Some of the oldest houses of Staten Island will be seen on this ride. We will visit the old towns of Rossville and Kreischerville. The mansion of Charles Kreischer, one of the three built there, still stands. (One day it's said that it will become a bed and breakfast) Three mansions were built by Balthasar Kreischer. One for himself and one each for his sons Charles and Edward. Balthasar was the founder of the New York Fire-Brick and Staten Island Clay Retort works. After the terrible Manhattan fires of 1835 and 1845, the fire codes were changed so that structures of brick were valued. Balthasar immigrated from Germany in 1836 and opened a brick factory on the Lower East Side. And started making big money.  In 1854 he moved to Staten Island to take advantage of the clay deposits in the area now pockmarked by the mining operations, currently named Clay Pit Ponds Park. One of his family employee's Nicholas Killmeyer found the clay deposits and was rewarded with a grocery store, then a building which was turned into an Inn and then a bar/restaurant that still stands. And that's where we will eat lunch, Killmeyer's Old Bavaria Inn.  We will visit landmarked and unland marked structures of Kreischerville. The town founded for the fellow German immigrant workers of the Brick works. Join me for some history. We will ride at a moderate pace. The distance is scheduled to be 36.2 miles. The elevation is 1139 feet with a gradient up to 3.8%. Meet me on the steps of the Staten Island Borough Hall at 10:30 am. Please take the10 am ferry from Manhattan. Wentworth Price has agreed to co-lead this ride and meet everyone at 10 am at the Ferry in Manhattan, however, there is a small chance that he will be delayed in which case, John Kolenda has agreed to co-lead.

Yesterday, I had a chance to look over the route and found some milled roads. So I have modified the route to go around those roads. If anyone would like a cue sheet please open the ridewithgps route and click on the tab "more". Select "print map and cue pdf" . You can then print the cue sheet without the map if you choose. However, there are many turns on this cue sheet and we will make sure that we are riding together. Also, we will plan to lunch at Killmeyer's Old Bavaria Inn (https://killmeyers.com/lunch/) where we can order from goulash to sauerbraten

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42476134

IMPORTANT NOTICE: YOU MUST HAVE AND WEAR A MASK WHEN NECESSARY ON ALL 5BBC RIDES AS INDICATED BY THE RIDE LEADER. THIS RIDE HAS THE POSSIBILITY OF SPENDING SOME PERIOD OF TIME INDOORS. IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE AND JOIN ANY INDOOR ACTIVITY, YOU MUST BE MASKED, VACCINATED AND BRING PROOF OF VACCINATION. ADDITIONALLY, THE 5BBC MAKES NO REPRESENTATION AS TO THE VACCINATION STATUS OF ANYONE ON THE RIDE OR ENGAGED IN ANY ACTIVITY, INDOOR OR OUT. THE RISK INVOLVED IN ANY ACTIVITY ON THE RIDE IS ASSUMED BY EACH INDIVIDUAL RIDER.