Schenectady Central Park and Colonie ...

I was up visiting my mother for the weekend and rode both Schenectady Central Park and the Colonie Shale trail on Saturday.

Schenectady Central Park

This park packs a lot of fun riding in a small area. Tight switchbacks and frequent turns add up to about 5 miles of trails. Although much of it is flat and marshy there are quite a few hills, and boardwalks of all different sizes in the marshy areas to keep it interesting. There are quite a few tight squeezes thru trees and many kinda of unexpected large log up and overs as well. I got clipped on the first tight tree squeeze but learned my lesson and slowed down enough to negotiate all the others without incident.

The section south of the creek channel was really fun. Kudos to the trail builders here--they have built a masterpiece!

This section is super fun!

Colonie Shale Trail

After a complete ride thru the many trail options at Schenectady Central Park, I popped on over to Colonie to ride the Shale trail(s). Much to my surprise, it looks as if the trail system is now legit and there were lots of markers and tags on the trees to indicate where to follow the Yellow Loop.

I rode in the first "long climb" entrance for a change and made it up to the top without incident.

Vestiges of the Halloween night ride are found scattered here and there and it caused quite a few chuckles!

Its real a great place to ride and packs a wallop each time I have been there.

Lastly, I rode west a bit on the rail trail and discovered this secret trail offshoot. Sadly it ended abruptly only a few hundred feet into the woods. Too bad it looked like a gorgeous area. (No trespassing private property signs on the opposite side of the creek probably caused this trail to be abandoned)