kingston-woodstock ny area anybody

[shoe]

hey just wondering if anyone is from that area. i was thinking of doing a ride tomorrow morn...saturday . and wondering if anyone knows if there are any group rides that meet up in the area. i know it has been cold and snowy so it seems like alot of the group rides haven't started yet...if not- i am off to explore the area for a couple of hours. spent the week up here and enjoyed it. i have been thinking of moving to the area and wondering how others like the area positive or negative really. seems like there is alot of good riding on road and off up here..if anyone has any feedback it would be greatly appreciated..thanks....dave

[Pete Serotta]

Very nice area with lots to do and lots of history. I love it during the summer and also use to go skiing at HUNTER quite abit. (use to be a big IBM location)

[RIHans]

Years ago I was in that club. They are still active.

http://www.hvvc.org/

Ciao, Hans

[Kevan]

s'pose to rain like the good gol o'mighty, all day tomorrow.

Can't offer a route, but you can't be too far off of beautiful with the Gunks nearby.

http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2006/11/27/483677/lacouette01.jpg

[Richard]

For someone thinking of moving to ulster county, ny, riding great, economy not so great. Mix of people ranges from hillbilly to cultured.

BTW, all he11 is supposed to break loose with rain and flooding overnight.

[bcm119]

I'm from that area originally. Its a good place to live- I consider moving back sometimes. I haven't found anywhere else in the country that compares to the Hudson valley, especially that stretch. Just a great mix of history, real working folks and artsy folks, and lots of overlap in those two categories; basically its a nice mix of natural beauty and cultural richness, imho. Some real gems of the Hudson river towns are along there. Good climate too-- enough snow in winter to keep it interesting but not socked in through April like further north. Plenty of rippin' thunderstorms in summer, and beautiful cool falls. Of course, you can't really ride year round, you just do other stuff in winter (rather than complain about the snow on here :) )
If I had my choice I'd live in Rhinebeck or New Paltz, but Woodstock is okay too... I wouldn't consider anything south of poughkeepsie, but its nice to have the metro north in POU to have a day or weekend in NYC. Poughkeepsie on south is way too built up and the traffic sucks, but just north of there it becomes much more tranquil. If you're in Kingston, hit the Keegan Ales pub, and have a hurrican kitty IPA. Last time I was there I met a few NJ refugees.

[Richard]

bcm119 -- ever do the Dietz Stadium rides when you were here?

[BumbleBeeDave]

Check out this web site. This guy has a huge collection of very well-mapped and researched routes all up and down the Hudson valley, complete with cue sheets and maps. I've done several of his rides and found them to be very well planned.

http://www.roberts-1.com/bikehudson/

BBD

[bcm119]

bcm119 -- ever do the Dietz Stadium rides when you were here?
No-- in fact I wasn't very serious about riding at all when I lived there, I was a competitive swimmer growing up-- no time to ride!! :crap:

I've since done some nice rides when visiting my folks though.

[palincss]

Check out this web site. This guy has a huge collection of very well-mapped and researched routes all up and down the Hudson valley, complete with cue sheets and maps. I've done several of his rides and found them to be very well planned.

http://www.roberts-1.com/bikehudson/

BBD

+1. Absolutely fantastic web site, highest possible recommendation.

[palincss]

Years ago I was in that club. They are still active.

http://www.hvvc.org/

Ciao, Hans

There's also the MidHudson Bicycle Club, which I used to be a member of when I lived in Dutchess County. We did many rides in the New Paltz area as well as in Dutchess and Columbia counties. It's a touring club rather than a racing club, like HVVC.

http://www.midhudsonbicycle.org/

[Richard]

I won't be riding during the downpour tomorrow, but if you want some routes, let me know and I will tell you about some good ones. If you are here when the weather is promising, I would be happy to join you on a ride of virtually any distance. Let me know.

[DarrenCT]

i spent a day riding in woodstock

it was EFFIN AWESOME

i remember riding around this nature area where bald eagles apparently nested

actually..... it was around the Ashokan Reservoir

lots of weird people there and cool bars and places to eat

riding was a+++++

[srenda]

Plus, stop by the Hurley Ridge Market on Route 375, between 28 and the main drag in Woodstock. My in-laws own the place, pretty good chicken cutlet/melted mozz'/russian dressing sandwich.

[shoe]

richard i like the way you think..i'll ride any distance as well. even if i do bonk for 30 miles..but that was just once i bonked for that long...i mean hey once you are through it you're good to go..bcm- yeah that is what i feel about the area with what you were saying in the first part.. i will take a paycut moving here so that is a biggy with the decision..it's prettier and a nicer environment than where i live but i will leave 2 businesses behind and go back to being an employee.man i wish it was going to be a nice tomorrow instead of raining so i could get out and ride ..did get a great day of snowboarding in yesterday.thanks guys for the input on the area..hope to check out some more of the riding next time i'm up....dave

[jeffg]

Have ridden along the reservoir, up Devil's Kitchen, Mohonk and up to that Monastery above Woodstock.

Great riding and a wonderful area to spend a weekend (or more)

+1 on the webiste referenced :beer:

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . to Taco Juan's, the combination burrito/ice cream shop on Tinker street, the main drag in town. They gave me an ant in my strawberry sundae. I complained and the PFK* working here made me another one--then proceeded to dip the rest of the ants out of the strawberry sauce with a spoon! :eek:

But there IS an awesome bead shop in town. Woodstock Bead Emporium at 54 Tinker Street, a few doors up the street and across from the Ant Sundae Emporium. There's also Overlook Mountain Bikes at 93 Tinker Street--also an excellent, friendly place, and in the summer all the hippies come out of the hills to sell ***elry of questionable provenance from tables along the street.

New Paltz down the road is also a great little downtown with lots of cool stores. Last year during our college visit, my daughter and I stopped for pizza slices in a place that overlook one of the main intersections. Bumble Bee Geneva surveyed the passing folks on the street as we ate, then offered that "All those old people are trying to pretend they're Hippies." I then had to stifle my laughter as I tried to explain to her that not only were those "old people" real Hippies, but they were the original Hippies when they were young, long before she was even thought of. She got very quiet . . . :p

BBD

*=Pimply Faced Kid

[RIHans]

The Peekamoose climb is an old fav...

Back in the day, the back-side was dirt. Climb the back side, decend on pavement.

http://www.northeastcycling.com/catskills_tour.htm

[palincss]

New Paltz down the road is also a great little downtown with lots of cool stores. Last year during our college visit, my daughter and I stopped for pizza slices in a place that overlook one of the main intersections.

If you're in New Paltz, take a few moments to ride through the historic district.

Huguenot Street Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, was created to preserve the oldest continuously inhabited street in America with its original houses, a wonderful collection exhibiting Dutch vernacular architecture and furnishings. The principle houses on Huguenot Street were built surrounding the turn of the 17th into the 18th centuries, from 1680's through the first decates of the 18th century.

-- http://www.hvnet.com/museums/huguenotst/

It's just a couple of blocks off Main St. and well worth exploring. The article cited above is worth a look: it's not only an interesting story, it's got lots of interesting photos.

[Bittersweet]

Dave: I wish I'd seen the post earlier. New job and not enough surfing about bikes. My wife's family is from Phoenicia (little bit northwest). They've been there forevaaH. The link to the rides previously provided is a good one. The Devil's Kitchen climb is one of my all time favorite rides. I hit it at least once or twice a summer as we go out there quite a bit. (Just there two weeks ago) I have a loop from Phoenicia down to Woodstock over Devil's Kitchen and then toward Hunter and back to Phoenicia via Devil's Tombstone. It is ~45miles and a real treat. Devil's Kitchen is a must do. It's paved but barely and way steeper and longer than anything on D2R2 to give you perspective. First time I rode it was in the early 90's in spring with a 23t and not a lick of fitness. I dabbed twice as I was tipping over as I tacked up the thing. This is the climb in the Tour de Trump where some of the pros underestimated the steepness and pushed. There is overall great riding continuing further up from Woodstock as well. Lots of climbing from one river valley to the next. Happy to provide more details if you want via a PM or call. BS

[Climb01742]

during my hippie-dippy phase, i lived in woodstock for a year. out of season, woodstock is wonderful. in season, tourists kinda muck it up. riding out toward bearsville is nice. anyone happen to know if bearsville studio is still around?

[quaintjh]

during my hippie-dippy phase, i lived in woodstock for a year. out of season, woodstock is wonderful. in season, tourists kinda muck it up. riding out toward bearsville is nice. anyone happen to know if bearsville studio is still around?
is still around and thriving. Devendra Banhardt was recording there in the last 18 months or so.

[shoe]

hey guys hopefully all that talk of woodstock didn't trigger too many lsd flashbacks(can we mention acid on a bike forum) .i think i will be up again at the end of the month for another week since i have to give my biz partner my decision by the 1rst of april. so hopefully the weather will be a little more willing. the one thing i didn't get to do which i do the most is riding, but you guys made it sound pretty good. bittersweet you kidding ---call or pm -- i think you should just come over and take me on the loop. we can race to the top of that hill and see who's arse is more kikked come the top. i'll treat to breakfast at sweet sues....again thanks all for the info... i'll save this stuff and prepare for my next time up......dave

[fungusamungus33]

The shop in Woodstock (Overlook) is mostly MTB stuff but a great place none the less. The owner, Billy Denter, is very knowledgable and a big asset to the bike culture in the community...a real advocate. He sponsors a team and works on trail building and care at Wilson State Park.

Vicious Cycles is in New Paltz. They have some old Serotta talent doing good things for the factory.


Have Fun!

[shoe]

hey fungus- yeah i had stopped in the shop and chatted with him...talked about single speeding and mtb-ing..nice down to earth guy...offered to show me around some trails when things cleared up...a bunch of good things have been said when his name comes up....viscious cycles---we crashed their shop one day...carl gave us a last minute tour with his true charm...cool gig they have over there.. was amazed at how much he squeezes in that little space...cool rigs and kind of low key..i had just ordered a mtb bike before i thought of moving ...i wish i had ordered one from him. would be cool to represent locally you know...i did go with an east coast builder though...maybe down the road...moving up here means the custom bikes go on the back burner..then again i will soon have all i need anyway...