November 9, 2020 - New Paltz, NY, to Ashokan Reservoir, and return

Start and end: New Paltz, NY
Turnaround: Boiceville, NY
Miles: 63.2
Feet climbing per mile: 68
Record of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/58862582

On the second day of this three-day trip I was up at 6:55, five minutes before my alarm. I was looking forward to my ride to and from the Ashokan Reservoir, which would be 60 miles if I were to ride around half the reservoir, or 80 miles if I were to ride around the entire reservoir. I waited until the temperature reached 45 and was out the door at 8:20. Over my short-sleeve shirt I wore a long-sleeve wool shirt and a windbreaker, along with shorts. It was cold, but I knew it would soon warm up.

The Ashokan Reservoir looking northeast from near the southern entrance to the Reservoir Road bridge

To avoid the traffic on Main Street I rode the Hudson Valley Rail Trail which runs along Main to a pharmacy near my motel. (That's the same rail trail I rode across the Hudson two months ago. I wrote about that trip here.) After buying magnesium to prevent any more cramps, I was soon out of New Paltz, enjoying the beautiful roads and scenery. By 9:30 the temperature had risen to 53 so I removed my windbreaker. Shortly before 10:00 I saw some cows and stopped to moo them. Often that gets their attention, but not so much this time.

Arriving at the reservoir about 10:40, I was disappointed to see that the walkway along it was closed for construction. I had planned to ride the walkway to the bridge which crosses the reservoir, so I found another route to the bridge. What a spectacular place the reservoir is!

The southern entrance to the Reservoir Road bridge

Reservoir Road bridge

The pictures I took from the bridge didn't seem to capture the grandeur of the reservoir as well as the video below does.

After crossing the bridge I headed to Boiceville where I knew there was a Bread Alone Bakery where I could get something to eat. By 11:15 the temperature had risen to 63 so I removed my long-sleeve wool shirt. Arriving at Bread Alone, I was pleasantly surprised to see picnic tables where I would enjoy my chocolate milk and chocolate croissant with chickens for company. They were neither afraid of me nor aggressive toward me, but waited patiently for any crumbs that might fall on the ground.

I left Bread Alone at 12:30, having decided to forgo riding all the way around the reservoir so that I could visit my friends Tom and Carol in High Falls and be back at my motel by sunset (4:45) or shortly thereafter.

In Cottekill I stopped at the Big E's convenience store I had seen on my way to the reservoir and enjoyed my favorite biking beverage, Mountain Dew.

Big E's

I was happy to visit for an hour with Tom and Carol and to see their home in High Falls for the first time. Of course we wore masks and practiced social distancing. My ride from their place to my motel would involve a steep climb up Mohonk Mountain followed by a steeper descent. Tom told me that he had recently gone 45 miles per hour down the descent, but advised me to take it easy because of the sharp curves. I walked the final half mile of the two-mile climb as the grade became too steep for me to ride in my lowest gear of 34/28. While I was walking, another cyclist passed me and I called out, "Who goes up gets to come down!", to which he replied, "That's my motto." He also advised me to watch out for the sharp curves on the descent. I kept the map of my route visible on my phone so that I could see the shape of the road ahead. When I saw that I was on a long straight section I went all out and set a personal speed record of 43 miles per hour. It was exciting!

Who goes up gets to come down!

It was getting dark when I arrived in New Paltz at 4:30 and I was tired, so to avoid the traffic on Main Street I rode a half mile north on a bumpy trail in order to connect with a road running parallel to Main that has a bike lane that connects to the rail trail I had taken in the morning from my motel to the pharmacy. The alternate route added a mile to what would otherwise have been a mile. It was dark when I arrived just before 5:00. I think it would have been better to take Main Street all the way rather than the alternate route.

As I was about to take a shower I discovered that I had developed a nasty saddle sore on the front of my left sit bone from which a layer of skin about the size of a dime peeled off. I thought that maybe I had moved my saddle too far forward to compensate for the extra height from the new seat post clamp (I wrote about that yesterday), so later I moved the saddle backward. I put some Aquaphor on the pad of a band-aid which I used to cover the wound.

For dinner I walked a mile to Pasquale's. I started with a bowl of their Italian wedding soup and followed it with a grilled ribeye steak accompanied by an enormous portion of broccoli rabe. Everything was delicious, including the bread rolls. I asked my waitress to bag the one I didn't eat so I could bring it home to New York, and she gave me an extra. I was full and didn't think I could handle more than a small dessert. I wisely forwent ordering a cannoli when my waitress told me how big it was.

After returning from dinner I packed for my return trip and watched the continuing election coverage on both CNN and Fox News. I looked forward to my ride home but wondered how riding with the broken skin of the saddle sore would feel.

Read about the first day of this trip here.
Read about the third day of this trip here.