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.
posted at: 19:05 | path: /bicycling | permanent link to this entry
