Entries by Laura Willis

Riding the Maybrook Trailway

The Maybrook Trailway is the newest rail trail in the lower Hudson Valley and it is also the very eagerly-awaited “missing link” of trail between the former Putnam Division Railroad trailway system (also known as the Putnam Trailway, North County Trailway, South County Trailway and Putnam Greenway depending on where you are) and the trail […]

Riding the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail

The growth of New York City into the place we all know today has always been linked to the ability to bring fresh water to an urban environment surrounded by salt water estuaries. In the early 19th century, this was a major problem as the city began to push north from its original settlement at […]

Riding the Esposito Trail (and the Old Erie Path)

If you are planning to ride across the new Tappan Zee Bridge (or Mario M. Cuomo Bridge) bike path, you are probably wondering “what other trails connect to this bike path”?  Well, look no further than the Raymond G. Esposito Memorial Trail. The Esposito Trail is a great way to connect from the bridge to […]

Riding the Mario M. Cuomo (Tappan Zee) Bridge Bike Path

The replacement of the old Tappan Zee Bridge with the new Mario M. Cuomo Bridge has been a long time coming. Everyone hated that old bridge…especially cyclists and pedestrians, because that bridge had never been built with them in mind. How could such a critical link in the Hudson Valley not include bicycles and pedestrians? […]

Riding the O&W Rail Trail

The City of Kingston sits right next to the Catskill Mountains along the Hudson River. But it also sits at the end of two river valleys that run south to north. These two waterways: the Roundout Creek and the Wallkill River, have their confluence just south of Kingston.  From that point north, the Roundout Creek […]

Riding the Ashokan Rail Trail

If you are looking for one of the most glorious 10- to 20-mile bike rides you can do in the Hudson Valley, look no further than the Ashokan Rail Trail.  This trail was recently opened in the fall of 2019 and is one of the region’s newest and best constructed trail facilities. While the trail […]

Riding the Union Transportation Trail

If you are looking to get away for a ride that is rural and beautiful, yet isn’t super far from the NYC or Philadelphia metro areas, you can’t beat the Union Transportation Trail, or UTT for short. This is a 9-mile long rail trail that can easily be combined with quiet back roads to make […]

Riding the South and North County Trailway

If there is one bike path that most closely resembles a trunk-line, main artery for bikes in the Hudson Valley region, it is the South and North County Trailway in Westchester County.  This trail, which runs continuously from Bronx/Yonkers border for almost 50 miles to the Village of Brewster in Putnam County, is the centerpiece […]

Riding the Sussex Branch Trail

If you are looking to ride your bike on a rail trail that offers a great deal of solitude, check out the Sussex Branch Trail, which as the name suggests, is located in Sussex County, New Jersey. This trail is 18 miles long, unpaved, and goes through many quiet areas where you can easily spot […]

Bronx River Greenway

The Bronx River Valley has been a corridor for transportation and industry throughout New York’s history. As the only fresh-water river in NYC it played an important role in industry, with many mills set up along its banks, the remnants of which can be seen in the many “waterfalls” you see along the river flowing […]

The Bronx Greenway Mosholu / Pelham System

One of the best bicycle path networks in the New York Metro Region is located in the Bronx. While many counties and cities in our region have great bicycle paths, a common issue among many of them is connectivity. Perhaps they run a few miles and stop. Or perhaps one trail is unable to connect […]

Advice for tuning up your bike

Now that the spring weather is finally here, if you are getting on your bike for the first few times, you may be noticing that your bike isn’t working completely as it should. Yes, it is still getting you someplace, but maybe the way the gears switch isn’t right. Or you have to really squeeze […]