Hi friends, welcome back to the final installment of our time in the Catskills. On our last full day we had an early wakeup call to ride the Rail Explorers. I was very excited for this activity because I’d always wanted to try them. It looked like a fun and relaxing time, but I didn’t know what exactly to expect. When we were booking, we were deciding between an 8am and 4pm slot and by the time we went to book later that day, only the 8am slot was left. Our slight procrastination paid off because it down poured all afternoon, but we had perfect weather.
The bikes come in two and four seaters and we were in a two-seater. We were in the second car to go out and the couple in front of us went fast, so it felt like we had the whole track to ourselves. The bikes were easy to pedal and you don’t have to steer. The hardest part for us was not going too fast so we could enjoy it. The bikes were a bit noisy so it was difficult to have conversations. Parts of the trail had some cushioning to muffle the noise when we briefly passed by a residential area.
It felt so great to breeze through the fresh air on these rail bikes. The trail went through the woods along the Espous Creek with a turnaround about four miles away.
There was one railroad crossing we had to make and we waited so they could connect all the bikes like a real train. The railroad crossing guardrails went down and on the count of three we all pedaled across together. It cracked me up seeing all the cars stopped while we crossed.
Halfway through there is an area to sit along the creek while the bikes are turned around. There is a special part of the track that elevates so they can easily rotate the bike the other way. We were very curious how they would do this because the cars weigh 400 and 750 pounds.
On the way back we were the second to last car and this time we had to be careful not to tailgate the bike in front of us that were slower. They also turned on the pedal assist this time so we didn’t have to work as hard to keep moving, but we could definitely tell when it wasn’t on after we had slowed our pedals.
We really enjoyed the rail explorers and I’d highly recommend booking them if you’re ever in the area of one. This company also has them in Rhode Island and Kentucky. I think it would be cool if they had adventurous rail explorers that was a bit like a mini roller coaster, but that would probably be a big liability.
The rest of the day was a total downpour so we took our car to have the annual New York inspection and I made a lot of progress on my book. We were VERY glad we hadn’t booked the 4pm tour. For dinner we made some delicious shish kebobs on the grill.
The following morning we packed up and hit the road back to NYC early before the highway shut down for the fireworks. We had the easiest drive back and didn’t hit one bit of traffic.
Despite the smoke and heavy rain, we had a great time relaxing in the Catskills! It’s a great escape to have just a short drive from NYC. Hopefully soon we can return to see the fall foliage 🙂
I like the idea of cycling on a disused track
It’s a nice way to get immersed in nature without too much effort.
😎
That does sound like fun; I’m going to have to look into the ones in Rhode Island for this spring.
It was a lot of fun! Hopefully it’s close to where you’ll be visiting.
Wow, what a fantastic way to experience the railroad and explore scenic Catskill Mountain, Lyssy! It would be a spectacular way to experience the colour of the mountain foliage. Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx
It was such an enjoyable experience! Hopefully one day I can go back and see all the fall colors. Hope you have a great day 🙂
Such a fun way to see the countryside Lyssy. Great looking kebabs. Thanks for taking us to the Catskills. Allan
It was a fun way to explore and get some fresh air. We really took advantage of having access to a grill.
What a scenic ride; so much green! 💚 Very fortunate you took the morning ride to avoid the rain. Looks like the perfect end to your time in the Catskills!
We were glad all the smoke had cleared and the rain hadn’t come in yet so we had a beautiful day for the ride. It was the nice, relaxin trip we had hoped for.
Gotta love entrepreneurs. Not only did they have to secure the rights to the use of the tracks, but they had to invent those “land paddleboats”. Never considered the logistics of turning them around (just assumed they loaded them on a truck and returned them to the starting line). Never considered the need to muffle the noise through residential areas. And nice they had “pedal assist” like an electric bike. Can you coast when you’re not pedaling or are you always in gear?
Some people are so good at thinking outside the box! I thought it would be a loop trail, but old railroad tracks don’t really work like that. You can coast for a while, but not very long. Jon’s seat was the control so I could stop pedaling if I wanted to and we’d still move. Once a passenger princess, always a passenger princess 🙂
What a blast the rail runners must’ve been, Lyssy! Mike and I would love that, and I will add it to my ever-growing NY to-do list. The kebabs look amazing!
It was such a fun experience! I’d definitely recommend them when you make it up to NY one day 🙂 Chef Jon never disappoints!
I saw them recently in Cape May – looks like a lot of fun… I wouldn’t mind one of those kebabs!
They are a lot of fun and not too much work so you can enjoy the ride. The kebabs were delicious!
This looks like such a cool outing! I’ve never been to the Catstkills (and as someone who enjoy mountains, I really want to go!) so I’ll make sure to check out this activity if one day we go! 🙂
Ah yes you’d love the Catskills and rail explorers!
The Rail Explorers looks great fun Lyssy, I’d enjoy doing that too.
It was such a fun activity!
This looks so fun! I’m chuckling still at the visual image of all of you hooked together and pedaling across a road like a train crossing.
So much fun! There was a pretty decent sized lineup of cars when we were crossing too. I bet the cars got a chuckle out of it if they weren’t running late haha
The Rail Explorers looks like a fun activity and a different way to enjoy the scenery. Sounds like the timing worked out well with the weather because I don’t think this would be as appealing during the rain.
It was such a neat experience and good for all ages. It would definitely be miserable in a downpour. I think they provide an umbrella and only cancel if there’s lightning.
I’ve seen them do similar up this way, but there are some people who have their own carts and put them on the track to go. I wish more places had what you did.
Aw looks like a lot of fun, and a perfect end to your mini break. What a lovely weekend 🙂
This explorer rail seems a good way of using disused tracks.
https://motivationfuze.wordpress.com/
This looks like such a cool way to explore the Catskills!