Alas, my time in southern Manhattan is coming to a close. My day gig will be moving to Midtown in a week :-(
Sure its a new adventure and well--Manhattan being Manhattan--is always amazing but the deep history here at the tip of the island won’t be replicated. Cobblestone streets, centuries old pubs and forts and of course the glorious New York harbor (the State of Liberty, Ellis Island, etc…) won’t be uptown!
One of the most interesting places here is the Native American Museum. I went back yesterday and was rewarded with a new exhibit on the Taino. Of course the shop was incredible as well— so many books… so many CDs... so many precious items! I finally did select an Atlas, a Dreamcatcher and a mini saying book and upon leaving was mesmerized with the cat…
Native American Museum - Store/ Gift Shop
Great Books Galore!
Hip Music in Abundance!
and yes... "The Cat!"
Taino Exhibit
Arawak Words
Bowling Green
When leaving the museum - you can catch a bit of the vibe of old New York...
I went to Pequonnock Valley today to mountain bike and discovered the park was devastated by the recent flood.
I rode in from Whitney and found the North Bridge was gone!
Coyote Crossing :-(
So I decided to take the Rail Trail all the way to Trumbull instead. Once I got to the Shopping Center, I thought I'd check out the rail trail connector south to Twin Brooks Park. I had never ridden this stretch before and found it very pleasant!
Poignant Graffiti under the bridge :-)
I then swung back, headed up Daniels Farm Road and rode the Blue Trail by the river.
I noticed a few new trees that span the river and thought this might be the only way to get across the river from now on!
The Cooper Creek bridge was wrecked from the flood as well...
.. .and tragically, the small bridge for the Yellow/Red trail was washed away as well. You could tell from the stream bank where all the leaves had been washed away that even this small stream must have risen a few feet and overflowed its banks. The bridge simply rose and floated away YIKES--that was a helluva flood!!!
Every August, I take an Annual Pilgrimage to northern Vermont.
-Saturday August 25th-
Brattleboro
I always like to stop in Brattleboro for lunch. Right past the train statin, by the edge of the river is a wonderful brew pub converted from an old mill. A double IPA and grub while chowing down by the edge of the river was wonderful!
An Amtrak passenger train came cruising thru as well.
The view back up the hill to town reveals a waterfall.
Trapp Trails
That evening I rode the Trapp Family trails below the Resort. They are easy but always a blast.
-Sunday August 26th-
Perry Hill / Rasta Mtn
My personal nirvana is Rasta Mountain in Waterbury. Joe's and Campfire are my all time favorite trail(s).
The initial climb up is always the biggest challenge. It has been redesigned and there's now a series of sculpted berms/switchbacks that make the climb almost manageable.
Once past the new section, these mini berms make this section of the climb much more interesting and sustainable.
I veered off the main doubletrack and continued climbing up a much more fun single track.
I ended up somewhere on Joe's or Campfire at this slick rock section. As I looked down I noticed the trail was much more sculpted than I remembered - there was obviously a lot of TLC and work put in to "refining this descent" in the last couple of years...
The descent is one non-stop orgy of amazing flow and breath-taking scenery. I had to force myself to stop and snap this photo!
3/4s of the way down you start to ride along the edges of ravines. The next two photos illustrate right and left of a typical gully/ravine.
Before the final descent, I wandered over to an area on a trail aptly named Disneyland. The fern undercover and the sun shining thru the thin canopy is magic...
Curiosity made me notice the railroad was doubletracked here.
Before leaving the park - I zoomed around the mini mogul area at the entrance,. It was hotter than hell but I was still charged up from the descent (despite the fact that someone's stupid dog walked in front of me on those nice berms near the bottom!!!!)
Tunnel Flute Playing
Finally, I put the bike back on the car rack and returned to the tunnel with my mini Native American flute and noodled around a bit . At 1:04, a couple of mountain bikers ride by and voiced their approval...
It was hot today but not unbearable like it was mid last week.
Old Mine Park
I started out at Old Mine Park parking in the back and riding all the trails up top. Embarrassingly, while riding pretty fast on a fairly easy trail - I hit a rock and did an endo!! I was too busy looking all around me except for what in front of me on the trail!! OOPs!
Pequonnock River
I next ventured over to Whitney Ave and rode along the river. I stopped--for a change--at a spot I hadn't visited in some time. This is the first ford - good memories here. My son and I use to bomb down the hill from the rail trail side and try to make it across the water ages ago...
I decided to take the less used White Trail thru the Serengeti - its usually wet but I figured in the heat of the summer it would be bone dry. Man... it was dry but more like a jungle - the Serengeti should be renamed the Congo these days!!!
I ventured up to the yellow and was rewarded with seeing a new super well-built bridge over the Copper Creek. Bill, Brian and crew rock!!
Mianus Park
Finally after heading home, I decided to "meander" over to Mianus and just hike and find a semi-secluded spot to play a little Native American Flute.
The first spot was right on the river,,,
...and had a tree burr that looked just like a dog!
I then wandered a bit north and veered of by the river to a trail I don't ride and found a great spot - a rock with a bed of moss.
I propped the cell phone up against my Camelbak on the rock made this mini video...
Saturday's weather upstate was so amazingly nice I ended up riding three parks (Luther Forest, Colonie AND Schenectady Central Park)! On Sunday, I was in the area (returning from a visit to my Mom and an extensive RR history trek in Ravena - LINK) so I decided to check out the trails in North Bethlehem.
It's a small place but jam-packed with trails as the official map below indicates...
There is very little elevation change and trails are super smooth but... its easy to get disoriented as to where you are as there are no blazes and the extensive looping soon erases all sense of north and south!
Nevertheless it was a fun place to ride. There are no rocks and very little roots because the trails are built to be super smooth. There are extensive log up and overs thru out and quite an array of man-made stunts as well (log rides, etc. on the sides of the main trail).
I rode (I believe!) the red, yellow and part of the orange loop. It was a bit hot, without a breeze and being minus my Camelbak (which I had stupidly left in Connecticut!), I headed home after only about 45 minutes . I will need to return sometime to ride the rest of the park...
