September 9, 2021 - Wildwood State Park, NY, to Huntington, NY

Start: Wildwood State Park, NY
End: Huntington, NY
Miles: 49.3
Feet climbing per mile: 59
Records of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/74928472

Although there was rain through the night, the storm never became as strong as was suggested by the Weather Alert, so I did not need to leave my tent and shelter in a bathroom. I suspect the Weather Alert is distributed whenever there is any chance of a storm.

It was not raining just before 7:00 in the morning and the Dark Sky app showed that there wouldn't be rain for the next 25 minutes. I packed my gear in 32 minutes. If I had started packing inside my tent a little earlier I could have completed the packing before the rain began.

After packing my gear I headed to the comfort station to shower and to recharge my electronics. I started on my trip home in light rain at 8:50. I was done packing about 7:30 so why did I not leave until 8:50? As one of my new aphorisms says, everything takes longer when camping.

Due to the roads being wet the sand and gravel on them was more treacherous than usual. A few times I walked a short distance in order to avoid a crash while riding on the debris.

At 16.4 miles into my ride I stopped in Port Jefferson at The Steam Room where I ordered a large bowl of seafood bisque. It was so good I had a second bowl.

The light rain continued throughout the day and the temperature stayed about 70 degrees, so I was comfortable although always wet. I kept the clear rain cover on my phone to keep it dry. I didn't stop to take any pictures along the road because my phone is impossible to operate reliably when the cover is wet, and I didn't want to risk having the map from the RideWithGPS app I use for navigation disappear and be unable to bring it back.

In Northport, 39 miles into my ride, I stopped at Southdown Coffee and enjoyed a hot chocolate and a pice of banana bread. While I was there I decided to shorten my ride and catch a train at Huntington. I used google maps to create a route for what I thought would be 7.7 miles to the station.

Southdown Coffee did not have a public restroom, so I went next door to Harbor House and asked for the favor of using theirs. My request was graciously accommodated by Kerry.

I would have made arrived at the Huntington Station in time to catch the 3:24 train to Manhattan, but I had gone to the wrong location. Google maps showed two locations: the correct one, and another one about a mile and a quarter south on New York Avenue. In order to avoid the traffic on that busy avenue I zig-zagged two and a quarter miles through the neighborhood on my way to the actual location. I arrived at the station about 3:35 and caught the 4:05 which arrived at Penn Station about 5:15. After a four-minute ride I arrived home shortly after 5:30. The rain had finally stopped.

Watch the video below to hear the theme song for the day.

It would be easy for me to blame google maps for my going to the wrong location for the Huntington station, but that would be a mistake. I had seen that two locations were offered, but I never determined which one was correct. I neglected to apply my Zero Tolerance for Anomalies policy which you can read in Aphorisms and Exhortations. Nevertheless, after returning home I sent feedback to google saying that the location farther south was incorrect. It appears that they have removed the false information.

On this three-day trip I rode a total of 210 miles and averaged 49 feet of climbing per mile. I was generally pleased with my routes, although there were sections with traffic heavier than I would like that I would avoid if I were to make the trip again. The scenery was beautiful and the climbing on the first and third days was challenging (I consider that a good thing.). It was a pleasure to camp again for the first time in two years, and the extra four pounds of camping gear did not feel like a burden.

Since October of 2020 I've taken a multi-day trip every month except February of 2021 (I was recovering from my second COVID shot when I had planned to go) and August of 2021 (I couldn't work a trip into my schedule). With the exception of the four-day trip in July of 2021, all of the trips were three days. I've made ten trips in twelve months, for a total of more than 2000 miles. The map below shows all ten trips, with one color for each trip.

Ten trips in twelve months

I love the format of a three-day trip and plan to continue taking one every month I can, even through the coming winter. I've already started planning my trip for October. Can you guess where it might be? Please put your guess, or suggestions, in the comments.

Previous day: Wildwood State Park, NY, to Orient Point, NY, and Return

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