Hi from Upstate NY
 

Returning to ‘serious’ cycling after a few decades of little more than occasional utility riding on 3-speed beaters. I was really into long-distance and loaded touring in high-school and college, but following a European tour (where my beloved Cannondale ST600 was stolen..) I moved to NYC and after a few run-ins with cars and regularly finding parts gone from my bike, or the whole bike gone (340 sq/ft, 5th floor walk-up, so my bike(s) had to live on the street…) I pretty much gave up. Now in rural upstate NY I’m back to it. Bought a cheap, vintage 90s Cannondale T900, as much out of nostalgia for the ST600 I took to Europe as anything else. Mostly just daily 20-30 or so mile rides right now, doing battle with the hills of the Catskills (& often white-knuckling it on the crappy, shoulder-less country roads with all the oversize, inattentive drivers in their oversize vehicles that make a sport of how close they can get as they pass by someone on a bike…..), but looking forward to doing some light touring and maybe getting into some Randonneuring in the future. I don’t know how I lived without cycling for as long as I did and it feels great to be doing it again- and its really amazing how much has changed equipment-wise and in the sport in general since I was last actively paying attention!

You might want to mention where in upstate. It's a big place.

He/she stated the Catskills. I've no need to know what town.

And as note, "Upstate" for NY usually means north of Mount Vernon, possibly as far north as Saratoga Springs, at which point it becomes The North Country, then generally east of the Finger Lakes, which is Western NY. Still a big area.

North-west Catskills (& 'he'). Yes, NYS is pretty big...

Now that I live on LI, upstate seems to be anything north of the Bronx, when I lived in Albany Upstate was north of Saratoga, Oswego and Baldwinsville were central NY and upstate was the thousand islands, living in Rochester we often called ourselves upstate, it is an ephemeral statement, though Catskills at least covers a good enough region.

OP, welcome, always enjoyed riding the Catskills when my grandparents lived there and I'd head there to visit, some spots could be rough but major roads like 28, 32, and others often have nice shoulders and good to ride.

https://townsquare.media/site/705/fi...04/upstate.jpg

https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-st...t-quality=auto

https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qim...4a9b86783ee6e6

Growing up in Hackensack, NJ upstate was anything north of the state line. But, I spent a lot of years in Cobleskill, Preston Hollow and that area. Which is why I asked the question.

Welcome to BF!