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Two
unrelated efforts this spring show that bicycling may be getting a
little more attention here in the Adirondacks.
For starters, you
can take part in a local survey, looking for input for a future Web site
dedicated to promoting bicycling in the Adirondacks. The survey is
reachable here.
The
survey is part of a program called Bike the Byways, which is sponsored
by the Adirondack North Country Association, a community development
group in Saranac Lake. The idea, says organizer Tim Holmes, is to figure
out what bike resources already exist in the park.
The group is most interested in road rides, he said,
especially to promote the 14 federally-designated "Scenic Byways"
located in the park.
Because of the lack of roads in the park and
the sheer splendor of most of them, apparently most roads in the park
are in fact scenic byways. So cyclists could just unfold a map and take
their pick. Nevertheless, visitors might appreciate a site offering more
specific descriptions.
For more information, check out the new
blog, http://bikethebyways.wordpress.com/
Meanwhile,
work continues on the Upper Hudson Rail Trail, a proposed 29-mile route
that would go from North Creek to Tahawus on a right-of-way currently
owned by NL Industries. A year after the idea was first made public,
organizer Curt Austin, a photographer from Chestertown, has planned his
first official organizing meeting.
Friends of the Upper Hudson
Rail Trail Inc. will meet at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 12 at the North
Creek Ski Bowl lodge.
"There are a lot of details to work out,"
he said. But the meeting may include some more fun activities, such as a
drive out to some of the route's more scenic spots and possibly a bike
ride in the afternoon.
The group is seeking to buy the railroad
from NL, remove the track and lay down a bike trail through some of the
Central Adirondack's most remote woods.
“We don’t have that many
formal members yet, but we’re going to try to make it entertaining and
worthwhile for new people,” he said.
Check out the Upper Hudson's
Facebook page here.