Blue Mountain Reservation

Today I rode the singlespeed at Blue Mountain Reservation, which is about 40 miles north of New York City in the city of Peekskill, NY. [Trail Information here] After weeks of riding Cunningham Park in Queens, this was a breath of fresh air. The landscape and scenery are completely different.

I spent about 45 minutes on a Metro North Train to get up to Peekskill and then pedaled for about 2 miles to reach the park entrance. Once I got there I wasn't able to find any trail maps so I just set off into the woods. Wow, what an extensive system of singletrack!

Ten minutes into the ride the sky turned purple; shortly thereafter the clouds let loose with a storm of biblical proportions. Thunder cracked loudly above me and the rain came down in sheets. Leafy branches fluttered and sagged low. Rocks became slicker than snot. I huddled under a young sapling for a moment assessing the situation. While becoming soaked to the bone, crouched beneath a pitiful shelter from the storm, I decided I'd be just as wet swinging my way down through the trails, so I set the cranks in motion again.

The beautifully blazed 18” wide trail wound through dark, lush, pine forest cutting it's way though loamy soil, large fern beds and over large amounts of exposed rock. Logs, build-ups and rock roll-downs littered the trail nearly every 20 feet. There wasn't much in the way of elevation changes although it is much more hilly than Cunningham Park. At one point I stopped to let several PSI out of my tires to get better traction and I was happy for the suspension that it provided. While pedaling and exploring, a couple lines from a Robert Frost poem came to mind:

"The woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep."

I rode for about two hours before making my way back into town and over to the Train Station. A quick bike wash in the Hudson River cleaned the majority of mud off my ride and I caught an express train back to Manhattan.

Can't wait to head back there on Thursday after the trails have dried out!

More trail images here:

• Blue Mountain Reservation Pictures
  

Vacation Time

I've been enjoying my vacation. I had planned to do a lot of riding and it looks like that's what is shaping up to happen. I attempted to ride at Highbridge Park on Saturday but the trails were almost unrideable with all the blow-downs. This past month of storms really put a hurting on this park. Such was not the case today though, as a good friend and I rode the bejeezus out of Cunningham park. The trails were in remarkable shape despite the amount of rain we've received this past month. Can't wait for tomorrow. I'll be heading up to Peeksville, NY to ride at Blue Mountain Reservation.

Driftwood Scluptures

Every time I ride the Manhattan Greenway Path I enjoy the folky driftwood sculptures which someone has created. I don't know who is making these sculptures but I have to say that I like them. A bit of googling did not turn up too much information on them. Although they are mentioned here and there. These sculptures are just part of what makes NYC such a great place to live. There's an anonymity about this city that seems to encourage people to do as they feel without risk of judgment or criticism - at least that's how this city makes me feel. I love it.

Gettin' jiggy on the A

I meant to post this image last weekend but life has been busy lately. I'm really looking forward to finishing this Psych class I'm taking at Lehman College.

Image taken last weekend on the A Train.

Boy Scout

I saw this character and his dog crossing 32nd Street this afternoon. He reminded me of one of my parent's nativity scene figurines; the shepherd who carries a lamb draped over his shoulders. I knelt down and snapped a few quick photos of him and his little friend and on the last shutter release, he looked over and smiled at me. I got up smiling and said "take care" as my wife and I made our way down the 7th Avenue.


I didn't realize until I got home, that he and his dog were not alone. I noticed the woman standing next to him and that, like a gentlemen, he had given her his arm. Perhaps he was carrying her blue bag as well? Is it his mother? His girlfriend? A random stranger?

He's just another particle in the construct of this great city, like his shirt says: NEW YORK FUCKIN' CITY!

Red Hook Part Deaux

One more from a visit to the Red Hook Grain Terminal in Brooklyn this past weekend. Haven't been there since December.

Nighty Night

I've been taking a Psychology class at Lehman College in the Bronx this month. (A 3 credit class crammed into one month; wish me luck) Each night I get out of class at 10:00pm I can't help but frame scenes around the campus in my mind. The other night I took my camera and tripod and had a short period of fun before Campus Security forced me to stop. I was only able to pull off one capture that I'm fairly pleased with.
Here is an additional shot of this building taken head on.
Manually exposed for 1 second at f/2.8 using a 50mm prime.

No love today

That's right. None. Yesterday was great and I happily rode to work, but today, I had to walk/take the train. It's not the worst thing in the world, but this morning's conditions were totally fabulous for riding. The Broadway Bridge was looking particularly stellar this morning. The Harlem Canal, though nastier than nasty, seemed to almost mimic that of a pure,babbling, country stream. It was the kind of morning that puts Stravinsky's Rite of Spring in your head. Nevertheless, I took the train to Yonkers for 9 hours of "fun".

I think I'll have to take the blinglespeed over to Highbridge Park for some dirt after work.

Cunningham Park - Jamaica, Queens

I was up and at em' this morning to met a buddy in Jamaica at 8:45. Only took me 1:15 from phattire headquarters in uptown Manhattan. Lots of transfers (A Train to the D; to the E; to the F) but the pay off was incredible. I devoured the tastiest singletrack I've ridden in over 5 years.

Cunningham consists two main loops divided by the Clearview Expressway. Each loop has technical off-shoots of varying difficulty throughout; all aptly named like “Thrilla”, “Ankle Biter” and “Viper”. My friend Alex and I hit every trail at least twice including a few sessions at the dirt jumps which are insanely fun. Download a map of Cunningham here.

The weather was perfect. A few sprinkles here and there, but the overcast sky kept the sun from frying us. Couldn't have asked for better conditions really. The moisture softened the earth and gave it a tacky feel, although roots and rocks became a touch slippery.

Just as we were finishing our last jaunt through the “Iguana” trail, Alex landed a jump a little wonky and crashed into the underbrush. Turns out; he snapped his carbon fiber seat post. (Bummer!) Despite the broken seat post, the entire day was a blast. We rode for 4 hours and I'm looking forward to riding those trails again as soon as possible.

Characters

Today was a great day for people watching. (ie: people photographing) I absolutely love my new 50mm f/1.4 lens. It continues to blow my mind. This warm weather seems to have brought characters out of the woodwork down in lower Manhattan.I gave this man a dollar. That's just classic.
This lady was fantastic. What a fine specimen of a NYC creature. I felt it necessary to include this detail view to satisfy your curiosity.