Renegades Mountain Bike Club
3.19.14
Jeremiah Brown and Douglas Nikkila , two of the founding members of the Renegades Mountain Bike Club, are bring the adventure back to mountain biking right in their own backyard.
The Renegades was founded in 2009 to create a venue for riders in southern Ulster. There are great trails throughout the Hudson Valley but most are a minimum 40 minute drive. While areas such as Minnewaska and Mohonk have great hiking and running trails mountain bikes are only permitted on the carriage trails. Since its inception the club has built over 15 miles of single track mountain bike trails at Lippman Park in Wawarsing.
“Single track isn’t like you’re riding on road. You have to keep looking and watching where the path and direction are going. It is a little bit more thrilling than Minnewaska or Mohonk, very tight trails, no wider than a foot wide, trees are tight. This if for you if you are craving rocky, rooty, rougher ride,” Brown said explaining how single track mountain biking is different than double track or fire road which is wide enough for four-wheeled off-road vehicles and usually has a smooth surface.
There are no dues for membership in the 40 person club, just a commitment to help build and maintain trails and help out with events. Members are from Kerhonkson, Accord, High Falls, Stone Ridge and further afield.
“We started a club and people started coming out of the woodwork, I’m so glad this is happening in my backyard. Having these outlets- it’s a way of leaving my mark on this world,” Brown said.
Lipman is a special place because it is one of the few trail systems that was engineered to get people interested in mountain biking in the area. The lower trails, right off the parking lot, are for beginners. It’s called the Tad Pole and it’s easier and wider.
The International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) came in and did a workshop with the club teaching them about trail building.
With 15 miles of trials in the park the possibility for new trails at Lippman is almost tapped out but the Renegades have taken on the challenge negotiating with the New York Department of Conservation to begin construction of “epic” single track in the Vernooy Kill State Forest which abuts Lippman Park.
Vernooy Kill State Forest is more commonly known locally as the Lundy Estate. It was purchased by the Open Spaces Institute (OSI) in 1999 and then sold to NYS in 2001. The 5,400 acre parcel abuts Lippman Park as well as the section of the Catskill Park known as the Sundown Wild Forest.
While the majority of the Vernooy Kill State Forest is in the Town of Wawarsing one of the most well-known and easily accessible trails is in the Town of Rochester off Upper Cherry Town Road.
Vernooy Kill Falls is a snowmobile-equestrian-multiple use trail starts at the trailhead on Upper Cherrytown Road in the Town of Rochester, passes over the Vernooy Kill and Balsam Swamp to Greenville and returns via Spencer/Trails End Road in an 11.2-mile loop. The most popular destination is the Upper Falls of the Vernooy Kill. Here, the brown water, tinted from tannins in the surrounding woods, drops about 60 feet in a series of small pools and falls. Below the falls, a 15-20-foot tall stone wall alongside the stream was part of the "Cornelius" Vernooy Mill complex which operated from the early 1700's until 1809, according to the DEC website.
Ever since they bought the property the DEC has talked about developing it.
“It’s a long process,” Nikkila said. “There are going to be hikers, bikers, and some trail in the winter will be designated for snowmobiling. We meet with the state a couple times a year”.
New York State is in the process of putting together the unit management plan (UMP) which will define the classification of the forest as wilderness or wild forest and determine the type of activities which can occur on it. After the UMP is presented there will be a public comment period for a month. After that month changes will be made. Then the plan gets implemented.
The UMP supposed to come out sometime later this year. “I’d be happy if it got implemented in 2014,” Nikkila said.
There are miles of old roads in the Lundy Estate Nikkila explained. The Renegades have already open up some of the trails by cutting down deadfall and making them passable for mountain biking events they have put on.
The Lundy Estate has a lot of different terrain. It can feel like the middle of nowhere and all of the sudden there’s an old airfield. There are a few spots where there are meadows, and a lot of trees. There are creeks and a man-made pond and the Vernooy Kill, east and west branch, flow through the Lundy Estate. Even water holes and swimming holes Nikkila said, clearly excited about the project.
Working on state lands requires certifications. So members of the Renegades are chainsaw, CPR, and first aid certified. For that reason they are toning down on the events they put on to focus on maintaining and building trails.
Events the Renegades are putting on for 2014 are the Annual Hike a Bike race Saturday May 10th, 10:00am. The Hike a Bike is a combination of obstacles (stream crossings, deadfall and dismounts)on double track and single track. The addition of dismounts adds to the variety and challenge their most popular race.
Wildcat 100 Mountain Bike Race is put on in conjunction with Wildcat Epic Events. This race will utilize the Lippman Park trails as well as the Lundy Estate, snowmobile trails, and old logging roads.
The Renegades are also putting on the Monster Mash Supercross race at Walnut Mountain in Liberty, NY on October 26 and the Lippman Park Cyclocross on Sunday November 16.
The timing is right now and we are such a pertinent club right now, the outlook on mountain bikers is changing. We are only one of many, many clubs that are trying to open up state land for recreational us Brown explained.
“Someone asked me once if I’d ever thought about changing the name of the club,” Brown said. “But I said no. Because Renegades change history, and that’s what we’re doing with this club”.
Jeremiah Brown and Douglas Nikkila , two of the founding members of the Renegades Mountain Bike Club, are bring the adventure back to mountain biking right in their own backyard.
The Renegades was founded in 2009 to create a venue for riders in southern Ulster. There are great trails throughout the Hudson Valley but most are a minimum 40 minute drive. While areas such as Minnewaska and Mohonk have great hiking and running trails mountain bikes are only permitted on the carriage trails. Since its inception the club has built over 15 miles of single track mountain bike trails at Lippman Park in Wawarsing.
“Single track isn’t like you’re riding on road. You have to keep looking and watching where the path and direction are going. It is a little bit more thrilling than Minnewaska or Mohonk, very tight trails, no wider than a foot wide, trees are tight. This if for you if you are craving rocky, rooty, rougher ride,” Brown said explaining how single track mountain biking is different than double track or fire road which is wide enough for four-wheeled off-road vehicles and usually has a smooth surface.
There are no dues for membership in the 40 person club, just a commitment to help build and maintain trails and help out with events. Members are from Kerhonkson, Accord, High Falls, Stone Ridge and further afield.
“We started a club and people started coming out of the woodwork, I’m so glad this is happening in my backyard. Having these outlets- it’s a way of leaving my mark on this world,” Brown said.
Lipman is a special place because it is one of the few trail systems that was engineered to get people interested in mountain biking in the area. The lower trails, right off the parking lot, are for beginners. It’s called the Tad Pole and it’s easier and wider.
The International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) came in and did a workshop with the club teaching them about trail building.
With 15 miles of trials in the park the possibility for new trails at Lippman is almost tapped out but the Renegades have taken on the challenge negotiating with the New York Department of Conservation to begin construction of “epic” single track in the Vernooy Kill State Forest which abuts Lippman Park.
Vernooy Kill State Forest is more commonly known locally as the Lundy Estate. It was purchased by the Open Spaces Institute (OSI) in 1999 and then sold to NYS in 2001. The 5,400 acre parcel abuts Lippman Park as well as the section of the Catskill Park known as the Sundown Wild Forest.
While the majority of the Vernooy Kill State Forest is in the Town of Wawarsing one of the most well-known and easily accessible trails is in the Town of Rochester off Upper Cherry Town Road.
Vernooy Kill Falls is a snowmobile-equestrian-multiple use trail starts at the trailhead on Upper Cherrytown Road in the Town of Rochester, passes over the Vernooy Kill and Balsam Swamp to Greenville and returns via Spencer/Trails End Road in an 11.2-mile loop. The most popular destination is the Upper Falls of the Vernooy Kill. Here, the brown water, tinted from tannins in the surrounding woods, drops about 60 feet in a series of small pools and falls. Below the falls, a 15-20-foot tall stone wall alongside the stream was part of the "Cornelius" Vernooy Mill complex which operated from the early 1700's until 1809, according to the DEC website.
Ever since they bought the property the DEC has talked about developing it.
“It’s a long process,” Nikkila said. “There are going to be hikers, bikers, and some trail in the winter will be designated for snowmobiling. We meet with the state a couple times a year”.
New York State is in the process of putting together the unit management plan (UMP) which will define the classification of the forest as wilderness or wild forest and determine the type of activities which can occur on it. After the UMP is presented there will be a public comment period for a month. After that month changes will be made. Then the plan gets implemented.
The UMP supposed to come out sometime later this year. “I’d be happy if it got implemented in 2014,” Nikkila said.
There are miles of old roads in the Lundy Estate Nikkila explained. The Renegades have already open up some of the trails by cutting down deadfall and making them passable for mountain biking events they have put on.
The Lundy Estate has a lot of different terrain. It can feel like the middle of nowhere and all of the sudden there’s an old airfield. There are a few spots where there are meadows, and a lot of trees. There are creeks and a man-made pond and the Vernooy Kill, east and west branch, flow through the Lundy Estate. Even water holes and swimming holes Nikkila said, clearly excited about the project.
Working on state lands requires certifications. So members of the Renegades are chainsaw, CPR, and first aid certified. For that reason they are toning down on the events they put on to focus on maintaining and building trails.
Events the Renegades are putting on for 2014 are the Annual Hike a Bike race Saturday May 10th, 10:00am. The Hike a Bike is a combination of obstacles (stream crossings, deadfall and dismounts)on double track and single track. The addition of dismounts adds to the variety and challenge their most popular race.
Wildcat 100 Mountain Bike Race is put on in conjunction with Wildcat Epic Events. This race will utilize the Lippman Park trails as well as the Lundy Estate, snowmobile trails, and old logging roads.
The Renegades are also putting on the Monster Mash Supercross race at Walnut Mountain in Liberty, NY on October 26 and the Lippman Park Cyclocross on Sunday November 16.
The timing is right now and we are such a pertinent club right now, the outlook on mountain bikers is changing. We are only one of many, many clubs that are trying to open up state land for recreational us Brown explained.
“Someone asked me once if I’d ever thought about changing the name of the club,” Brown said. “But I said no. Because Renegades change history, and that’s what we’re doing with this club”.
