Dirt roads in the Catskills of NYS

[Anton Tutter]

Not quite New England, but the neighboring land just west of us has some great gravel riding.  John Ferguson's blog, Riding the Catskills, documents his explorations of gravel roads and hill climbs in the Catskills, and provides links to his routes of all different lengths.  It's a great read, and a fantastic resource for anyone in the NYC or western New England looking for vetted dirt (and/or climbing) loops.  I have a vacation place in the Catskills, a little farther afield than John, and started exploring the dirt roads a couple of years ago.  John invited me to guest post, so I documented a wonderful D2R2-like ride that I did last week.  I couldn't resist sharing it, so I'm linking to it here.  If anyone reading this list makes it out that way, they owe it to themselves to check out some of Johns or my routes.

Anton Tutter
Somerville, MA

[Jonathan Koopmann]

Great post and perfect timing as I head to the area this weekend.  Thanks.

[Rod Holland]

Thanks for a beautiful ride report. Could you say a few words about the bike? What is it, what wheels and tires were you using for running up and down those carriage roads?

rod

[Anton Tutter]

Thanks! The bike is an 80s Shogun touring bike, originally built for 27" wheels. I had the brake bosses relocated for 650B wheels, and built up the bike with a wheelset made with Synergy rims laced to Shimano hubs (dynamo hub in front).  Tires are standard Hetres.  The tires just barely fit on this bike, not much room to spare, but it's never been a problem.  I geared the bike to be sub 1:1 in low gear to handle those climbs! The bike is in its third year of gravel road use.

Anton Tutter
Somerville, MA