Friday's ride took us from Hyde Park to Garrison, NY, a distance of about 42 miles. The ride included 2 bridge crossings, the Mid-Hudson Bridge and the Newberg-Beacon Bridge, a couple of historic homes, a rugged climb up a mountain side for river views, and an off-route search for a waterfall we saw depicted in a painting in an art show. It was all good stuff and the day ended with a wonderful downhill run on a smooth, curvy road ending at the Garrison Market which was the ice cream stop for the day! I got to camp just as the dark clouds rolled in and I set up my tent as the thunder rumbled overhead. The heaven's opened up while I was in the showers, so instead of leaving the building where I showered, I sat in the reception area on a comfortable chair and talked with other riders. Dinner was served in the same building, so we left our "living room" chairs and headed to the cafeteria. By the time we finished our dinner the rain had stopped. I returned to my tent to discover everything inside the tent nice and dry-I love my tent! Another singer was booked to perform that evening, and because of the weather, she played in another building where there was a small gym. When I went in that building, I found an area outside of the gym where there were a bunch of comfy chairs and overhead lights. So I sat there and knit for an hour and a half and listened to the concert!
Saturday dawned with the skies starting to clear. Because we were headed to West Point for breakfast and a tour, a Revolutionary War re-enactor walked through our campsite playing his fife as we woke up and packed up. It was a nice way to start the day. Our 8 mile ride to West Point included crossing the Bear Mountain Bridge ( if you are keeping count, that is our 4th bridge). Our breakfast was served in the Thayer Hotel on the West Point campus and included white, linen table clothes, crystal and china! After breakfast we boarded 4 school buses and took a guided tour of that beautiful site. Our tour included the Revolutionary War site of Fort Putnam.
Upon our return to the Thayer Hotel, I had to make a choice. There was a 26 mile route to our camp in Nyack State Park or a 40 mile route, which included the road up Bear Mountain. I came to ride my bike so I choose the 40 mile route and worked really hard, but was rewarded with some beautiful scenery. The only disappointment with this route was when I started down one of the decents late in the route and the route made a turn onto a road that had been recently oiled and gravelled! Instead of enjoying a fast downhill ride, I feared for my life as I braked the whole way down around curve after curve. By the time I reached the bottom of the hill, I met up with another tour rider and we stood there trying to get some feeling back into our hands and laughed about our bad luck with those road conditions. Oh well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger! We encountered one more oil/graveled road, this time for a shorter stretch but on an uphill climb!
Our ride into NYC was awesome! The skies were clear and I was done riding before the temps really heated up. Our route went through some park high above the river and then dropped down so we could ride across the George Washington Bridge (number 5) and then along a bike path right next to the Hudson River, the longest stretch of flat riding for the whole trip (14 miles). The ride concluded at the South Street Seaport! I rode about 250 miles in the 6 days of the ride, met some wonderful people and saw many beautiful parts of New York State. It was a tour that I would recommend to other bikers.
After a bus ride back to sage College in Albany, I was reunited with my Beetle and I drove to Jenny Lake, arriving by 10 PM on Sunday and then drove home today. I stopped in Syracuse to see Corey in his apartment for this year and took him to lunch. It is good to be home and now I can start to think about our cruise. We leave on Friday!
So here are some photos from the bike ride. Enjoy! The photos are in a random order and I am too tired to rearrange them.
View on sunset boat tour, Rip Van Winkle Bridge
On the grounds of the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park.
At the FDR Home, Museum and Presidential Library.
Pretty flowers at one of the many gardens.
Inside the chapel at West Point.
View from Fort Putnam, West Point.
One lake on the Seven Lakes Drive.
Olana, home of artist Frederick Church.
Crossing the George Washington Bridge to NYC.
One of the new "waterfalls" in NYC.
Salmon Salad
Dinner with biking friends.
Hope all is well.
1 comment:
Sounds (and looks) like a fun ride!
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