17.79 km 58367.20 feet 11.05 mi 10040.00 seconds 167.33 minutes 2.79 hours 3.96 mi/hr
This ride is split into several sections. I wanted to ride as much of the DeKalb Branch of the NYC as was still ridable. The rails were removed about twenty-five years ago. Unfortunately, they also sold off the railbed into individual parcels. Nobody, even in 1982, was thinking "linear park". Fortunately, they left the steel bridges in place. Unfortunately, some of the people who now own the railbed have opinions about how it should be used.
The biggest problems, as I see them, are (from north to south):
- Lynn Blevins, 122 Delaney Road, has posted the railbed right behind his/her house. Presumably because of the noise / dust of ATVs, and noise of snowmobiles. Or maybe just for privacy reasons. The railbed really is the back fence of their yard.
- Somebody has built a house on the south side of Hutchinson Road, and are using the railbed as their driveway.
- Going through Heuvelton, the railbed goes very close to businesses and houses. Between Washington St., and Commerce St., the railbed doesn't exist anymore.
- Somebody has parked equipment on the north side of McCoy Road. Perhaps that's just their way of posting the property?
- North of McClure Road, the railbed is somebody's back fence, and they've built a shed on it.
- The bridge on Dry Bridge Road has been filled in. This is not a very serious problem, because the railbed can be filled to make a ramp. But because it's impassable, the railbed has gone to brush.
- Between Town Line Rd and Kelly Rd, the property is posted. I was given permission to ride on it, and the culvert/bridge has gotten washed out. It's just a short thing and could be replaced by a couple of culverts and some fill, but it's work that needs doing.
- Again, as in Heuvelton, the railbed doesn't exist in Renssalaer Falls. Somebody's built their pool on it at Birch St.
- The bridge just north of Irish Settlement Road has lost its timbers. Maybe they burned, maybe they rotted away, maybe somebody removed them, but they need replacement.
- North of Old Canton Rd, the railbed is posted and gated. A neighbor explained that they've had trespassers cutting wood and jacking deer; hence the gate.
- South of that seems to have only brush as an impediment.
I found a 1918 80lb rail used as part of a barrier on the trail.
I found mile marker 19 earlier on the paved Maple City Trail portion.
Mile marker 18 has been moved to somebody's front yard on McIntyre Rd.
Here are Mile markers 13 and 10:
posted at: 02:00 | path: /bicycling | permanent link to this entry
