Harper's Round Table, December 8, 1896 - Various

This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our maps and tours contain many valuable data kindly supplied from the official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen. Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L.A.W., the Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership blanks and information so far as possible.

The final stage of the run from New York to Newburg is given this week. In the previous three weeks the country between Hoboken and Newburg up the western bank of the Hudson has been published, and, of course, the wheelman, if he chooses, may run on further up the Hudson. Beyond Newburg, however, the country becomes very hilly, and some of the roads are practically unrideable in some cases because the hills are too steep to ride up, and in others because they are too steep to ride down. Some of the roads around Newburg are very bad for the same reason, especially those running southward from the city through Canterbury and Cornwall, and down below West Point. Through this part of the country in the vicinity of the river it is wiser, both for your own good and that of your wheel, to refrain from wheeling at all.

The main road to Newburg is good riding, however—that passing through Tuxedo, Highland Mills, and Woodbury Falls, on last week's map, to Mountainville. Thence turn left, and run to Salisbury Mills, keeping always to the right until you leave the latter place, and run up to Orrs Mills and Vails Gate, thence proceeding direct to Newburg. None of the roads hereabout can be called first-class, and this particular route is by no means the best. If your run is to be as far as Poughkeepsie, it is wiser to keep further westward, and run from Blooming Grove on last week's map, out through Otterkill, Maybrook, and Coldenham. Any bicyclist who wants to reach Poughkeepsie from New York is strongly advised to keep to the east bank of the Hudson all the way up. The wheeling through the country where Tuxedo is situated is good, but except for a few roads outside of this small bit of territory, the riding is pretty hilly. The road-bed, as a rule, is in fair to good condition, but the unevenness of the ground is a constant worry to a bicyclist—the kind of worry that wears him out in short order, unless he is an experienced wheelman.

The only reason for riding through this country is a historic one, for the ground is covered with objects of interest connected with the Revolutionary war, and of course West Point itself is one of the sights of the Hudson, both from the fact of its being the seat of the military academy, and because of the scenery thereabouts.

This closes the particular trip which for several weeks we have been discussing, and for the present, during the winter season, the Department will be discontinued. Questions on bicycling matters, where they can be answered, will be attended to as before, and the Department will be resumed in the early spring. All applications for explanations as to the method to be followed in becoming a member of the L.A.W. will also be answered as heretofore.

Note.—Map of New York city asphalted streets in No. 809. Map of route from New York to Tarrytown in No. 810. New York to Stamford, Connecticut, in No. 811. New York to Staten Island in No. 812. New Jersey from Hoboken to Pine Brook in No. 813. Brooklyn in No. 814. Brooklyn to Babylon in No. 815. Brooklyn to Northport in No. 816. Tarrytown to Poughkeepsie in No. 817. Poughkeepsie to Hudson in No. 818. Hudson to Albany in No. 819. Tottenville to Trenton in No. 820. Trenton to Philadelphia in No. 821. Philadelphia in No. 822. Philadelphia-Wissahickon Route in No. 823. Philadelphia to West Chester in No. 824. Philadelphia to Atlantic City—First Stage in No. 825; Second Stage in No. 826. Philadelphia to Vineland—First Stage in No. 827; Second Stage in No. 828. New York to Boston—Second Stage in No. 829; Third Stage in No. 830; Fourth Stage in No. 831; Fifth Stage in No. 832; Sixth Stage in No. 833. Boston to Concord in No. 834. Boston in No. 835. Boston to Gloucester in No. 836. Boston to Newburyport in No. 837. Boston to New Bedford in No. 838. Boston to South Framingham in No. 839. Boston to Nahant in No. 840. Boston to Lowell in No. 841. Boston to Nantasket Beach in No. 842. Boston Circuit Ride in No. 843. Philadelphia to Washington—First Stage in No. 844; Second Stage in No. 845; Third Stage in No. 846; Fourth Stage in No. 847; Fifth Stage in No. 848. City of Washington in No. 849. City of Albany in No. 854; Albany to Fonda in No. 855; Fonda to Utica in No. 856; Utica to Syracuse in No. 857; Syracuse to Lyons in No. 858; Lyons to Rochester in No. 859; Rochester to Batavia in No. 860; Batavia to Buffalo in No. 861; Poughkeepsie to Newtown in No. 864; Newtown to Hartford in No. 865; New Haven to Hartford in No. 866; Hartford to Springfield in No. 867; Hartford to Canaan in No. 868; Canaan to Pittsfield in No. 869; Hudson to Pittsfield in No. 870. City of Chicago in No. 874. Waukesha to Oconomowoc in No. 875; Chicago to Wheeling in No. 876; Wheeling to Lippencott's in No. 877; Lippencott's to Waukesha in No. 878; Waukesha to Milwaukee in No. 879; Chicago to Joliet in No. 881; Joliet to Ottawa in No. 882; Ottawa to La Salle in No. 883; Jersey City to Englewood in No. 890; Englewood to Nyack in No. 891; Nyack to Washingtonville in No. 892.