Above: Tour of the Catskills racers riding the grueling Devil's Kitchen climb in 2010. 

Cyclists from around the world hit the roads in Greene County over the weekend for the Tour of the Catskills, three days of racing that feature some of the steepest mileage in the northeast.

Not all the contestants made it to the race, however. Herb Jiminez, a cyclist from Montclair, New Jersey, missed the Tour of the Catskills entirely when his car was stolen on Friday, the morning he was setting out for Tannersville.

But Jiminez got his endorphin fix anyway when he spotted the car thieves later that day while driving a newly-acquired rental car, according to Baristanet:

Jimenez reacted immediately, making a crazy U-Turn, then calling 911, all while following his stolen car.

“I stayed close to them for about 10 blocks, making turns into different streets in Montclair while giving the police directions as to where they were turning and heading,” says Jimenez[.]

A 28-year-old woman from Staten Island slammed her all terrain vehicle (ATV) into a tree at Bates State Forest in the Schoharie County town of Broome on Saturday, August 2, according to Tony Desmond, the Schoharie County Sheriff.

The woman, Lauren Galante, was taken by helicopter to Albany Medical Center in "serious condition with numerous injuries," according to a press release issued by Desmond. Galante had been riding the ATV without a helmet when she struck a tree and was ejected into two other trees.

That's just one of several ATV incidents that made headlines in New York this weekend. Also on Saturday, a 6-year-old boy with autism drove a battery-powered ATV onto the Bronx River Parkway in Westchester County, according to the Times Herald-Record:  

Above: The Cannonsville Reservoir in 2012. Photo by Flickr user David, shared in the Watershed Post Flickr pool. 

This summer, the Catskills Outdoor Guide is partnering with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Catskill Watershed Corporation to bring you our new Catskill Reservoir Paddler embroidered badge, which you can only earn by paddling a specific reservoir each month.

In August, the spotlight is on the Cannonsville Reservoir. Paddle the Cannonsville anytime between August 1 and 31, send in your proof, and a Catskill Reservoir Paddler badge will be yours. Click here or scroll down for full redemption instructions. 

The Cannonsville reservoir is the most remote of the Catskill reservoirs. At the northwestern edge of Delaware County, it's in the middle of nowhere, just the destination for someone looking for a little on-the-water solitude.

The Cannonsville also has a whopping seven boat launches studding its 61-mile shoreline, which makes it the easiest reservoir to thoroughly explore. That's because the recreational boating program made its debut on the Cannonsville in 2009 before expanding to the other reservoirs in NYC's Catskill system. There's been lots of time to build out the infrastructure. 

For a detailed map of the Cannonsville and its boat launches, click here.

The Cannonsville was the last of the city's Catskills reservoirs to be constructed. It was finished in the 1960s, forcing five communities to evacuate.

Some reminders remain under the waters. A twin-span iron bridge that once spanned the West Branch of the Delaware River was submerged along with the abandoned towns, according to a newspaper clipping reproduced on the blog Ghost Lakes: 

You can get your boat steam-cleaned for the Cannonsville at Rainbow Lodge (607-865-7534, 440 Rainbow Lodge Road, Walton), JMT Enterprises (607-865-7801, 1724 Chamberlain Brook Road, Walton), Backus Farms (607-865-6639, 7377 County Highway 27, Trout Creek), and Warner Enterprises (607-349-5105, 69 Main Street, Deposit). And you can rent a boat or get it steam-cleaned at Hawk Mountain Guide Service (607-865-7830, 751 McLaughlin Road, Sidney Center). 

For our five-step guide to boating NYC's Catskills reservoirs, click here.