huffy in new paltz

[csb]

on my memorable weekend ride up and around the gunks i
spied a red + white huffy spinning thru new paltz _ this
one of yews?

(oh + it wasnt tommie l.)

[BumbleBeeDave]

BBGeneva and I went for a hike down at Minnewaska today and as we were walking back to the car there was a couple earnestly preparing their muddy MTB’s for the trail. The guy was working on a Huffy! I waited till after we passed, then said to BBG, “Did you see that? It was a HUFFY!” She immediately rolled her eyes, grimaced, then grinned.

Obi Wan has trained her well! :rolleyes: :banana:

BBDave

[csb]

dave, i rode over that bump friday,
and around the ashokan area the rest of the weekend.
this mornings ride up 28 + 212 was quite pleasant.

years ago i used to run club long runs on the carriage trails there _ ugh!

nice views eh?!

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . at Minnewaska was beautiful, as far as we could see. Of course, the only rain cloud in the whole sky found us, but we still had a great time.

Day fee of $6 per car is reasonable, too. We went to Mohonk Mountain House first and they wanted $16 per PERSON just to go in there. Weekdays it’s “only” $10 per person. Extortion . . . :butt:

BBDave

[OldDog]

My last trip to Mohonk was in '83. Only $2 then. I have been wanting to get back there but it just hasn't happened yet. Great place, eh?

[Richard]

While I agree that the price is really really really high, consider that it is the last "mountain house" still standing and the area is encroached on by housing more and more. I am not sure if it is run as a for or not for profit, but the pressure to sell it off must be great. I know some of the family members who are part of the ownership and the ones I know are not rich, by the way.

[csb]

any you guys ride the hills NW of woodstock + phoenicia ?
say platte cove rd/route 33/ route 16 (the bumps that the
tour de trump went over)?

christian, you have i bet.
sandy, you want some hill work on your way to openhouse?

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . I wouldn't know if it's a great place, because we turned right around and left after seeing the prices. As we sat outside the entrance plotting our Plan B, we saw a fair number of other cars also turn around.

As to the price being high . . . $16 per person to walk around the trails??? :eek:

Here are the room rates. Even including the meals, this is trust-fund-baby-from-the-Hamptons territory. I can't imagine that it's that much more beautiful than Minnewaska!

BBDave

[Marron]

This is weird; I was talking about the Gunks yesterday. I was riding at Rainier and telling my companion about my friend Blake's scheme to ride to Paradise from Seattle and then climb Rainier. Kind of like Germans in the 30's riding their bikes to the Eiger. The Gunks came up because back in the 70's I'd ridded there from my home in New Jersey to go climbing a couple of times. It was a transitional period when I was just realizing I was never going to win the Tour of Somerville and deciding that rock climing was more fun. I haven't been back there since the mid 80's so I'm sure the valley looks very different from the rural scene I remember.

[flydhest]

while I've never ridden there, I've climbed the Gunks a couple times. Anybody else here a climber? Of course, perhaps cliche, the first climb was High Exposure. I will NEVER forget the move when you come around the corner to the exposed face. Priceless.

[Bittersweet]

csb:

My in-laws live in Phoenicia. Great cycling area for climbing. Woodstock, Devil's Kitchen, Devil's Tombstone, Phoenicia loop is one of my favorites and right out the door.

[Richard]

It is expensive, and the better choice for similar terrain is Minnewaska, but if that is what it takes to preserve the Mountain House, so be it. All of the other mountain houses that were "preserved" by NY (including one that was located at Lake Minnewaska) have been burned to the ground after they were left to the elements and became liabilities.

As far as Platte Clove, it is a real bear. I live near it and usually avoid it unless I'm with someone who needs a ribbon for their chest. I have always felt that climbs that are pure survival are not especially good training. They dictate gearing and cadence, not vice versa. I was on the road when the pros came through and some walked. No one had gearing smaller than 39x23 and they paid. Gert Jan-Theunise (sp?) had a 21 and motored up. Funny thing, the next year he was busted for doping. Go figure.

[Climb01742]

i lived in woodstock for a year once. trying to be the great american novelist. you see that worked out swell.

woodstock is both a cliche and wonderful at the same time. one moment from my year there will always stick in my brain.

one friday night went grocery shopping at 2 AM. (don't ask.) in the checkout line ahead of me a guy bought what i consider to be the 3 best items i've ever seen someone buy at a grocery store:

a carton of marlboros. a six pack of beer (bud, i think.) and the crowning touch: a TV Guide.

what else doth a man need at 2 am?

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . of Hustler?

I've heard Woodstock is a lonely place! :rolleyes:

BBDave

[Bittersweet]

But did you climb up Platte Clove Road (Devil's Kitchen)? Now that you're training for Washington this may be the time to return. Certainly not Washington but a good test piece and you don't have to turn around at the top. Keep right on riding into Hunter and then go left over the ridge for a little more uphill. The scenery up the Kitchen is really beautiful.

[gasman]

while I've never ridden there, I've climbed the Gunks a couple times. Anybody else here a climber? Of course, perhaps cliche, the first climb was High Exposure. I will NEVER forget the move when you come around the corner to the exposed face. Priceless.

I climbed there a bit from '84-'88. Always loved climbing there as it was sort of a climbing Disneyland. Easy access along the carriage road, tons of climbs but I felt sandbagged more than once. Very stiff ratings. Did a ton of climbs in the 5.7-5.10 range so I was a pretty average climber. I still remember all the great times there though and wish I didn't live 3,000 miles away now.

High Exposure is a total classic. One of my favorite easy classics was Shockely's ceiling- a climb put up by one of the inventors of the transistor !


disclaimer-Shockley himself was a complete a-hole and a racist so I had no respect for the rest of his life, I just liked the climb he put up.

[flydhest]

I didn't know anything about the person behind the name, that's interesting.

I sort of feel like all the new pukes into sport climbing who think they can climb 11's or 12's should go to the Gunks for a weekend. Humility is served fresh on a daily basis.

The east actually has a few good climbing places, but the buddy of mine who got me into climbing lived in Salt Lake for 12 years. Talk about a place to live if you climb, holy cow. 20 minute drive to multi-pitch 5.12 climbs.

[bcm119]

Yep, Mohonk Mtn. House prices are ridiculous, but if it takes trustafarians from the Hamptons to keep suburbia off those ridges...I'm all for it.

[LegendRider]

IThe east actually has a few good climbing places, but the buddy of mine who got me into climbing lived in Salt Lake for 12 years. Talk about a place to live if you climb, holy cow. 20 minute drive to multi-pitch 5.12 climbs.

I don't know many people who can do multi-pitch 5.12 climbs. But, then again, I stopped climbing about the time that sport climbing took off. Rap-placed bolts were terribly controversial in the mid-80's. I always placed my own protection and stayed away from the gymnastic stuff. I have respect for what that type of climber can do, but it wasn't appealing to me.

Most of my climbing climbing was in the Southeast - Looking Glass, Linville Gorge, Sunset Rock, etc.

[flydhest]

Legend Rider,

Yeah, the number who can do multi-pitch 5.12 ain't that big, but there's a shocking number who live in SLC. My buddy who used to live there was always way up in my estimation and then, hanging out with his buddies, I met guys who solo 12s on a daily basis. Different freakin' world.

I'm in to trad lead climbing as well. Placing bolts is still a bit of a contentious issue and I'm kind of down on sport climbing. I kind of feel like, if you can't place your own pro, maybe you shouldn't climb it.