Bicycling in the Catskills

Local Biking Resources

Above: A bicycle on the Catskill Scenic Trail in Bloomville. Photo by Anton Tutter; shared in the Watershed Post Flickr pool.

From a distance, the Catskill Mountains look rolling and gentle. But don't tell that to a biker who's earned bragging rights for making it to the top of the grueling Devil's Kitchen loop on Platte Clove Road in Palenville, a punishing climb with slopes that exceed 22 percent in spots. Cyclists in search of a good ride can find every kind of terrain in the Catskills: miles of smooth blacktop, hills on which to test your mettle, and some of the world's gnarliest downhill mountain biking.

Taylor Allison, a Roxbury teen who in 2011 became America's youngest female pro downhill biker, describes the Plattekill terrain she learned the sport on:

“Shale. Roots. Craziness. I love it. It's my favorite kind of riding. It's really hard to stay in control of your bike when you're going down shale chutes. It's scary to do. but it's such an adrenaline rush, and it's so much fun.”

On the other end of the spectrum, there's Route 28: A state highway that meanders from its eastern endpoint in the Hudson River city of Kingston all the way across Catskill Park, traversing a few picture-pretty towns along the way. Once marked by crumbling shoulders and perilous potholes, Route 28 has gotten a recent upgrade from the state Department of Transportation, and now boasts broad, smooth, bike-friendly shoulders. There's a movement afoot to get cycling symbols painted on the margins of Route 28, but even without obvious bike signage, 28 is a sweet ride.

The area has several fun amateur rides, like the new annual Tour de Pepacton, a benefit ride with 25-mile and 60-mile courses along the banks of the stunning Pepacton Reservoir. The Catskills are also a draw for pro racers, who flock to the slopes of Windham and Hunter each summer for the annual Tour of the Catskills, a three-day pro/am race that spans some of the steepest hills Ulster and Greene County have to offer.

Cycling Clubs

Catskill Mountain Velo Club/ Catskills Cycling
P.O. Box 174, Big Indian
845-688-1503
A club founded recently to promote cycling of all kinds in the Catskill Park. Club president Mike Wentland keeps a great blog about local cycling.

Catskill Mountain Cycling Club
Margaretville
(607) 326-7564
These Central Catskills folks don't have a website, but you can find them on Facebook.

Fats in the Cats Bicycle Club
P.O. Box 227, Lake Katrine
A Sullivan County-based group for mountain bikers, whose members organize rides and trail maintenance across Catskill Park and the Hudson Valley.

Sullivan County Bike Club/The Catskill Wheelmen
P.O. Box 778, Monticello
The Sullivan County Bike Club has over 100 detailed local route maps on their website.

Trails, Routes and Bike Parks

Plattekill Bike Park
469 Plattekill Mountain Rd., Roxbury
(607) 326-3500
In the summer, family-run Plattekill Mountain is home to some of the Northeast's bumpiest, gnarliest downhill mountain biking. They'll also set you up with a bike rental to ride the Catskill Scenic Rail Trail, a kinder, gentler 19-mile route for hiking and biking.

Catskill Scenic Trail
P.O. Box 310, Stamford
845.586.2929
Once part of the route for the Ulster and Delaware Railroad, now a favorite path for bikers, horseback riders, joggers, hikers and (in winter) cross-country skiers and snowshoers.

Headwaters Trails
Stamford
About 30 miles of trails around Stamford and (as the name suggests) the headwaters of the West Branch of the Delaware River.

Belleayre Mountain
Galli Curci Road, Highmount
845.254.5600
The state-run Belleayre Ski Center offers free use of its trails to mountain bikers in the summer season.

Howe Caverns
255 Discovery Drive, Howes Cave
518-296-8900
Howe Caverns, a popular tourist attraction in the region, keeps maps of local bike routes around rural Schoharie County. BYOB: Bring your own bike.

Below: A map of bike stores and outfitters around the region. Click on a pin to get more information about a bike shop on the map.

View Catskills Bike Stores and Outfitters in a full screen map

This weekend: New Paltz Bike Swap

By Lissa Harris
5/16/13 - 3:14 pm

Photo from the 2012 New Paltz Bike Swap, from the event's Facebook page.

Old bikes, new bikes, red bikes, blue bikes: On Saturday, May 18, the New Paltz Middle School will play host to a huge sale and swap meet for all manner of two-wheeled devices.

Admission is free, and participants can buy or sell bicycles, gear, parts, or cycling apparel. Volunteers will be on hand at the swap meet to help price and tag items -- so if you have a bike to sell, bring it along. 

Now in its sixth year, the New Paltz Bike Swap is a fundraiser for the Fats In The Cats bicycle club. Of each sale at the swap, 20 percent goes to the club's community work: Fats In The Cats builds and maintain local trails, promotes bicycling in the region, and holds a holiday bicycle giveaway for children.

6th Annual New Paltz Bike Swap. New Paltz Middle School, 196 Main Street, New Paltz. Saturday, 5.18.2013, 9am-3pm. Free admission. For more information, see newpaltzbikeswap.com.

DEP opens the Cannonsville to motors -- and watershed land to trails

By Lissa Harris
1/10/13 - 3:29 am

Above: The Cannonsville Reservoir looking serene, if a bit low on water, in July of 2012. Photo by Flickr user mountain_man_ny_2; published under Creative Commons license.

The agency that manages New York City's water -- and its vast upstate watershed -- is taking another small step toward opening up its reservoirs for public use.

This April, the Cannonsville Reservoir will be opened up to fishing boats with electric trolling motors for the first time. If the pilot program is successful, it may be introduced at other reservoirs, following the example of the city's recreational boating program. Launched on the Cannonsville in 2009, the recreational boating program now allows canoes, kayaks and sailboats on four upstate reservoirs.

The program, according to New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) deputy commissioner Paul Rush, is for fishing boats only. But allowing electric trolling motors will make it easier for anglers to access more of the reservoir, and open up the reservoir to people who are physically unable to row.

Deposit resident Lloyd Hornbeck, avid fisherman and longtime proprietor of Hornbeck's Sport Shop, said that local anglers had been talking with the DEP about allowing motorboats on the reservoir for some years.
  Read more

Racers brave 30 hours of cold, wet adventure in national championship

By Julia Reischel
10/13/12 - 4:46 pm

Canoes line up at the Adventure Race National Championship on the Pepacton Reservoir yesterday morning. Photo by Carol O'Beirne. 

For the past two days, the Catskills have played host to a grueling 30-hour trial of physical strength and endurance: the 2012 USARA Adventure Race National Championship. 

Adventure racing is a team sport that involves an obstacle-course-like route of paddling, hiking, cycling, navigating  by compass, and rappeling down rock faces. The idea is that just by finishing the race in one piece, you win. (There are prizes for the fastest racers as well. But the real prize is survival.) 

Every year, the US Adventure Racing Association picks a new location to host its national championship race. This year, the 100-mile course was in the Catskills, beginning with a canoe-paddle on the Pepacton Reservoir in Delaware County yesterday and ending at the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, Ulster County, this afternoon.   Read more

Bikers brave the devilish hills of Greene County for Tour of the Catskills

By Lissa Harris
8/6/12 - 11:05 am
See video

Above: Bikers roll out for a men's pro event in the Tour of the Catskills race over the weekend. Via YouTube.

This weekend, road bikers from across the country descended on Greene County for the fifth annual Tour of the Catskills. The three-day race pits cyclists against about 140 miles of road, and some of the bike racing world's most notoriously grueling hills.

With 751 cyclists registered, 2012 was the biggest Tour of the Catskills yet, organizers wrote on the event's website.

Taking home top honors in the pro races were 52-year-old Christine Schryver of Rochester for the women, and 25-year-old rookie Michael Woods of Ottawa, Canada for the men.

Woods had a rough time with the Devil's Kitchen, he told the Daily Mail:  Read more

Taylor Allison: From the slopes of Plattekill to the winner's podium

By Lissa Harris
6/23/12 - 4:48 pm

Above: Taylor Allison at Plattekill. Photo by Ehrin Macksey.

When she was just ten years old, Taylor Allison was already donning full-body armor to race mountain bikes down the steep, shale-strewn slopes of Plattekill Mountain. Now, at 16, the Roxbury teenager says she's currently the youngest female pro in her sport: After a first-place win at Killington last year, Allison made the jump to the competitive world of pro cycling.

On Sunday, June 24, she'll have the chance to test her mettle against a few other up-and-coming bikers. Allison has been chosen as one of the forerunners to open up the course for the women's downhill mountain biking race at the Windham Mountain Bike World Cup.

Watershed Post: How did you get started riding?

Taylor Allison: My father and brother did it, and it sort of evolved into a family sport. I just fell in love with it.

WP: Tell me about how you went pro. How did you know you were ready?  Read more

Orange County bicyclist killed in Shawangunk hit-and-run

By Lissa Harris
5/21/12 - 9:23 am

Photo: Marcellinno Ruiz. From NYSP.

A Wallkill man, 60-year-old Keith Marroon, was killed on Bates Lane in Shawangunk on Sunday when a pick-up truck towing a utility trailer struck the bicycle he was riding.

The driver of the truck, 67-year-old Wallkill resident Marcellinno Ruiz, has been arrested and charged with leaving the scene of the incident.

According to the New York State Police, who responded to the scene, Ruiz was driving westbound on Bates Lane at 12:14pm when his trailer struck Marroon's bicycle, which was going the opposite direction. Ruiz then fled the scene and was later arrested, police report.

Ruiz was remanded to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $250,000 cash bail or $500,000 bond. Police are still investigating the incident.

The Town of Shawangunk Police Department also assisted at the scene.

This Memorial Day, bike the Catskills

By Andrea Girolamo
5/18/12 - 6:26 pm

Above: Cycling on some Catskills roads. Photo via the Catskill Mountain Cycling Club Facebook page.

Cyclists who ride the Catskills know this is a perfect place to get on the bike for a quick 20-miler. And what better time to do it than this Memorial Day weekend, when two of our local cycling clubs are offering planned rides for cycling enthusiasts?

'Tour de Pepacton'

Billy Allison, of the Catskill Mountain Cycling Club, is the organizing brains behind this year’s Tour de Pepacton, a ride to benefit Catskill Area Hospice & Palliative Care, on Sunday, May 27.  Read more

Local cyclists give bikes to kids who lost their wheels to Irene

By Lissa Harris
4/26/12 - 9:23 am

Catskills Cycling blogger Mike Wentland and daughter Isabelle pick up bicycles for this Saturday's giveaway from Overlook Mountain Bikes in Woodstock. Photo courtesy of Mike Wentland.

Local blogger and bike advocate Mike Wentland can't fix all the damage wreaked by Irene's floods last year. But what he can do, he's doing: Giving new bikes to kids who lost theirs in the floods.

For months, Wentland and the Catskill Mountain Velo Club, a new cycling group Wentland helped found, have been fundraising, holding charity rides, and soliciting help from local businesses to fund a giveaway for children's bikes. Overlook Mountain Bikes chipped in with a steep discount, and another bike group, Fats in the Cats, donated bikes to the effort.  Read more

$1800 raised to give bikes to kids who lost theirs in Hurricane Irene

By Julia Reischel
11/29/11 - 4:26 pm

Above: The Catskill Mountain Velo Club raising money for a kids' bike fund at the Belleayre Mountain Fall Festival in October. Photo via the Catskills Cycling blog. 

Mike Wentland, the brains behind the Catskill Mountain Velo Club, is giving back what Irene took away: kids' bikes.

In October, with the help of Shandaken town clerk Laurilyn Frasier and the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, Wentland raised about $1800 at a booth at the Belleayre Fall Festival, all of it destined to put new bikes "under the tree during the Holiday Season."

Wentland came up with the project in September, just as the Catskills were beginning to recover from the flooding caused by Irene and Lee. Here's what he wrote about the project on his blog, Catskills Cycling:  Read more

This weekend: Two Catskills bike rides, one glorious weekend

By Lissa Harris
8/19/11 - 2:09 pm

Photo by Flickr user Tania Cataldo.

Whether you're a pro or a weekend pedaler, this is a shaping up to be a banner weekend for cycling in the Catskills.

On Saturday, riders of all levels can enjoy the Catskills Ride-N-Peak, a leisurely (and charity-oriented) pedal through anywhere from 10 to 100 miles of gorgeous Delaware and Ulster County scenery in the company of fellow cyclists.

If you're more of a competitive type, you can tackle the Great Catskill Divide Road Race on Sunday: a 33-mile, USA Cycling-sanctioned race that traverses just about every kind of terrain the Catskills have to offer, including flat-paved stretches, gnarly dirt-road climbs, and descents through remote stretches of Catskill Park.  Read more