Adirondack Sports September 2023

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12 Adirondack Sports DISCOVER INLET And all the Beauty That Surrounds Us DAVE SCRANTON/ADKPICTURES.COM For maps & more: Inlet Area Information Office 1-866-GO-INLET www.inletny.com service + sales 20% off all bikes! 465 Fulton St Downtown Troy We keep your bike in top condition with fast, reliable service High-quality bikes for all ages/skills to fit your needs/budget Exceptional service, knowledge, sales – Dan Patterson, owner UpstateBicycleWorks.com • Mon/Wed/Thu/Fri 5-8, Sat 9-3, Sun 11-3 518-238-3198 • upstatebicycleworks@gmail.com Come Visit Old Forge We have mountain, fat, hybrid, road & e-bikes! More than just a bike shop A true cycling community Your Adirondack Base Camp! Eagle Bay • Stillwater Big Moose • Beaver River It’s Our Nature! EXPERT SALES & SERVICE PROFESSIONAL FITTING MTB, ROAD & TRI SPECIALISTS 76 Lawrence St • Glens Falls • 518.223.0148 60 West Ave • Saratoga Springs • 518.306.5004 greyghostbicycles.com facebook.com/greyghostbicycles Adirondack Mountain Bike Festival September 23-24 • Free McCauley Mtn Ski Area AFTA guided group trail tours, food, beverage, music Make your own fun, or let us help you! Info-Webcams-Vacation Guide OldForgeNY.com
BICYCLING continued from 11 Sitting off Northway Exit 20 is Gurney Lane Recreation Area and Rush Pond Trail System in Queensbury. Gurney is 150 acres with 13 miles of trails for yearround enjoyment; seven miles of singletrack and six miles of doubletrack. Last year, work was completed on Rush Pond after nearly ten years of work. The intermediate flow trails offer crafted bridges and views of the pond wetlands in the woods between Queensbury Schools and Gurney Lane. I remember when Gurney itself flowed like Rush Pond. Now I hear riders refer to Gurney as ‘North Gurney’ and say how it’s ‘way more rugged’ than Rush Pond. The reality is, they’re not wrong as years of use have made it more challenging. Riders looking for a bridge between the relentless tech of Daniels or Moreau, and the intermediate flow of Rush, Graphite or Tupelo can now find it on many of the trails at “North” Gurney – this natural aging process has been so cool to watch. This article gave me an excuse to talk to one of the stewards at Gurney/Rush, my pal and fellow winter rider, Scott Wheeler. “Nearly a decade ago Gurney Lane was just getting its feet wet with new construction of a few miles of singletrack,” recalls Scott, “…Queensbury Parks & Recreation’s continued investment into mountain biking has paid dividends, with nearly 20 miles of singletrack spanning Gurney Lane and Rush Pond. We aren’t done growing either! Rick’s Bike Shop recently opened their ‘Outpost’ this summer at Gurney, providing the area’s first on-trail mountain bike rentals, service, and retail shop. Future trails are planned to be built ◀ JOSH CLEVENSTINE AT WHEELERVILLE TRAILS IN CAROGA LAKE. BRANDON ESTES/BLUE COLLAR RIDERS CO. by Wilderness Property Management and additional investments are being made by the town, local businesses, and community leaders – we are extremely fortunate to live in an area where mountain biking is thriving!” More info: recreation.queensbury.net. Staying on I-87 and crossing into North Warren County, we’re under the volunteer stewardship of Upper Hudson Trails Alliance: upperhudsontrails.org. UHTA came under new leadership last year with Drew Cappabianca, owner of The Hub and Brant Lake Bike Park (Bartonville Mountain) in Brant Lake, and they’ve been on an absolute tear since. “We’ve been busy writing grants, building trails, and building UHTA to be the primary trail organization for Warren County,” Drew said. “We’ve been building beginner and intermediate flow terrain at Dynamite Hill in Chestertown. We hope to have a two-mile loop completed by snowfall, with a total of 4-5 miles in the coming years. We purchased a powered wheelbarrow to help move material on this project and others. In North Creek, we’ve secured funding to hire professional trail builders to make mountain bike specific trail improvements to the Rabbit Pond Trail, which will effectively extend the top of the Long Trail at the North Creek Ski Bowl into a 6-7-mile loop through the Vanderwhacker Wild Forest. We’re currently working with the DEC to finalize this plan, and hope to have it completed by snowfall.” If UHTA gets the green light, they will build it. I can’t wait to see the Long Trail become a loop. The other networks they ◀ NICE VIEW FROM SUMMIT OF BRANT LAKE BIKE PARK WITH DARBY. JOSH CLEVENSTINE take care of have also seen noticeable steady maintenance and improvement under their guidance. More info: upperhudsontrails.org. About an hour west of our immediate region sits an explosion on the scene that is now wrapping up its third year, Wheelerville Trails. The network is made possible through collaboration with the Adirondack Foothills Trails Alliance and the Town of Caroga. It’s the brainchild of trail steward, Jeremy Manning, and trail builders Eli Glesmann and Justin Vesp. Reflecting on how Wheelerville went from nothing to a destination riding location in less than three seasons, Jeremy said, “Wheelerville started out as an idea that was hatched at a town board meeting back in 2016. The Town of Caroga was trying to decide what to do with a 118-acre parcel of land it has owned since the early 1960s. We applied for and received some DEC funding for a feasibility study, and received another DEC grant in 2019 which we used to start construction.” Jeremy and his crew knew our region was lacking high speed gravity trails loaded with big jumps, drops and berms. Wanting his trails to be fast, aggressive and gravity oriented he looked northwest to the trails in Old Forge where he connected with trail builders Eli Glesmann and Justin Vesp. “We partnered with AFTA and hired many of the builders from Old Forge. At this point,” Jeremy continued, “we have about nine miles of trails which are mostly downhill focused. Honestly, I really can’t believe how successful it’s been and the support we’ve received from the moun- SEPTEMBER 2023 13 tain bike community. The next phase we are looking to complete is the connection of Wheelerville to the downtown area of Caroga, and the addition of more beginner and intermediate terrain. We have plans for about 7-10 more miles of trails over the next three years.” This past summer saw Eli Glesmann and his crew back at Wheelerville beginning to cut the miles Jeremy mentioned above. Eli’s trails have an aggressive feel that rewards the bold. The faster you ride and the bigger you jump, the more the trails make sense. Getting to know a little more about Eli, he shared some of his story and what he loves about building in 2023 in the Adirondacks. “I always try to incorporate the natural features the land has to offer,” said Eli, “which is a big part of the reason Old Forge and Wheelerville are so appealing. There’s no lack of exciting terrain! I started building trails in 2018. I knew there was demand for trails in the Adirondacks. I’ve been lucky to work with Old Forge and Wheelerville to create successful trail systems,” More info: wheelervilletrails.com. In the greater High Peaks Region, Barkeater Trails Alliance builds, maintains, and advocates for a system of community and backcountry trails for mountain biking and cross-country ski touring. BETA has been connecting and nurturing community-based trail systems for 35 years, covering 125 miles. In 2011, they began building mountain biking trails in Wilmington, Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Elizabethtown and Keene. This year, BETA is partnering with three professional trail builders, Tahawus Trails, Peduzzi Trail Contracting and Backslope Trail Building, to open three new machine-built gravity trails in Wilmington, Keene/Jay and Lake Placid. More info: betatrails.org. It’s a great time to be a mountain biker in upstate New York. Thanks to many people, we are BLESSED to have such a wide variety of riding in our backyard. My call to YOU, riding reader: give back. Reach out to your local trail organization. Get involved with SMBA, UHTA, AFTA, BETA or whatever outfit stewards your region. I promise you it’s worth it. Josh Clevenstine (josh.clevenstine@ gmail.com) has a degree in journalism from SUNY Albany. He’s a trail/ communications director for SMBA, a musician, snowboarder and year-round mountain biker. Find more on Instagram @josh.clevenstine, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube or joshclevenstine.com.
Page 1 and 2: COVERING UPSTATE NY SINCE 2000 FREE
Page 3 and 4: SEPTEMBER 2023 3 CONTENTS 5 NEWS BR
Page 5 and 6: News Briefs The Omentum Project: Zo
Page 7 and 8: HIKING SEPTEMBER 2023 7 Buck ■ TH
Page 9 and 10: HIKING continued from 7 before the
Page 11: BICYCLING SEPTEMBER 2023 11 Upstate
Page 15 and 16: By Laura Clark Running through a su
Page 17 and 18: SEPTEMBER 2023 17 ▶ ALBANY TRICK
Page 19 and 20: SEPTEMBER 2023 19 KAYAK, CANOE & SU
Page 21 and 22: SEPTEMBER 2023 21 CHAR MAPES EXPLOR
Page 23 and 24: SEPTEMBER 2023 23 NON-MEDICATED LIF
Page 25 and 26: SEPTEMBER 2023 25 WILLOW STREET ATH
Page 27 and 28: CALENDAR OF EVENTS SEPTEMBER TO NOV
Page 29 and 30: SEPTEMBER 2023 29 22 Hometown CX Cy
Page 31 and 32: SEPTEMBER 2023 31 4-8 Plein Air Fes
Page 33 and 34: SEPTEMBER 2023 33 30 Run to Remembe
Page 35 and 36: SWIMMING Back to the Pool SEPTEMBER
Page 37 and 38: SWIMMING continued from 35 improve
Page 39 and 40: RACE RESULTS LITCHFIELD HILLS TRIAT
Page 41 and 42: RACE RESULTS MALE AGE GROUP: 50 - 5
Page 43 and 44: RACE RESULTS MALE OVERALL FINDLEY L
Page 45 and 46: RACE RESULTS MALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 3
Page 47 and 48: RACE RESULTS RUN 4 THE RIVER HALF M

Adirondack Sports September 2023

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