Iced off!!

Iced off the trails... ARRRGGG!!!

Luther Forest

What a bummer - I showed up at Luther and rode both south loops as well as a bit of the north side but it was terribly icy almost everywhere and very difficult to ride (unless I suppose you had studs…), After two hours, I called it quits.

Schenectady Central Park

After a break for lunch and a visit with an old friend, I decided to check out the trail at Schenectady Central Park but once I got there—despite the fact that the forest ground was completely snow free—every trail and fireroad was a non-stop sheet of ice so I headed up to Hawkwood (Anchor Diamond trails in Burnt Hills) to hike instead.

Hawkwood

But that was iced over as well and really needed crampons to keep from slipping  -- Crazy!!!!!!

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)

Schenectady Central Park (visit #2)

On Saturday, I was back  "in the neighborhood" and returned to Schenectady Central Park to finish the map.

This time I was joined by my nephew Andrew who is an excellent rider (and patient and polite when I pooped out on loop three!)

Loop1

We first rode the trails south of the stream - which I GPSed to finish the map. They were great trails with up and downs, tight switchbacks and a few log up and overs. A couple of sections closely paralleled the fences of baseball fields - it was a fun trek...

Loop1

Andrew by the stream

Loop 2

We then hit the main loop going clockwise -- it was getting hot but really not too bad for a summer day.

Loop 2

Loop 3

Lastly we finished off the ride by completing the 3rd loop. I was pretty tired at this point and choked on a bunch of the hills, etc. There are some tech sections and super tight switchbacks which are doable if you aren't already bushed!

Somewhere along the way I got bashed by my chainring but I didn't even realized it until I got home!

Schenectady Central Park

Mountain Biking Trails In Central Park

What a pleasant surprise - Would you believe it? ...a fun bunch of mountain trails in Schenectady's Central Park!

I got off to a very late start (a series of SNAFUs) but finally parked off Fehr Avenue and started riding at noon. Although the overall park is relatively flat, there were a lot of ups and downs and tightly-curved switchbacks to make the most out of every hill available! :-) 

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Loop One

Much of the first section of the trail I rode traversed thru marshy area. Fortunately--being late July--the place was bone dry but there were a lot of boardwalks in various shapes and sizes to keep the ride interesting.

Not exactly knowing where I was going, I simply followed the most well-beaten trail and the Green arrows.

If you like roots--then this is the place to go! There were sections of the trail that were as rooty as I am used to in Connecticut but frequent sharp turns and switchbacks make the sight lines limited so the ride was always full of unexpected surprises. (Quite a few log up and overs as well in all sizes!)

There were many spots with tight berms as well as long stretches with great flow so you could bomb  much of the ride and have a blast. Obviously--if you come here often enough to really know the trails --the faster you bomb, the better it will be each and every time:-)

Loop Two

The first loop took me back to the car but I headed on to try more trails. The initial part of the next section was quite hilly. One section especially was pretty wild--the hillside was riddled with twists and turns. Nicely contoured switchbacks keep you climbing and focused on the curves but nothing was too steep or over strenuous - these are nice trails!!

There are many instances thru out the trail system where you
have to squeeze thru tree like this - Fun!

Finally after paralleling a stream for a while, I took the Orange trail and ended up on the Fireroad. A short jaunt northward took me right back to the car.

The Obligatory Wound PIC - just a minor skinned knee from a no-big-deal fall I took after hitting a root,.

Conclusion

• Was it a fun ride? - Yes
• Were you sufficiently challenged, yet not overwhelmed? Yes
• Would you come back again? - Most definitely! There are parts of the park I still haven't ridden and I look forward to re-riding what I did (the more ya know it - the faster you can bomb!)

It's a great spot...