GlennR

My previous road bike was a Trek Madone 4 which I sold and used the funds to buy my MTB.

You can take Plainview Road/Washington Ave from Jericho south. Just after it goes under the LIE, you can jump on the Bethpage MUP.

Steve B.

By "trail" do you mean dirt or paved ?, I assume dirt.

The Trailview State Park mt. bike trail, as it's now known, still exists, running south from Stillwell Woods Preserve to Bethpage State Park. It parallels the Greenbelt hiking trail as well as the new extension of the Bethpage Bike Path (Paved), which runs south from Washington Ave. to Merrick Rd.

To avoid confusion and avoid conflicts, the mt. bike trail is blue blazed, where as the hiking trail is white (like the Appalachian Trail, 2"x5" painted white).

Papa Tom

Just a quick correction:

The Bethpage Bikeway runs from Woodbury Rd south to Merrick Road.

Steve B.

Thx Tom.

For GRVR6, if riding the mt. bike trail south from Jericho, when you get to the LIE at Washington Ave., the BP paved path comes from the west along the north side of the eastbound LIE service road. You then have the option of taking the mt. bike trail south or the paved path, both go to BPSP.

GRVR6

Awesome. Thanks guys

GRVR6

There's nothing crazy difficult, is there? I recovering from a spinal fusion.

Steve B.

Ummm,. I sure would be thinking twice about riding dirt trails on a mt. bike while undergoing the recovery you are doing. What's your doctor say ?.

The trails south of Woodbury Rd. (1st road crossing south of Jericho) get hilly fast and is a series of non-stop up and downhills till you get to the LIE, 2-1/2 miles along. Attending that is going to be more obstacles to get over and around such as roots, etc... The section just north of the LIE is particularly treacherous with exposed roots. Easier to ride when coming down the hill from the north then going uphill, but one of the reasons that CLIMB rates this trail as intermediate to advanced, while the rest of the trail is beginner to intermediate.

Just a heads up.

Papa Tom

I was a frequent Trailview (aka Greenbelt) cyclist for years but stopped mountain biking altogether when the slipped discs in my lumbar started causing excruciating pain every time I ran over a root or a stone. However, my 60+ year-old neighbor, who has had a double hip replacement and a BROKEN NECK (yes, you read that right) over the past five years, still rides Stillwell Woods (the more technical end of Trailview) every single day. My issue was never fixed. Yours and my neighbor's WERE, so only you will know if your body is up to it.

kaos joe

The day finally came, too cold for K.A.O.S. (wife's initials) to wanna hop on the bike for 2. So, MTB time for 7 of us. Very nice in the woods, just a bit of frost. Trails in Bethpage were a tad greasy but no mud. I prefer a little colder to freeze things up but nonetheless a great day to be out. Repeat tomorrow.

GlennR

I'm, Mr. January, I made the town calendar.



Here's the original.

dendawg

I'd rather be on skis in that

Papa Tom

...and I will soon be giving those calendars out to hundreds of people at work! Will you autograph some for me, so maybe I can make a few bucks?

Where was that photo taken?

GRVR6

I did the ride on a hardtail, and yes I'm feeling it today. I'll only do it again on a full suspension bike. Good info, thanks guys.

GlennR

Massapequa Preserve just north of Clark.

Jarrettsin

Nice congrats on the calendar.

kaos joe

Mr. January,

Great photo. That's just a few hundred yards from my house. There will be no snow this year, as I bought a pair of snowshoes.

GlennR

Too warm not to ride.

11 miles on the MTB. It was really foggy so I work my "safety yellow" wind breaker and I needed it.

GlennR

Drove to Bethpage and rode the bridal and single track paths for 7 miles.

This weather is going to end soon.

kaos joe

Road ride.......in shorts! Temp did drop 10 degrees between the south shore and Northport though.

kaos joe

Not able to ring in 2016 with a ride, but closed out 2015 with a late afternoon road ride with a couple of old buds. We kept the speed down to a casual 18-20 so we could break each others chops more or less continuously. A good ride.
I finished the year with 4700 and change miles, pretty much my usual tally for the past couple of decades. That's in spite of losing about 7 weeks to the little ice age at the beginning of the year. Disappointingly did no overnight tours in 2015, but on the plus got to continue using the tandem right into mid-December.

flattie

After a few close calls on an @ 17 mile out and back that took me through Island Park and Long Beach on the way to Point Lookout I've begun making the trip over to Cedar Creek Park (by car) to enjoy the Jones Beach Bike path to Tobay which coincidentally is also a roughly 17 mile out and back. Aside from being roughly equal in distance, the other thing both have in common is wind at times. Well today was one of those times. The WSW wind was absolutely brutal today on the Jones Beach bike path. I pulled the plug on the East Bathhouse to Tobay leg after touching 30 mph thanks to the tailwind.

Sure enough heading west into the wind I struggled to maintain 8 or 9 mph. It was a huge relief to make the turn northward in the parking lot though even then the cross winds kept it interesting.

For anyone who went the distance to the Tobay turnaround - you are definitely more committed than I...

Lightingguy

It was a good day to be tooling around Bethpage State Park on a mt. bike. No wind and the sun warmed things up nicely. Saw Kaos Joe and his buddies going the wrong way...... JK.

kaos joe

"Saw Kaos Joe and his buddies going the wrong way...... JK."

Ha. We ended up heading north & doing the Tower, after the Bethpage tooling around. We stayed out about 20 minutes too long as the ground thawed out & softened up. Great morning to be out. The same bunch was out at Edgewood yesterday. Finally ice on the ground.......

We saw a group of guys off the trail near the south end of the tower loop literally bushwhacking, off the bikes and pushing toward ? Was that your group?

Lightingguy

Nope, we stayed in the park. Avoided hills (small rises more like) and obstacles as nobody had been on a mt. bike in a month, yuk, yuk. Plus we were meeting for coffee our buddy Kevin who broke his neck 2 mos. ago on his mt. bike, so nobody was taking chances with that accident in mind. It was a really one day and ride, we were finished as it was getting mucky.

Garfield Cat

Anybody ever ride into Washington Square area, Greenwich Village? Ever stop at Joe's Pizza for a mid ride snack? Just wondering about their Italian sausage. That flavor is distinct and cannot find it in the West Coast.

Nothing fancy about Joe's but its been around since 1975 where you just get a slice whenever you want. But that flavor!!