Video: Tour of the Catskills pro cyclists ride past the Thompson House in Windham this weekend.
Biking is big in the Catskills and Hudson Valley -- and getting bigger, says Adam Bosch of the Times Herald-Record. Bosch has a story in today's paper on the growing popularity of cycling in upstate New York, and quotes advocates who argue that a little investment in bike trails and better road access could yield big dividends for the region:
All this, as the Open Space Institute chases a dream of interconnected rail trails that would stretch 140 miles across portions of Dutchess, Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties. Huge stretches of those trails — which include the old O&W Railroad and Wallkill Valley Railroad — are already publicly owned.
"Filling the gaps in those trails would make a huge difference," said Charlie Sanborn, who owns Cinder Track Bicycles in Mountaindale, along part of the old O&W rail bed. "Wherever you put a trail, money will follow."
The dream network would allow people to ride from Port Jervis to Kingston, or Liberty to Poughkeepsie — huge, flat distances that excite cyclists of every level.
Rail trails aren't the only thing bicycle advocates want to see more of around the Catskills. Biking blogger (or blogging biker?) Mike Wentland has been a tireless advocate for better cycling access to Route 28. He's currently engaged in a crusade to convince the New York State Department of Transportation to print bicycle symbols on 28's wide (and newly-restored) shoulders.
Why print bike symbols on rural roads? Wentland says the printing:
adds much needed safety along the route for both cyclists and drivers, would help promote regional tourism for visitors looking to get around on transportation where they can breath the fresh air they've come to enjoy, and it would add a layer of accountability for the NYSDOT to take responsibility for this bike route and not let it get to the disparaging level it was at again
(Seriously, up until about a year ago, Route 28 in Ulster County was a crumbling, pothole-strewn hot mess.)
This past weekend, the Catskills hosted about 800 cyclists for the annual Tour of the Catskills, a nearly 200-mile race for both pros and amateurs that ranges across some of the most difficult terrain in Greene and Ulster Counties. The Daily Mail reports that at least one local took home some glory from the race: Maplecrest's Justin Lindine, who placed third in the 100-mile Catskill Epic stage.
