Back to the Mountains

September 2, 2018
Back to the Mountains – Labor Day Weekend
Shandaken, NY – Catskill Forest loop – 66 miles, 3,646 feet vertical

Hi everyone,

I’ve heard from many of you that you miss my blogs. Well, let’s be clear: I sure do miss writing them and more importantly, I miss WHY I was writing them.

Here we are, on Labor Day Weekend – the traditional signal for the end of summer – and as my riding companion Tami would say, “Where DID the summer go? Oh, that’s right, we spent it riding across the country!” Yes indeed. I’m still in mourning at its end (the ride, not the summer.)

And so, I’m in the Catskills this weekend for a “destination” wedding of the daughter of a dear friend and thought this would be a great opportunity to skip the group breakfast and go for a long ride, while channeling all my coveted memories of our cross-country adventure and wonderful summer together.

Our host’s event is at a summer camp just outside the small town of Shandaken, NY – a tiny junction in the middle of the Catskill Forest Preserve. This area is dotted with summer camps and reminds me of the now-long-defunct camps I went to as a young camper and also as a camp counselor. (I had 8 and 9 year-old boys and it was SO much fun.)

Plotting out a bike ride here doesn’t leave many options. Being in the middle of the preserve, there are only a few roads amid mostly forested areas with the occasional town. And, without a topo map, I really didn’t know what I was in for in terms of elevation. But after the mountain passes in Oregon, the Tetons and Continental Divide in Wyoming, I figured, how bad could it be? So I plotted a 60+ mile loop and headed out.

Man oh man, did it feel good to be riding again. And climbing again. And descending again. And cruising again. I comforted myself with fond reminiscences of this summer’s journey and all of the fantastic new friends from the ride.

The loop started out going north and up – seriously up – and I immediately regretted not checking elevations first. But one thing about riding across the country: it gives you confidence. And so I climbed through beautiful forested areas and just decided to grind it out. Eventually, and not too bad overall, I reached a peak and then it was downhill to the small town of Lexington. Sadly, Lexington has seen better days and like many small towns in the general area, it seemed depressed with many boarded up buildings.  It was Sunday morning, though, and the church was going strong.  I continued north and finished the first 23-mile leg at Grand Gorge before turning to the south west.

Still riding into a headwind (oh yeah, remember those?) I rode into Roxbury at about the halfway point. There was a cute cafe on my right whose espresso machine seemed to call to me. It reminded me of our wonderful Dutch couple, Herman and Ada, who stopped at every espresso bar in the US in search of a good cup of coffee. Feeling rejuvenated (and smiling), I continued to Arkville before turning east to head back toward Shandaken on Route 28. I was hoping to make it to the wedding camp site in time for lunch from 1 to 2.

Unfortunately for me, the access road to the campground was a 3-mile slog uphill with the final section kicking up to a whopping 17-18% grade. I tried, folks, I really did, but when I rounded a corner and saw yet another quarter-mile of this ridiculous steep grade, I did something I hadn’t done for 3,700 miles. I got off my bike and walked. (My good buddy Herb and I used to call this “cross-training”!)

At any rate, a hearty Mazel Tov to Hillary and Alex on an idyllic weekend wedding celebration and the amazing Marjorie Goldstein, mother of the bride. Sadly, Lenny Goldstein passed away three months ago and could not be here in person, although he was certainly here in spirit.

Next weekend, I’m looking forward to a mini-reunion of sorts in south New Jersey with Abbe and Arlene for the Sourlands Ride. I’m still hoping to catch up in person with more folks here in the northeast before the weather turns and before I go to Israel at the end of October, so stay tuned.

Here’s a fun animated look at today’s 66-mile loop ride  along with just a few photos to remember the day.

As always, thank you for following.
…Jeff