Bike ride to follow towpath
CLIFTONPARK, N.Y. » The town is celebrating National Trails Day Sunday with a free, community bike ride on the recently completed Erie Canal Community Connector Trail between Clifton Park and Halfmoon.
The guided ride will take participants from the Historic Grooms Tavern through the hamlet of Vischer Ferry and along the Connector Trail to the base of the Twin Bridges in Halfmoon and back.
The ride is sponsored by the town Trails subcommittee and will be led by Trail committeeman Jerry Burr and town historian John Scherer. Scherer will offer commentary at several historic stops on the ride.
“We’ve been doing these community rides twice a year for more than 20 years,” Burr said earlier this week. “They’re guided rides and we ride as a group. We have John (Scherer) who gives us a lot of the history and we have ride marshals, plus, there’s refreshments. They’re pretty popular.”
Burr describes himself as a casual rider these days but one who used to enjoy going on week-long rides that included camping out at night. The June 3 Community Ride is about 14 miles total distance.
“We’ve taken a couple of test rides,” Burr said. “We’ll go along the Connector Trail to Halfmoon stopping at a few places where John will discuss some of the history. Then we’ll turn around and come back and he’ll offer
some more information on spots he didn’t discuss on the way over. We’ll stop at historic Lock 19, the double lock on the canal and the Lock 7 overlook. The number of people is pretty dependent on the weather.”
Meet-up for the National Trails Day guided bike ride is 12:45 p.m. June 3, at the Historic Grooms Tavern, 290 Sugar Hill Road at the intersection with Grooms Road, Clifton Park. The ride will start and finish at the tavern. Estimated time for the entire trip is three hours. Helmets are required for all ages.
Bring a bike, helmet and water. The group will travel at a casual pace. The ride will highlight the Bicentennial of the construction of the Erie Canal towpath. Everyone is welcome to participate.
The ride is sponsored by the Town of Clifton Park Trails subcommittee of the Open Space, Trails and Riverfront Committee. Call 518-371- 6054 for more information.