Russ Nelson

33.08 km 108514.70 feet 20.55 mi 6387.00 seconds 106.45 minutes 1.77 hours 11.58 mi/hr

Rode out to a friend's house on Bagdad Road. Upwind all the way out, and on the way back, the wind was pushing me up the hills.

13.79 km 45249.84 feet 8.57 mi 2829.00 seconds 47.15 minutes 0.79 hours 10.91 mi/hr

Just a short ride "around the block", but I also found out where is the access road for the cell tower they put in last year -- at the end of Dudy Road on the top of a 440' tall hill. That's surprising, because there are hills very close by which are 50' taller. Maybe they liked this hill because it's close to a road and also has no trees?

23.92 km 78479.41 feet 14.86 mi 4784.00 seconds 79.73 minutes 1.33 hours 11.18 mi/hr

Went out along the West Branch of the St. Regis River. Out on the east side, back on the west side. I'd broken a spoke on yesterday's ride, and it was threatening to rain, and I got started late, otherwise I'd have gone for a longer ride. Excuses, excuses.

34.88 km 114442.15 feet 21.67 mi 9272.00 seconds 154.53 minutes 2.58 hours 8.42 mi/hr

First ride on the Rutland Trail. Rode to Winthrop on the trail and back on the highway. A tad muddy to go both ways. I'll have to spend some time with a hoe cleaning out the drainage ditches that I've dug out in past years. No rest for the weary. Met a fellow named "Joe" from Brasher Falls, riding an ATV on the trail. He, too, is weary of the people who can't stay on the trail, who dig ruts intentionally with their wheels, who litter, and otherwise make a bad name for ATV riders.

29.17 km 95709.07 feet 18.13 mi 5222.00 seconds 87.03 minutes 1.45 hours 12.50 mi/hr

Rode the Zim Smith Trail Tuesday evening. The trail has some construction associated with it, so it would be an impossible ride during the work day. Fortunately, all the construction sites were quiet and empty, so I was able to buzz past them. The eastern end at Coons meets up with the D&H line, but the railroad there actually continued on its own railbed, so apparently they have plans to extend the trail into Mechanicville, which will be a good thing.

72.40 km 237522.48 feet 44.99 mi 16318.00 seconds 271.97 minutes 4.53 hours 9.92 mi/hr

Rode the North County Trailway on Sunday. Excellent riding even though it's paved the whole way. The neatest thing from my perspective was riding on the old railroad bridge over the Croton Aquaduct. This trail follows the Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad, mostly.

2.81 km 9211.29 feet 1.74 mi 750.00 seconds 12.50 minutes 0.21 hours 8.37 mi/hr

Rode on Railroad Run on the southwest side of Saratoga Springs. It's built on the Delaware & Hudson's mainline through Saratoga Springs, relocated west of the city many years ago. It's a combination paved trail and stone dust trail. Alas, it's seriously short. They got a grant in 2002 to extend it southwards; they just started work on it this spring.

7.27 km 23850.51 feet 4.52 mi 2342.00 seconds 39.03 minutes 0.65 hours 6.94 mi/hr

Rode on the Bog Meadow Nature Trail on Saturday, after my mother-in-law's wedding with my now step-father-in-law. I'm just gonna call him "Dad". Simplifies things since all previous contenders for that name are now deceased.

The trail is constructed on the right-of-way of the Saratoga and Schuylerville Railroad. There are parking areas at both ends of the trail. Unfortunately, they haven't pulled the ties. So, not only is the creosote leaking into the bog and the meadow, it's also a bitch to bicycle since the trail is far from smooth. It's fine for hiking, but unless they improve the trail, there's no pleasure in bicycling it.

21.01 km 68918.57 feet 13.05 mi 5195.00 seconds 86.58 minutes 1.44 hours 9.05 mi/hr

I'm starting to like this ride. The view from the most northern road on the ride is simply gorgeous. You can see all the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains.

17.55 km 57579.57 feet 10.91 mi 8475.00 seconds 141.25 minutes 2.35 hours 4.63 mi/hr

Went for a ride on the D&H Linear Park. It is built on the towpath of the D&H Canal. The track is incomplete because my GPS receiver didn't start up right away. I started at Hornbeck's Basin, a canal turning / docking area, north of Wurtsboro, and continued north (not on the track). After a bit, I noticed the NYO&W railbed to my right. I switched over to it, even though it was quite muddy in places. The grass of the towpath is hard to ride through.

Just south of Summitville, the railbed gets brushed over. Started to head over to the canal to go up to Summitville, when I remembered the NYO&W main line heading up the side of the hill. Doubled back to find it, and yep, it was right there on the hill, about 30 feet up. It's both free of brush, and open to the public, owned by the New York - New Jersey Trail Conference. Hooray! Unfortunately, there's a bit of ATV damage, and lots of crap dumped along the trail. This will be fixed in time, though, and the trail is still a great ride.

After I made it up to the High View Tunnel, I went back to the road I'd crossed earlier, and blew down the hill into Wurtsboro. Hopped on the towpath again, going south this time. Very much not a developed trail. They're maintaining it somewhat -- they'd cut down a tree that blocked the trail, but another one fell just twenty feet beyond it. Has the potential to be a nice trail, but it needs work, signage even. Rode north on the towpath back to my car, and on to Poughkeepsie.