Rockland County Rail Trail Adventures

I first became aware of the rail trails seventeen years ago when I lived near the North County Trailway. It’s a 22-mile long bike trail that follows the right-of-way of the old New York Central railroad though Westchester County.

Rockland County bike trail

I love the concept. All over the country, there are long stretches of track that belonged to out-business railroads which municipalities and private groups have been turning into multi-use recreational trails and parks.

Back then I had Mondays off and I found the trail to be a great way to get a work out. I could bang out twenty high speed miles on a smooth graded surface without worrying about traffic, enjoying the scenery along the way.

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Plattekill MTB Summer 2016

Mountain biking is off to a good start this season at Plattekill Bike Park. After one of the warmest winters on record combined with a severe lack of snow, Plattekill opened for mountain biking in March.

plattekill-mtb-biker-1

In fact, on the last weekend of the ski season — March 19-20th — the mountain was open for mountain biking on the triple side, and skiing on the double side. Naturally, I opted for skiing.

This year, Plattekill was the first lift-served mountain biking area to open in the East which brought out many riders. Currently, biking is taking place on the double chair side, as the triple chair is undergoing maintenance.

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What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Everything changes and from what I can see summer vacation is no different. In the old days, we’d use our time off to explore the Siamese Ponds Wilderness and the south central Adirondacks.

water-sports

We’d push our week or ten days of time off as late in the season as possible. That time right after Labor Day is possibly the best time of the year in the mountains, outside of ski season.

Now we take it when we can get it. When our daughter entered kindergarten, like many families, we moved our vacation into late August, after camp and before school. Sometimes, our schedule of activities shortens that long week in the mountains into a long weekend.

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