Papa Tom

I had no idea this was happening, and I'm not sure who's side I'm on. For one, I don't ride the Westchester County Trailway very often anymore because I'm not crazy about the parking situation at the south end of the path (I'm from Nassau County, LI). Starting the paved bikeway inside Van Cortland Park sounds like it means being able to access the path by using the LIRR from my town. Am I right? On the other hand, the runners and walkers have a good point about soft dirt being easier on the back and knees.

I'd like to know what you all think after reading the Times article linked below:

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/ny....html?src=recg

zacster

I had started a thread about the trail a few months ago and had that same question. Even though I ride a road bike, I think they should leave it as is. If it were still rails, I'd say pave it, but that area has been left to nature for about 40 years now. Never mind the runners either, I'm not siding with them, there are lots of unpaved places to run. It's just that the area is wild, and how many wild areas are there in The Bronx?

Steve B.

I'm all for making it hardpacked gavel, or whatever they call it.

I think they should have made the entire North and South County trails as hardpack gravel. I don't believe the city when they say it's harder to maintain. For one thing, the city does ZERO maintenance on it's paved bike paths so how would they know. Do they actually have any gravel paths that they maintain ? (outside of the reservoir loop at CP), so as far as I can tell, so that's a moot point. As well, there are hardpacked gravel trails all over the country that seemingly hold up very well. Down East Trail in Maine, the Katy Trail in Missouri, The GAP in Penn., to name a few.

The paved North County from about Yorktown north is in need of repairs due to extensive frost heaves. That would be a whole lot easier to fix if it were not asphalt.

Another advantage to not paving, is it keeps the roadies (and I'm one of them) from barreling down the trial at 20+ mph, which is a huge safety issue on a multi-use trail. Making it gravel slows everybody down just a bit and encourages you to use your hybrid/cyclocross bike, etc...

Does the trail need improvement in VCP ? - Yes. They should do what they can to finish the corridor.
SB

Papa Tom

I'm a fan of crushed gravel, too, as I love slapping on a set of MTB tires and listening to that "ccccrunch" sound beneath me as I pedal along. It also gives me a sense that I'm in some private wonderland that hasn't really been "over-processed" by modern machinery.

All that aside, having never ridden in VC Park, I'd really like to experience it someday, especially as a gateway to the Westchester County Trails, which I haven't ridden in a number of years.

Trueblood

hmm, I've ridden it on a bike with 32's and the unpaved portion in the park can be terrible. It was a dry day and had been dry for several days beforehand, but as was mentioned in the other thread on this topic, it takes a long...long...time for the path to dry out. The path is particularly bad as it runs along the golf course and in the rail tunnel. If you ride along the edges to avoid the puddles and mud you run over the remnants of the rail ties. Mud caked up in the tires, fenders, and brakes - remember, this was a dry day. My vote would be for an enlarged path with both gravel or dirt for runners and paved, or even better, some sort of rubber hybrid made from recycled tires - https://www.treehugger.com/green-arch...lexi-pave.html

zacster

The Tour de Bronx and the NYC Century go through VC Park, but not the trail. There's usually a rest area right where the trail begins. Don't romanticize it too much though, it is da Bronx after all.

Maybe a group ride is in order? I've done the entire trail from Brewster to the Bronx. It is definitely better to start in Brewster too, there's an uphill for a ways, but then you hit the downhill and it is downhill all the way to the city line. Wait until spring though.

Papa Tom

Yeah, one of the things keeping me from doing the whole NC/SC Trail in one shot again is that I remember the hills heading north being a little annoying. I don't mind hills when I'm headed someplace for an overnight, but, for some reason, if I'm just going the distance of a bike path and then heading home, I don't have as much enthusiasm for doing all that extra work!

Is Brewster still the northern terminus, or has more been added? And is there a Metro North stop near the northern end?

Steve B.

Spoken like a true Long Islander, *****ing about the hills !. Just kidding you Tom !. I agree with you. There's a long uphill on the NCT off the reservoir to Yorktown, then 3 or more miles of steady uphill grade from north of Yorktown to the Putnam County line, that always wears me down.

AFAIK, Brewster is as far as Putnam County plans to go and can go. When you hit the northern end you are at Putnam Ave. at Rt 6. If you head east on Rt 6 for exactly a mile, you come to the Brewster Metro North station.

I had read that there were/are plans to use the rail road bed that goes from North Brewster to Danbury, on an un-used railroad that parallels I84, but plans are on hold as nobody over in Connecticut has shown an interest. There is no easy way to link the Putnam extension of the NCT to the Danbury section, as the Putnam section goes pretty much as far as it can currently. Metro North still uses a 1/2 mile section of the Old Put RR as a storage yard in Brewster. So any links to other Rail Trails would need to be on-road for a bit.

As BTW, the Danbury to Brewster RR was known as the "New York and New England RR" and heads west from Brewster (it does not join with Metro North) across Putnam to Poughkeepsie and is is the railroad that cross the train bridge on the Hudson. I believe this is supposed to link to the Walkill Valley Rail Trail. That would be a hell of a ride !.

Papa Tom

>>>Spoken like a true Long Islander, *****ing about the hills !<<<<

Ay! I turned fifty this year. I've paid my dues with the damned hills and I've got nothing left to prove to anybody! Just give me a long stretch of flat to rolling pavement and I'll sit in the saddle for 10-15 hours!

I was actually thinking about breaking up the ride up and back into two days the next time I did it. Head up to Brewster, stay in a hotel, explore the area as if I'm hundreds of miles from home, then head back the next day. But if it really is mostly flat or downhill heading north to south, perhaps my wife would be able to ride it with me. I'll see. I'm a big freakin' talker sometimes.

zacster

I can't think of anything worth doing in Brewster itself, except the Red Rooster on Rt 22, although I never venture off Rt 22 when I'm in the car, and only know the way to the trailhead from there.

But there is only one small climb right at the start of the trail, and then it is slightly uphill for about 3-4 miles, just enough to make you feel like you're having a bad cycling day, and then it levels off to Briarcliff Manor and then is downhill all the rest of the way. Or at least that hit feels when I've done it. And I've only done it one way, north to south. There's a park in Briarcliff with a swimming pool and a snack bar where I stop right off the trail, and that's when I'm usually thinking that I'll never make it, but then I fly. I must have done it as a round trip to there one time because I recall being there mid-day and the pool was open. Usually I do this ride when I'm coming back from the Berkshires and my wife drops me in Brewster at the trail, after a late lunch at the Red Rooster.

It is a 75 mile trip from Brewster to home. I did the whole ride the first time, but ran out of daylight the second time and took the subway from the Bronx. But this being the NYC subway, there was a problem and my train wasn't going through to Brooklyn, so I had to ride the last few miles in the dark with no lights.

ratdog

The trail is uphill from the reservoir going either North or South and I believe it goes up again after Executive Boulevard in Yonkers when going South.

zacster

My comment is based entirely on feel. I'll have to check the USGS map.

Steve B.

All correct. It's uphill heading south as the path crosses over Saw Mill River Rd., Seemingly continues that way until you cross under Mile Sq. Rd. Then seems downhill to VCP.

No doubt the SCT, NCT and Putnam trails are not flat, of the kind you on rail trails elsewhere. Certainly it's a lot hillier once you hit Putnam County then anywhere else. Keeps it from being too boring, IMO.

trek330

I'm never in favor of paving a dirt trail with asphalt but certainly could live with it.I'm a regular user of that stretch of VCP as I go there sometimes 3 times a week with my dogs as I live in Inwood.Even at it's worst it is easily navigated with my mountain bike and passable with my road bike when going for a serious road bike ride.Strange things are happening in Van Cortlandt Park!If you go up to the Old Croton Trail further East they're doing extensive landscaping and anti erosion work around where the old control station is in the park.This is an area where very few people visit So I'm wondering why so much money is being invested in the first place.Seems they have money they don't know what to do with.