Sorry to wait so long to be definitive; the Army has my schedule in major flux, but.....

ANNOUNCING:

TOUR DE GUNKS 2008

Date: 27 July 2008
Time: 0930
Where: Steel Bridge
What: 45-50 miles of fun Carriage Roads and a bit o' singletrack
Who: Whomever (please confirm with an e-mail and cell phone number so we don't leave anyone behind).
Don't Forget: Lunch and appropriate swim wear (changing room available).
Bike: Mountain or Hybrid (there is approx 0.5 miles of singletrack).

Expected Itinerary (subject to alteration based on group desire):

Trapps Road up past Awosting Falls to Minnewaska, around Minnewaska Lake and up to Castle Point, then on to Lake Awosting for lunch and swim.

Around Lake Awosting then down Lower Awosting Carriageway past Awosting Falls and back to Steel Bridge. Overcliff Road to Laurel Ledge and Mohonk House via a short section of single track. Snack break at Mohonk (????). Tool around Carriage Roads near Mohonk out into the Spring Farm/Bonticou area as long as we want, then return to steel bridge via Oakwood or Old Minnewaska Roads to Undercliff Road.

Again, please confirm via e-mail. Steady rain cancels and we adjourn to the Galvanized Muskrat (aka Gilded Otter), minor rain or intermittent stuff, I'm still riding.

See Ya Next weekend

Tim

I'm in, pending weather.

Cool. Not sure I'll survive the whole distance, but I'll give it a go. Rain doesn't bother me, but a lot of free-range electricity would scare me away.

Kathy

so it's killing me... did you guys go? did you get caught in the wicked thunderstorm? we were doing a metric century road ride... and we sure did!!! got totally soaked - sat out the worst of the deluge under a porch but then rode in the rain all the way from Olive to Stone Ridge before it stopped.

Yep, we got a little wet, too. We rode from the steel bridge out to Castle Point in the AM, but the views were pretty murky with all the humidity. We continued around Lake Awosting, but didn't linger too long at the beach because of the weather. Came back by the steel bridge, out Undercliff Trail with a stop at the Uberfall to eat and watch the few climbers who were there.

We continued on out Laurel Ledge CW, and were quite far out when the rumbling started. We decided the Mountain House area was closer than the West Trapps parking lot, so we continued up the rock pass. About then, the storm was closing in and it started to rain. Before we were totally soaked, Tim spotted a house. Any port in a storm, so we left the bikes under the deck and knocked on the door. No one home, but the porch door was open. We went into the enclosed porch to knock on the inner door. No answer. So we rode out the storm on the dry enclosed porch. Eventually, the resident returned and was ok with us hanging out there. It is apparently an employee residence. We were grateful for it since the lightning was too close for comfort.

Thanks to modern technology, Julie was able to get a radar report via her father, who said it was a line of storms, and should pass soon. When the sky lightened, we continued our ride on trails which apparently have opened to bikes since my map was printed. They were freshly resurfaced to the degree of being practically paved, and marked as bike routes. Total mileage just missed 30 miles by a hair.