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Mountain Biking and Road Cycling news, events, and stories from around the Hudson Valley. Gear reviews, trip reports, trail routes and interviews, find it here.  

Resources

Bike Clubs
Mid-Hudson Bicycle Club
Hudson Valley Triathlon Club
Renegades Bike Club
Fats in the Cats
Wildcat Epic Events
nysmtbseries
Round Top Mountain Bike Association 
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Bike Friendly Kingston 
Rockland Bicycling Club
Stewards of Stewart
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Westchester Mountain Bike Association 
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Westchester Cycling Club
Orange County Bicycle Club
Places to Ride
Belleayre Mountain
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Blue Mountain Reservation 
Hunter Mountain Ski
Jockey Hill 
Lippman Park
Minnewaska State Park Preserve
Mohonk Preserve
​Walnut Mountain 
Windham Bike Park
Plattekill Bike Park
​Round Top Mountain
Nimham Mountain 
​Sprain Ridge Park

Bike Safety and Advocacy 

People are talking, drinking, and laughing. It appears to be a celebration, not the fund raiser for an injured cyclist that it is.  Read more

Who's Your Bike Shop?

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Where can you go to talk about your favorite sport, have a beer or a coffee, and buy gear? Your local bike shop of course.
Read more...

Bike Shops
Accord Bicycle Service
Bicycle Depot
Bike Way
Dark Horse Cycles
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Catskills Cycles
Favata's TRT & Bicycle Shop
Haverstraw Bicycle Shop
Joe Fix Its
Lightsey Cycles
Kingston Cyclery
Revolution Bikes 
Coxsackie Wheel and Heel Bikes
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Overlook Mountain Bikes
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Pawling Cycle and Sport 
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Signature Cycles 
Wheel and  Heel 
Windham Mountain Outfitters

Cross Mountain Crusher Gravel Grinder 
Serious cyclists only need apply

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Fifty-five miles of gravel and paved road, 5 mountains, and the glory of the challenge are in store for riders of the first annual Cross Mountain Crusher.Read more
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Fat Bikes and the Whitetop Highway

Once upon a time there was a riding season. Enter fat bikes.  A mountain bike with over-sized tires,  they are made for riding on soft unstable terrain. With tire pressure as low as 5 psi these bikes and their impressive wheel size dominate the type of terrain that regular bikes hide from. Read more
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Lippman Park Cyclocross Race 

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Events Calendar 

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Events

Weekly
Tuesday 

Time Trials-Road Bike  *
Lippman Park Group Ride
Dietz Stadium Ride 
Wednesday
Bicycle Depot Group Rides
Thursday 
Dietz Stadium Ride
Overlook Mountain Bikes Ride
Friday
Bicycle Depot Mountain Bike Ride ​
​​Saturday
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Fat Bike Ride Revolution 
Cyclocross Rides w Bike Depot 
Woodstock No Drop Ride
Overlook Road Ride 8am 
Sunday
TRT Group ride
Lipman Park Mnt Bike Rides 
Women's Bike Ride- TRT  

Belleayre Mountain All Terrain Challenge 

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The Belleayre Mountain All Terrain Challenge celebrated its decade anniversary with what some called the best ...Slideshow and results 

2015 UCI Windham World Cup 

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American Aaron Gwin won the men’s elite downhill mountain bike race Saturday at the Windham Mountain UCI World Cup with 

2015 Tour de Kingston 

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Wildcat 50/100 2015 

Williams Lake Classic Mountain Bike Race -2015

The Brutally Great Williams Lake Classic

Hike-a-Bike, Lippman Park


The Renegade’s Mountain Bike Club annual Hike-a-Bike mountain bike race took place on Saturday, May 9.

This year’s course was a combination of obstacles, stream crossings, deadfall and dismounts, on
double track and single track. It was about ninety percent semi-technical single track and double track. Much more of the Lundy property was included in this year’s race.

Hike-a-Bike started with a Le Mans start and a 100 yard run/sprint before mounting bikes.
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“The ride was great fun,” according to Zack Vogel, of Saratoga Springs, riding for North American Velo. “The trail was smooth hard pack, and fast. There were a few scary, rocky, double track sections where I couldn’t see what was under the leaves and my speed made it scary”. 

Along with the intentional obstacles was a timber rattler on the Lundy Estate. 

“I was on my way back from Lundy on a gradual decent,” Terry Blanchet, of Castelton, and overall winner said. “I was headed down, peddling as fast as I could when I heard the rattle. It certainly gave me an extra shot of adrenalin”. 

Blanchet had a lot of positive things to say about the venue. 

“Lippman Park is amazing, back-country adventure racing,” Blanchet said. 

There was one female rider in the field. She rode in the 16-29 category. She was the first to sign-up according to Douglas Nikkila, of the Renegades. 

“She said she wanted to suffer just like everybody else”.

 

Fall Foliage Ride 

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There is lovely color in the leaves for the 2nd annual Fall Foliage Ride coming up on October 19. 

All of the rides begin at 11:00 am.  Please arrive early to sign in and hear announcements. 

This is a fun day of cycling on the scenic back roads around Saugerties Village and Town that ends with a cook-out at the Revolution Bicycles Back Yard. The BBQ Begins at 12:15 pm.
There are 3 Ride Options; an 18 Mile Road Ride, a 23 Mile Road Ride, and a 5 Mile Family Ride .

This Event is Free! 


Food to Fork Fondo

PictureTyler Wren
The last weekend in September is the time to pack up your bike and take a trip to Rensselaerville, NY. 

On Sunday  September 28th, the tiny hamlet in the Catskills will play host to a something-for-everyone cycling event. 

The first annual Gran Fondo, an organized, mass-participation cycling event, will kick off the festival at 9am, followed by the festival ride at 10. 

Photo Slide Show of the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Windham NY

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The Burly- Backyard World Championships Mountain Bike Race- 7-6-14

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Wildcat 100 Mountain Bike Race

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 Williams Lake Classic 2014

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Ride the Ridge 2014

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Women's Woodstock Cycling Grand Prix 

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Gran Fondo the Gunks

It was warm enough not to have to work to say warm and cool enough not to have to work to stay cool. Perfect weather for racing.

 
The race consisted of the Gran Fondo, a 108 mile course, the Medio 68 miles, Piccolo 38 miles, a mini Fondo of 18 miles.

For Jeffery Timm, of Bethlehem Pa, this was his first Wildcats Epic event. In June of 2013 Timm was in a bike accident 20 miles from his home. He broke 11 bones. 
On Sunday he rode the 68 mile Medio Fondo. 

"The roads were beautiful. In Pennsylvania the roads are horrible. We will definitely come up and do it again," Timm said.

The 'we' refers to he and his wife, Holly Edwards, who have been riding together since 1977. 

"It was a pleasure to go somewhere where the roads are so nice. The worst stretch here was like our best," Edwards said.

The best part of the course was the view after the first climb for Edwards

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The second annual Gran Fondo Bike race took place in the Gunks on Sunday September 22. It was an ideal day for riding, blue skies, puffy white clouds and temps in the 70s. 






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More rave reviews about the course came from Chris Slichta, 44 from Cornwall, NY.

 "This is the best Gran Fondo ride I've ever done. Spectacular road surfaces," Slichta said.

Chris, Chris and Joe did the Medio Fondo which took the rout from the Ulster County Fair Grounds to Route 52, over Criagsmore, down Route 209 from Ellenville into Kerhonkson, up Route 44/55 past Minnewaska, and took a hard left onto Clove Road and then down into High Falls, Stone Ridge, Rosendale to finish up on Springtown Road to Libertyville Road. 

The Gran Fondo added another 41 miles to that and included the Ashokan Reservoir.

Chris Thorpe, of Pine Bush, found the views breathtaking.

"I didn't know these views were right here in my own back yard," Thorpe said. “More cycle tours should be in the Gunks.  It's incredible".
...Peak Magazine

The West Hurley Burley

Wildcat Epic Events Mnt Bike Pics


Wildcat Epic Mountain Bike Race

Sunday was an epic mountain bike day at Lippman Park in Wawarsing.  Wildcat Epic Events held the 4th annual 25 mile and a 50 mile mountain bike races. This year’s went through 13 miles of trails at Lippmann Park and 12 miles on the Lundy Estate and local roads. The 25 mile race was one lap starting at 10:00 the 50 miles race was 2 laps and started at 8:00 am and earned riders NEES series points.

32 riders registered for the 25 mile race and 63 for the 50 miler, nearly 100 riders in all, 11 of whom were women. Ages ranged from 12 -65 years old and participants came from down the road in Kerhonkson to NJ, MA, NYC, CN, and PA.

50 mile winner Dereck Tredwell had a time of 4:00:41. Complete results here. Rob Anderson, of Schosha NY, won the 25 mile race with a time of 1:58:92.

“I didn’t have a specific goal,” Anderson said, “I just wanted to finish in the top three”.  Anderson participated in last year’s event which was held in New Paltz.  He has been riding competitively for two years and rides with the HRRT out of Albany NY.

Cassy Anderson, his wife, comes to as many of the events as she can.

“It is exciting and it’s great to be supportive,” Cassy said.

Doug Southwick, rider, commented that:

“People like the mountain bike scene better than road riding because there is more fun after, like BBQ, beer and hanging out,” Southwick said.

“Very technical in the beginning,” is how Matt Gairadina, 26 of Pittsfield MA, described the course. He came in 2nd in the 25 mile race.

“As long as you are willing to bury yourself in the beginning you can get ahead,” Gairadina said.

He was impressed by the trails at Lippman Park. There are burmed corners, that’s banked in road lingo. Because the trails switch back he could see the riders behind him but not tell how much of a lead he had.

The tail work at Lippman Park was done courtesy of the Renegades Mountain Bike Club.  Over the past few years the club’s members have built 15 miles of trails over 100 acres in the park, with bridges and conservation measures. All that and it seems none of the club’s members rode in the event; they were all working on the trails or at the aid stations with the other volunteers.

“It was an absolute pleasure working with the Renegades they put some amazing trails in,” Gunter Spilhaus, race director and owner of Wildcat Epic Events, said. “We are defiantly looking to do more events Lippman park and are excited about the enthusiasms by members of the town board as well”.

Spilhaus hopes that mountain biking and the trails at Lippman can be an economic driver for the local business.  

Upcoming Wildcat events are:

Grand Fundo Gunks Sunday September 22nd. It means mass participation in Italian. Riders can do an 18, 38, 68, or a 108 mile course.

 And in October Rush the Gunks, a cycling/orienteering, multi-disciple event for people of all levels in a Vehicle, on foot or bike participants will earn points with-in the discipline.  When living in South Africa Spilhaus ran a mountain bike orienteering event that is the inspiration for this event.

About Sunday’s event-

“It was tough and challenging, a true epic mountain bike race,” Spilhaus said. 
...Peak Magazine

Nicely comprehensive piece about Renegades Mountain Bike Club and their efforts at Lippman Park.
http://www.bikekinetix.com/t_ny/ny_county/lippman_park_trails.php


Lippman Park Mountain Bike Festival

The Lipmann Park Mountain Bike Festival took place on Sunday in Wawarsing. This festival had something for all levels of rider. There were cross country rides at advanced, intermediate, and beginner levels, crazee 8s, time trials, and a bike toss, a kid’s rodeo and an obstacle course, and even a poker run.

Participants ranged in ages from eight year olds to mid 60s.

Samantha from Revolution Bikes in Saugerties, co-sponsor of the event, was really happy with the turn out, but wished there had been more women.

“Kudos to the women who did come,” she said.

Calvin Decker of Clermont won the short race which he describes as “loopy with lots of turns and rollers”, a smooth bumps similar to moguls, according to Decker.

Peter Weybright, of Pleasant Valley, won the bike toss. He comes to Lippman Park four or five times a year to train on the trails.

The overall sentiment for the day-

“We shredded the gnar” said Decker.

The Renegades Mountain Bike Club is the co-sponsor of the event.  They are also responsible for the mountain bike trails at Lippman Park. It is the goal of the club to bring the adventure of mountain biking to all ability levels.

Jeremiah  Brown, of Kerhonkson, is one of three founding members of the club. He describes the beginning as “halfwits on a whim”.

The club has spent 100s of hours building and maintaining 15 miles of trails spread over 100 acres. They have tried to build sustainable s and have followed the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) guidelines.  IMBA has recently located their Northeast headquarters in Windham.

The trails at Lippman Park, are set up on a stacked loop system, according to Brown.

“So that as a rider’s skills increase they can continue further up the hill and never be more than half a mile from the parking lot”. There are 40 different structures built in the trails.

The Renegades have many more events to come at Lippman Park a Hike-a-, where the rider is meant to get off and carry their bike, a heavy duty endurance race, the Lippman 38, and that’s just naming a few.

If the success of today’s event is any indication those upcoming events are not to be missed.

At 3 pm, after a long, hot, day, there were still more than 50 riders out on the trails. 

...Peak Magazine

Windham  U.S. Nationals

A trial of cross county, downhill, and super D mountain bike racing enveloped Windham Mountain this past weekend. Windham played host to the U.S. National / PRO GRT & XCT races. Nearly 500 riders from across the country and as nearby as Windham and Roxbury took part in the event.

The three day event had training on Friday, qualifiers and cross country finals on Saturday, and downhill finals, and a thunder storm, on Sunday.

Many local riders participated in the race including Jonathan Favata of Kerhonkson, Christian Banks of Poughkeepsie, Jason Defabio  High Falls, Heidi Banks of Poughkeepsie, 17 year old  George Sheridan of Windham, and 16 year old Taylor Allison of Roxbury.

Taylor Allison, whose mother and father both mountain bike race, is part of Team Drop. She has been racing since she was nine. She felt good about her performance in Sunday’s downhill finals.

“I hit my markers and made the jumps, for the first time, today,” Allison said.

She currently trains at Ski Plattikill and is looking forward to the time when Windham is open for more than just events.

The downhill course was considered technical. The fastest time of the day was pro rider Neko Mulally at 3:30:05.

Eddie, who drove to NY from Michigan, was happy with his time on the downhill. Especially because “the hills I train on at home look like that driveway there,” referring to the sloop of the parking lot at Windham Mountain. Eddie was also happy to have gotten his run in before the rain hit.  

The International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) has added an eighth regional director, Adam Coppola, in Windham. IMBA plans to establish the area as a mountain bike destination for riders of all skill levels.

Trail development is ongoing at Round Top, Elm Ridge Wild Forest, Mount Hayden, as well as Windham Mountain. Recently the DEP transferred Mount Hayden to the DEC which opened it up for recreational development. “IMBA hopes to create an epic trail there.” Coppola said.

Mountain bikers can help with the efforts by volunteering to build trails and helping to improve relations between local land managers. 

Windham Mountain will host the 2014 Mountain Bike World Cup. Dates to be announced.

...Peak Magazine

Windham U.S. National / Pro GRT & XCT

This weekend Windham Mountain will host the U.S. National Mountain Bike Race. Friday June 28th - Sunday 30th riders of all abilities from all over the U.S. will compete in 3 disciplines Downhill, Cross Country, and Super D.  See windhammountainbike.com for more details and check back at www.peak-magazine.com for interviews, stories, pics, and results.

http://windhammountainbike.com/home/

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/windham-returns-to-2014-uci-mountain-bike-world-cup-circuit

Williams Lake Classic presented by Favata's TRT Bicycles 2013

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Bike Trails 

PEAK Magazine-Hudson Valley Outside
​The resource for outdoor sports in the Hudson Valley

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All text and artwork are the property of PEAK Magazine, Copyright © 2016 PEAK Magazine Inc. All rights reserved. 
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