ride the Vassar Farms trail in Poughkeepsie as well.

Last week I rode over 100 miles on my road bike. I am addicted to this time of year, 55 degrees, shorts and a long sleeve tee- light breezes and fresh smells of composting leaves and bright sunshine reflecting of the orange and red hues being forced out of the trees. Oh how I love those sugar maples. I road around Scohairie County this week, and wandered up to Thompsons Lake State Park and discovered that the lake offers a great fishing and kayaking spot less then 20 minutes from my house- I was overjoyed at the discovery.

I kayaked today down in Harriman State Park and it was lovely, my hands got cold- because I didn’t think I would need my gloves, but the pre-peak foliage was well worth the minor pain. I had some chilling times sitting on my boat in the middle of Silvermine lake, I had to get around the bend away from the city folk who always like to make noise when faced with the silence of the woods. I also bushwhacked to the top of this craggy knob off of Route 106 to view one of the most gorgeous sunsets ever. This burst of orange pink and red coupled with lumpy cumulous clouds really made my day.

I have been checking out some quick hikes in my area, since the days are getting real short and although I am bound to do some solo pre-winter High Peaks backpacks- I need some good day hikes. I have been looking at the Lake George area and although I have ridden the Tongue Mountain Range near Bolton on my mountain bike, hiking can take me deeper and it is easy. Hadley Mountain looks like a great jaunt and I would like to get up Slide Mountain within the next few weeks.