The Red Hook Inn serves a nice breakfast. Unlike many B&Bs, it's a real breakfast, made to order! With plenty of food. Of course, they knew I was a cyclist, so maybe they poured it on . . . which is even better if that is true! So I had a reason to linger and enjoy not only the food but also the chef's company, the Mr. "other half of the business," Mr. "Chef" Nabil K. Ayoub. But one can only linger so long, and then one must part.
Pat, one of the hosts at The Red Hook Country Inn, seeing me off this morning.
And then it was out of town. But not straight out of town. The better route was first north, then east, and THEN south . . . to a nice quiet country road. I was now on one of the recommended routes I had researched and was enjoying the effort of that work!
The route out of town had me going first north and then east, even though my final destination was to the southwest! But once I turned south onto the chosen way, it was delightful riding.
It really was quite nice, but I almost missed my turn for Wurtemburg and had to backtrack a bit to recover it. But I knew almost immediately that I had missed it since otherwise the turn would have been onto nasty NY-9G, a very busy arterial! Nope, I'd rather not ride there, so would backtrack a bit and take the nice road, even if it leads to a cemetery!
The Wurtemburg Cemetery. I like cemeteries, especially if they're old ones.
But after Wurtemburg, I knew I had some climbing to do, mostly because I could see it coming. It was a bit steep and unpaved, which always makes it harder, but it did not last long. Not complaining, just sayin'.
My first dirt road of the day . . . and there were a few more to come, usually in short segments.
Of course, that always results in a nice descent and then some rolling terrain through very beautiful countryside that reminded me again of horse country in Virginia (Middleburg!).
A relatively common feature of the first 15 miles or so was the presence of these stone walls . . .
So I wandered on, on a not particularly straight path, through Hyde Park, home of Franklin D. Roosevelt and other rather upscale housing, and into the outer reaches of Poughkeepsie, where I stumbled onto some interesting grounds, the Hudson River State Hospital. Closed for business, it seems. And while I biked near them, I was never on them (meaning the grounds). Further research provided some interesting background and the proximity of Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel, which, apparently at one time, had a house for pilgrims.
An old abandoned building near the Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel, but also near the rather infamous, and also abandoned, Hudson River State Hospital. Over the door it says "Pilgrim Home."
The Walkway over the Hudson Trail, I was told, used to make you walk your bike! But those rules have been relaxed, and the railroad bridges have been improved for cyclists. These are nice handrails!
But the real improvement is the decking over the original railroad bridge. This is a view, up on the bridge, looking west. The crossing is over a mile long.
And on the far side, a plaque commemorating the construction of the original bridge. Get a load of that falsework! Unfortunately, the approaches to the crossing do not afford you this spectacular view of the bridge.
If you want to head south from the Walkway over the Hudson, the Hudson Valley Rail Trail is the way, if not the only way, to go! The alternative is US-9W (ugh) or US-44 (also an ugh but maybe lesser so). But the rail trail doesn't fully wrap around Illinois Mountain Park, and after about four miles, near Lloyd, NY, I jumped onto local, but very quiet, roads and turned south.
I followed the Hudson Valley Rail Trail for about four miles through some nice rock cuts.
The trail is a real pleasant ride, with nice rock cuts, bathroom facilities along the way, and shade! And, of course, being a rail trail, it has an easy grade no matter the direction. The local roads were a different story, however, full of rolling terrain and a surprising number of vineyards. So basically, more terrain similar to the early part of the day's ride up to the river crossing. But it was pleasant as well, with my only "challenge" being finding suitable lodging, close to a restaurant, and far enough south that I would be within striking distance of New York City tomorrow. Hence my travels to New Windsor, NY.
The next 15 miles were through rolling countryside with plenty of orchards, wineries . . .
And then I stumbled onto the Balmville Tree, the oldest cottonwood tree in the United States . . . but unfortunately, after 300 some-odd years, now dead!
Well, I had never heard of the Balmville Tree before, so that was a pleasant discovery (requiring some research). And in retrospect, I probably should have stayed in Newburgh, although there were limited choices there as well. But I would have been closer to a restaurant! As it was, I chose a passable place, but not as close to West Point as I would have preferred. The place I wanted, the Cadet Motel, was, amazingly, booked solid when I finally went to make the reservation. So I had a longish — and nasty — walk down US-9W to Avocado, a Tex-Mex place next door to my "full" first choice. And given the hour of my return, I decided to take an Uber back. Better safe than the alternative.
Tomorrow comes the real work. Today I climbed 3200 feet, although the predicted was 2400 feet. Tomorrow, the predicted is closer to 4100 feet over about 63 miles. We will see. Those elevation numbers are only approximations, but I use them as a rough guide for the effort . . .
Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km) Total: 1,383 miles (2,226 km)
