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Last Friday Pete (FicklePete on the board here) and I headed out for a few days of riding to and around the Catskills. We were stands up Friday around 9:15am and the weather was about as perfect as you could wish for. I mapped out a route to get us there by way of many roads I’ve either never been on, or only been on while in a car. I was also trying to balance limited slabbing with getting to NY in decent time so we could get some good afternoon riding in. We headed out to route 101 through Keene and then hit route 63 south through Hinsdale, NH and into Northfield, MA. From there we hit the Mohawk Trail (first time I’ve ever been on that, and as expected – that hairpin came up faster than I thought it would) before fuel & lunch stops in North Adams. A few pics and a link to a video from Pete’s camera are below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euALy8tlCmE
After our break we took a romp up the Taconic Trail and then went south on route 22 to route CR 21 (a really nice east to west choice) to route 23 across the Hudson. We checked into the hotel and then headed back out for another 120 miles hitting roads like 296, 40, 214, and 212 – all of these are winners that I’d hit again on a return trip. We learned that sections of route 23 and 28 suck, but at times they’re a necessary evil to get you to the good stuff. We ended a roughly 400 miles day at a tavern near the hotel where we hung out with the locals until dark and then cruised a few miles back to the hotel. A couple more pics and another video link here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfr-e..._order&list=UL
The Day 2 route started in Saugerties where we found a place that Pete could get the gourmet breakfast he was looking for and I could get a regular cup of coffee – not a latte, not an espresso, just coffee. Also took this picture of a local used vehicle for sale – the For Sale sign was on the dash. We weren’t sure whether the guy towing it was the buyer or seller, but either way he was wrong. It actually had a small tree or shrub growing out of the front.
Off to route 23A through a combination of tight turns & long sweepers along a lengthy gorge and across Kaaterskill Falls. We pulled off to the side of the road and hopped over the railing to check out the rock formations and water holes. This stretch of 23A is awesome; ridiculous in fact, and we made sure to hit it again at the end of the day. Then a quick stop in Tannersvlle - another cool little town. After that a blast down 214 into Phoenicia (which I’d recommend along with New Paltz as the towns to stay in down there) and then over to Shokan and across the Ashokan Reservoir; which is a water supply for NYC.
Then route 2A to route 2 to route 6 and over to Mohonk Road up and through the Mohonk Preserve, and into the town of New Paltz. All of these roads are must repeats for the next trip there. After a fuel & food stop in town, we headed out to routes 55/44 through Minnewaska State Park and pulled over for a quick view stop. From there it was 55 to 19 to 47 to 42. Route 47 was one of the best roads we hit all day. It must have been 35 miles long and not one car ahead of us the entire time. Just a long, narrow, winding country road that cut through mountains, and hugged a river for a long stretch. A short ride up route 42 landed us at an old cemetery in Lexington where we switched bikes for a while and I prepared to off road with the Multi!
On Sunday we were up early and on the road by about 6:30am to get out ahead of the rain that was headed our way. Once we got into Great Barrington Pete decided to slab it back in order to avoid all the rain, while I followed a route that took me through a bunch of roads I’ve never been on before and looked interesting on the map. I’ve seen folks on this board post up about route 116 so I had to try that and parts of it were as advertised. It was raining steadily when I was on the best stretch so I’ll have to head down that way for a day trip to try again when dry.
In summary it was a great trip to an area of the Northeast that I was unfamiliar with. Some amazing scenery that had us slowing down or stopping a lot to make sure we took it all in. I learned which roads to focus on, and which to try, during the next trip down there – which I’m hoping won’t be too far away.
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