Biking to Hurleyville NY Down Memory Lane
It’s been months since we saw our family let alone our friends. Today, we met with my hubby’s childhood friend in Mountaindale NY and did the ride to Hurleyville. We kept our distance, wore our masks and used hand sanitizer when we stopped to eat. What I didn’t know was that our friend used to have a weekend home in Hurleyville NY. This is what helped motivate him to keep riding.
The Jourley
According to Google Maps, our journey should have taken about an hour and a half on a bicycle. Well, good for them but it took us longer than that. While the second time around this year the journey was easier, we still needed to take breaks. And again, we are using mountain bikes not road bikes.
The first two miles are in Mountain Dale rail trail, where the ground is not paved. After that, you are mostly on paved ground or asphalt. Going up the hills after the farm on Grey Rd is the hardest part. This is what will get your heart pumping. I don’t care if you’re in the best shape of your life, the bike ride or walk in my case, up the little hills will get you huffing and puffing. I did try to go up the hill while on 3 and 5 so that could have been the reason I failed.
After the hills, the journey is pretty smooth. You have a lot of nice downhills, pass Woodridge and South Fallsburg and before you know if it’s the trail entry to Hurleyville.
Hurleyville Rail Trail
Twenty years ago Hurleyville NY did not look the way it does now. It has cleaned up nicely with additional bars and restaurants and even a large Arts Center. The place has a quiet, hipster-sort-of vibe and the rail trail is paved and smooth. There are ponds along the trail where you will see turtles, birds such as geese, blackbirds and grey heron. Again, we stopped at Old Monticello Road, looked to our right down the road and tried to see the house our friend used to visit every weekend as a kid. After a few minutes of reminiscing, we headed back to grab some food.
As for food, you can choose the pizza or Pickled Owl. We choose Pickled Own and got a Cesar salad, a cheeseburger and 2 extra orders of fries. We got our order and ate on the two benches in the park. The food was delicious and it gave us more time to reminisce. Some thing we talked about; who got arrested, where and why? What was there before?
Overall, the ride back was fast. Our friend was struggling a bit but it’s been a while since he went on a longer bike ride. There is one large uphill coming home where you have no choice but to get off and walk it. This wasn’t fun but after that it’s all pretty much a smooth downhill until you get to the farm/bridge. We’ve done this ride a few times now and each time it goes faster and feels easier.
