Some days are garnet while others are sapphire but, this was definitely a bright, sparkly diamond! After a dreary winter, punctuated by an unimpressive Spring, Long Island was definitely ready for a world class beautiful day and the Stillwell Interpretive Trail opening was precisely that. The sun shone through to create a warming backdrop to a perfect day and the morning also afforded the opportunity for a grand opening that was worthy of the three year effort that went into developing the trail. Several C.L.I.M.B. members were on hand to cut the ribbon on their new beginner trail. Excitingly, the trail features signage that instructs the novice rider about not only the etiquette and techniques that they need to negotiate a singletrack mountainbike trail but, also the features of the natural environment with ways to preserve and observe it.
The trail was the result of the passions and efforts of the Concerned Long Island Mountain Bicyclists. Their President Mike Vitti had this to say:
The new Beginner's Interpretive Mountain Bike Trail is a 2 mile loop, with 12 instructional stations, with signs that instruct the rider in bike skills, trail etiquette, and tips on observing the native plants and animals. Part of our focus is also training riders on open space stewardship and protecting the natural environment. The trail was designed and built with help from IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association), and a mountain bike club in Fruita Colorado who developed the first interpretive trail. Our trail took three years from the idea to completion. Nassau County backed the idea of the trail which was sponsored and financed by IMBA, Cliff Bar and private contributions; Edwards Fence Company donated the posts for the signage. We used existing Trails and fire roads to make the trail both easy and at the same time challenging in spots. The trail was specifically designed to provide roughly 45 minutes of aerobic exercise which is exactly the amount recommended by the Healthy Lifestyles Initiative and the American Health Institute plus, it takes you outside in a wonderful healthy, beautiful outdoor environment.
Established in 1990, C.L.I.M.B. is a not for profit organization dedicated to the design, building and maintenance of over maintain 80 miles of off road bicycle trails on Long Island. Their current focus on Long Island is resurrecting the Long Island Vanderbilt Motor Parkway as part of the LIGHTS network (Long Island Health Trails). This will be C.L.I.M.B.'s most ambitious undertaking to date, as well as the longest. It will require the coordination of hundreds of local goevenments and agencies, and millions of dollars.
In celebration of the opening and in support of the efforts of C.L.I.M.B., Cannondale Bicycles was on hand as part of their Epidemic Tour. With their truckload of mountain and road bikes for riders to demo, they were able to outfit every butt that came through with a matching saddle. Their support is exactly the kind that helps build the cycling community and advance an oil independent lifestyle.
Dean Cirone the New York Metro Account Manager whose heart lies in mountain biking extolled the success of the event. "It's great, we're excited just to be out here, this has been a terrific opportunity for Cannondale and for the local bike shops to get together and get some butts on bikes. We've had all our Mountain bikes out on the trail but, it has also been a great opportunity to get some folks out on the high end road bikes as well. It's a rare opportunity for folks to take these bikes out for pretty much as long as they want. But, as soon as we wrap it up here, I will be out there riding the trail, I'm about 90% a mountain bike guy.
Riders of all styles and geographies showed up for the opening, some of them even arrived on half bikes.... Why would anyone want to cut a bike in half and ride it on the trail? Adam Cohen replied, "It's definitely more fun. Plus, no bike racks, no derailleurs, no extra goodies need to be added to just have great fun. Everything goes to the wheel! It takes finesse but, once you get the basics down, you can cut the trails just like you can on a mountain bike."
The underlying reaction was the same, no matter who it came from, all enjoyed a great day of communing with nature on an open trail with a race bred steed. Samantha and Jennifer exclaimed, It was a lot of fun. We would have gotten lost without the signs and the bikes we borrowed from Cannondale were terrific. We've never ridden such terrific bikes, the Scalpel made the trails so much easier. It opened a new experience and has motivated us to try more off-road organized rides, maybe even an adventure race. Bonnie talked about the signs and how informative they were. As a more experienced off-road biker, she pointed to the tips she had to learn by experience, that were shown on the signs, 'you ride where you look, if you look at the tree you will ride into the tree'... that and the environmental and nature pointers made the experience more fun and a learning experience as well.
Wrapping it up, Doug from the Bike Junkie in Bethpage said simply, We are here to make certain that everyone who is interested in bicycle riding is going to have a great time, that the bikes they are riding are safe, and that they can have a great experience.
Some days are garnet while others are sapphire but, this was definitely a bright, sparkly diamond! After a dreary winter, punctuated by an unimpressive Spring, Long Island was definitely ready for a world class beautiful day and the Stillwell Interpretive Trail opening was precisely that. The sun shone through to create a warming backdrop to a perfect day and the morning also afforded the opportunity for a grand opening that was worthy of the three year effort that went into developing the trail. Several C.L.I.M.B. members were on hand to cut the ribbon on their new beginner trail. Excitingly, the trail features signage that instructs the novice rider about not only the etiquette and techniques that they need to negotiate a singletrack mountainbike trail but, also the features of the natural environment with ways to preserve and observe it.
The trail was the result of the passions and efforts of the Concerned Long Island Mountain Bicyclists. Their President Mike Vitti had this to say:
The new Beginner's Interpretive Mountain Bike Trail is a 2 mile loop, with 12 instructional stations, with signs that instruct the rider in bike skills, trail etiquette, and tips on observing the native plants and animals. Part of our focus is also training riders on open space stewardship and protecting the natural environment. The trail was designed and built with help from IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association), and a mountain bike club in Fruita Colorado who developed the first interpretive trail. Our trail took three years from the idea to completion. Nassau County backed the idea of the trail which was sponsored and financed by IMBA, Cliff Bar and private contributions; Edwards Fence Company donated the posts for the signage. We used existing Trails and fire roads to make the trail both easy and at the same time challenging in spots. The trail was specifically designed to provide roughly 45 minutes of aerobic exercise which is exactly the amount recommended by the Healthy Lifestyles Initiative and the American Health Institute plus, it takes you outside in a wonderful healthy, beautiful outdoor environment.
Established in 1990, C.L.I.M.B. is a not for profit organization dedicated to the design, building and maintenance of over maintain 80 miles of off road bicycle trails on Long Island. Their current focus on Long Island is resurrecting the Long Island Vanderbilt Motor Parkway as part of the LIGHTS network (Long Island Health Trails). This will be C.L.I.M.B.'s most ambitious undertaking to date, as well as the longest. It will require the coordination of hundreds of local goevenments and agencies, and millions of dollars.
In celebration of the opening and in support of the efforts of C.L.I.M.B., Cannondale Bicycles was on hand as part of their Epidemic Tour. With their truckload of mountain and road bikes for riders to demo, they were able to outfit every butt that came through with a matching saddle. Their support is exactly the kind that helps build the cycling community and advance an oil independent lifestyle.
Dean Cirone the New York Metro Account Manager whose heart lies in mountain biking extolled the success of the event. "It's great, we're excited just to be out here, this has been a terrific opportunity for Cannondale and for the local bike shops to get together and get some butts on bikes. We've had all our Mountain bikes out on the trail but, it has also been a great opportunity to get some folks out on the high end road bikes as well. It's a rare opportunity for folks to take these bikes out for pretty much as long as they want. But, as soon as we wrap it up here, I will be out there riding the trail, I'm about 90% a mountain bike guy.
Riders of all styles and geographies showed up for the opening, some of them even arrived on half bikes.... Why would anyone want to cut a bike in half and ride it on the trail? Adam Cohen replied, "It's definitely more fun. Plus, no bike racks, no derailleurs, no extra goodies need to be added to just have great fun. Everything goes to the wheel! It takes finesse but, once you get the basics down, you can cut the trails just like you can on a mountain bike."
The underlying reaction was the same, no matter who it came from, all enjoyed a great day of communing with nature on an open trail with a race bred steed. Samantha and Jennifer exclaimed, It was a lot of fun. We would have gotten lost without the signs and the bikes we borrowed from Cannondale were terrific. We've never ridden such terrific bikes, the Scalpel made the trails so much easier. It opened a new experience and has motivated us to try more off-road organized rides, maybe even an adventure race. Bonnie talked about the signs and how informative they were. As a more experienced off-road biker, she pointed to the tips she had to learn by experience, that were shown on the signs, 'you ride where you look, if you look at the tree you will ride into the tree'... that and the environmental and nature pointers made the experience more fun and a learning experience as well.
Wrapping it up, Doug from the Bike Junkie in Bethpage said simply, We are here to make certain that everyone who is interested in bicycle riding is going to have a great time, that the bikes they are riding are safe, and that they can have a great experience.
