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[webny99]

Seriously, though, it is true that 2-3 hour or less clinching blocks tend to run out of places relatively quick.  I think I was up to ~4 hour blocks within a few weeks of moving where I am now and had to go up to 8-9 hour blocks after a year.  For trips out of Rochester I was able to stay with 5-6 longer, before ending up with 7 hour blocks to finish up the far western part of the state.

You got that right, and that is exactly why I'm just focusing on getting what I can, when I can, and not necessarily system completion. Although I do have tremendous respect for you for completing NY, and anyone else who has completed a large state highway system, I don't want to become obsessed with it, and so far I've found it enjoyable enough just to steadily add mileage when I can. Speaking of which...

So, between completing an 8th county and the 100th route clinch, I guess you could say my two most significant roadgeek accomplishments to date both came tonight.

... I realized today that my trip on Friday put me over 5,000 miles logged in active+preview systems in New York, so I guess there's a full trifecta of accomplishments to start off September.

[webny99]

After several unsuccessful plans and tries, I finally got a chance to get down to Ontario County today and pick up the remaining segments of NY 14A and NY 245 that I needed to complete a clinch of all highways in that county.

Since this post, I had called into question whether I had been on NY 53 all the way to the Ontario/Steuben county line. I've taken NY 53 south out of Naples probably a dozen or more times, but usually to Jerome's fruit farm or Italy Valley Rd, so I wasn't 100% sure how far south I had gone (but I was definitely comfortable with logging the final TM segment in Ontario County).

In any case, I removed any ambiguity this morning as I picked up a full clinch of NY 53 along with some new mileage on NY 415, NY 21, and NY 36, for about 50 new miles total. I also re-clinched a section of NY 36 in Dansville that I wasn't 100% sure on, so I believe that addresses the remaining potential issues in the 8 counties I consider "clinched".

[webny99]

I finished up a few loose ends this weekend, including clinches of NY 176 (one of my most fun clinches to date), NY 238, and NY 436 (amidst mid-morning fog). With the updates, I'm now the 16th TM user to hit 30% on NY state highways.

Something else I found on Friday's clinching trip: a rare white-on-black shield on NY 38. I found the shield to be oddly fitting for this section of NY 38; it's unstriped leaving Auburn and hardly felt like a state route, even having just driven NY 176!

[webny99]

I picked up a few new road segments on a day trip to northern NJ this past week, and fixed a list file error when submitting the updates. I've now surpassed 450 miles in NJ and it has taken its rightful place as my 10th most traveled region, narrowly moving ahead of MA and ME. I say "rightful place" because top-10 seems right to me given the frequency of trips I've taken to NJ (at least a dozen), while I've only been to MA four times and ME just once.

[kirbykart]

Webny, I'm curious how much travel you've done in Allegany and Cattaraugus Counties. I know they're a bit outside your range, but you must have some mileage there (considering you've clinched Routes 17 & 70). I'm just wondering what else you have there.

 I might as well ask about Chautauqua County also.

[vdeane]

webny99 is on Travel Mapping, so it's actually possible to see his travels on a map.  Looks like those counties are fairly sparse as far as clinches go.

https://travelmapping.net/user/mapview.php?units=miles&u=webny99&rg=NY

[webny99]

Yep, I've been to Holiday Valley (not skiing though), Rock City twice, and Allegany State Park a handful of times, and managed to pick up all of I-86, US 219 in NY, and NY 280 on various trips to/from PA/OH, but other than that my travels in those counties are a bit sparse. I've also been to Wiscoy Falls, just off of NY 19A south of Letchworth (home of this infamous sign combo), and I clinched NY 70 this summer which happens to form part of the radius of the area I've clinched.

As for Chautauqua County, I've been through on the Thruway many times, I-86 at least once that I can remember, and Point Gratiot Park in Dunkirk.

[kirbykart]

webny99 is on Travel Mapping, so it's actually possible to see his travels on a map.  Looks like those counties are fairly sparse as far as clinches go.

https://travelmapping.net/user/mapview.php?units=miles&u=webny99&rg=NY

 Thanks! I've heard of this service but never used it myself.

Yep, I've been to Holiday Valley (not skiing though), Rock City twice, and Allegany State Park a handful of times, and managed to pick up all of I-86, US 219 in NY, and NY 280 on various trips to/from PA/OH, but other than that my travels in those counties are a bit sparse. I've also been to Wiscoy Falls, just off of NY 19A south of Letchworth (home of this infamous sign combo), and I clinched NY 70 this summer which happens to form part of the radius of the area I've clinched.

As for Chautauqua County, I've been through on the Thruway many times, I-86 at least once that I can remember, and Point Gratiot Park in Dunkirk.

 Well, if you ever are out this way again, I have some ideas for easy clinches.

NY 241 is a very short connector from Randolph to US 62 in the Town of Conewango. The route is quite curvy.

NY 446 spans Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties but is overall very short. It connects Hinsdale to Cuba, paralleling Route 17 its entire length.

 I see you have visited Cuba on Route 305. The line stops right in Downtown; were you visiting the Cheese Factory by any chance?

[webny99]

I see you have visited Cuba on Route 305. The line stops right in Downtown; were you visiting the Cheese Factory by any chance?

The way Travel Mapping works, you have to choose from pre-determined waypoints when logging your travels. I know I've been on that segment of NY 305 because I made a travel stop at that exit for fuel and I believe also McDonalds. I don't think I went quite as far as NY 446 in downtown Cuba, but the cheese factory looks worth checking out, and it would make sense as a pairing with a clinch of NY 446. 

NY 244 is also on my radar as a potential clinch.

[kirbykart]

^Is that the one that goes from Belmont to Alfred? That's also a pretty short and easy clinch.

 Another one I should have brought up is NY 322. A short connector between NY 83 and US 62 that runs through South Dayton.

[webny99]

^Is that the one that goes from Belmont to Alfred? That's also a pretty short and easy clinch.

Yes, and also NY 243 which runs 11 miles between NY 98 and NY 19 at Caneadea.

Another one I should have brought up is NY 322. A short connector between NY 83 and US 62 that runs through South Dayton.

Yes, although that is further away for me. If I do get the chance for more clinching trips, I'm likely to focus east of US 219 first. Finishing Wyoming County is also a long-term priority (as vdeane and I discussed upthread).

[kirbykart]

^Yeah, I'm just throwing ideas out there. Well, NY 275 is another short-ish connector you could do (Friendship to Bolivar). In Wyoming County, there's the incredibly short NY 362, with a one-lane section I believe was originally a railroad underpass. And don't forget NY 248 and NY 248A, which can also be used to get Potter County as I stated in another thread. All this will probably end up taking multiple trips.

 I see on Travel Mapping you have gotten NY 39 down to NY 436 past Castile. A great longer road to finish up would be NY 39. It's quite a scenic road, I know this from experience as I've been on all of it except for the part north of Geneseo. As you head west you will see beautiful rolling hills and farmlands throughout Wyoming and Livingston Counties, then go through the neat village of Springville in Erie County. Later on, after traversing more hills in the Zoar Valley region, you will approach Gowanda, an interesting little village spanning two counties. From there you ascend out of the creek valley and see northwestern Cattaraugus County. As you reach Chautauqua County, you will descend a long hill into Forestville, a tiny village with a weird median setup. Climbing out of the village you will start to see some vineyards, before ending at US 20.

 While you're in Chautauqua County, you may as well check out the county touring routes. They are kept to quite a high state of quality, about as good as a New York State Route. They are numerous and extensively cover the county, and you might get some really neat views, such as when I once saw the Buffalo skyline from CR 93.

[webny99]

Yes, NY 39 is a route I would like to clinch along with NY 19, NY 36, and especially NY 98 (seeing as I have most of the northern portions of those routes). Obviously TM does not track county routes, so I don't usually make special effort to clinch them, but one that I would like to drive is Allegany CR 15 between Nunda and Angelica. It's part of an alternate route to I-86 recommended by Google Maps that I've never taken before, but would like to if I get the chance.

I've also seen Buffalo skyline views from US 219, and from NY 77 which I think was my favorite because it was so unexpected. I was almost giddy when it appeared on the horizon and I could tell it was Buffalo, even from 25 miles away. It wasn't quite as good as seeing the Rochester skyline from 32 miles away south of Honeoye Lake, but it was close!

[webny99]

I took my first true clinching trip of 2023 this morning. I was able to get an early start and enjoy the sunrise as I headed east on a very cold but clear morning after a little bit of snow yesterday. My trip took me east via NY 31 to the edge of the Syracuse area, where I finally drove the section of NY 31 that runs right along the Thruway, finished up NY 31 west of NY 690, clinched NY 690, and then took NY 48 south through Baldwinsville to its southern terminus. I was going to head into Syracuse to grab some more clinches, but time constraints dictated otherwise, so I turned back north for a full re-clinch of NY 690, then took NY 48 to Fulton, crossed the river and took NY 481 into Oswego, then crossed back and took NY 48 south to Fulton to complete the clinch. From there it was just NY 3 and NY 104 back to Rochester, but by that time the sun was shining brilliantly on the fresh snow, and NY 104 was a breeze compared to the slog that is NY 31.

New travels: NY 31, NY 481, NY 631
New clinches: NY 48, NY 690

[webny99]

In the meantime I had also submitted my 2022 travels to Travel Mapping, a summary of which is shown below:



I was really hoping to hit 2,000 new miles on the year (or really since March, when I first started using TM), but fell a bit short of that with 1,931 new miles logged in 2022 across 9 states and 1 province. The majority of that mileage was in New York, and the majority of that was on the clinching trips that I've summarized in this thread. I have now added over 70 miles so far in 2023, so it's safe to say I've added 2000 miles in my first "year" using TM. Doesn't sound like much, but I've really enjoyed it and don't take it for granted in the least.

For 2023, I'm setting my sights on getting to 20,000 total miles in active systems by the end of the year. Yesterday's total puts me around 18,780, so another 1,220 will do it. It's too early to say how/when that might happen but I'm hoping it will be achievable one way or another.

[webny99]

For 2023, I'm setting my sights on getting to 20,000 total miles in active systems by the end of the year. Yesterday's total puts me around 18,780, so another 1,220 will do it. It's too early to say how/when that might happen but I'm hoping it will be achievable one way or another.

Well, finally. I can check 20,000 miles off the bucket list, as last weekend's updates put me at 20,111 in active and 20,178 in active+preview.

The estimated 1330 miles added since February break down roughly as follows:

NY: 435
MN: 240
PA: 100
VT: 60
WI: 15
ON: 470
QC: 10

I've really poured it on in ON this year, with a pair of trips netting over 150 miles each, and finally taking ON 401 across the top of Lake Ontario to complete a circuit of the lake, and connect my travels in the Golden Horseshoe with my travels in the Thousand Islands. With these updates, I've cracked 1300 miles in Ontario, good for top-15 in mileage and clinched routes, and top-10 in traveled routes - all higher than my rankings in NY!

[NWI_Irish96]

For 2023, I'm setting my sights on getting to 20,000 total miles in active systems by the end of the year. Yesterday's total puts me around 18,780, so another 1,220 will do it. It's too early to say how/when that might happen but I'm hoping it will be achievable one way or another.

Well, finally. I can check 20,000 miles off the bucket list, as last weekend's updates put me at 20,111 in active and 20,178 in active+preview.

The estimated 1330 miles added since February break down roughly as follows:

NY: 435
MN: 240
PA: 100
VT: 60
WI: 15
ON: 470
QC: 10

I've really poured it on in ON this year, with a pair of trips netting over 150 miles each, and finally taking ON 401 across the top of Lake Ontario to complete a circuit of the lake, and connect my travels in the Golden Horseshoe with my travels in the Thousand Islands. With these updates, I've cracked 1300 miles, good for top-15 in mileage and clinched routes, and top-10 in traveled routes - all higher than my rankings in NY!

I'm over 50,000 but you're 25 years younger so you should have no problem matching that if you desire.

[webny99]

I'm over 50,000 but you're 25 years younger so you should have no problem matching that if you desire.

That would be great, but is just too far off to think about in the short term.

I've enjoyed just setting smaller goals that fall into one of three general categories:

• Adding traveled and clinched routes in a specific region (mostly NY, but elsewhere as trips allow)
• Clinching all highways in a county (only NY so far)
• Reaching TM benchmarks (some examples include: 80% on NY interstates (achieved), 6000 logged miles in NY (not achieved), clinch 1/3 of NY state highway system (just achieved), surpass Oscar to reach 17th in mileage in NY (just achieved), reach 16th in traveled and clinched routes in NY (achieved for traveled routes, but not for clinched routes))

As of right now I have clinched all highways in eight counties, and have four additional counties on the long-term radar for possible completion (Cayuga, Niagara, Wyoming, and Schuyler) which could each be done with pair of ~4 hour trips or a single ~6 hour trip. I also have Potter County, PA, my nearest unvisited county, on the radar for a possible first-time visit which would require one ~4.5 hour trip.