October 12, 2021 - Amityville, NY, to Sears Bellows County Park, NY

Start: Amityville, NY
End: Sears Bellows County Park, NY
Miles: 63.9
Feet climbing per mile: 20
Records of the day's rides:
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/76932810
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/76945445

The plan for this three-day trip was to take the Long Island Railroad to Amityville and ride 62 miles east along the south shore of Long Island to Sears Bellows County Park, the next day to ride 84 miles to and from Montauk, and on the final day to ride back to Amityville to catch a train back to Manhattan. By taking the train between Manhattan and Amityville I would avoid riding through the most dense part of Queens with lots of traffic and stop lights.

At Penn Station (actually a terminal), just a few blocks from my home, I caught the 7:31 Long Island Railroad train. While on the train I noticed that each time before the train doors would close there would be a repeated high-pitched tone which sounded as if it were the 5th note of a major scale. I also noticed that while the train doors were opening or closing there would be a steady tone, not as high-pitched, which seemed to be the 5th note of the same major scale. I wondered why I heard these tones as the 5th note of the scale, given that no scale seemed to have been previously established. Then I noticed that before each announcement of the next station there would be two tones, the 3rd note of the major scale followed by the 1st note of the scale. Furthermore I noticed that as the train started to move, there would be a long upwared-sliding tone that would stop on the 1st note of the scale. So I realized that the tones were all taken from a major triad (maybe C, E, G). I wonder who is responsible for that pleasing sonic design. I think it would be quite a different experience riding the train if the tones were other than what they are. For example, if I think it would be quite unpleasant if the three notes of a minor triad (C, E-flat, G), rather than a major triad, were used. An even worse experience would be created by the use of a diminished triad (C, E-flat, G-flat).

My train arrived in Amityville shortly after 8:30. After using the bathroom in the Seafield Training Center, which I later learned offers help with recovery from drug addiction, I was on my way at 8:45. It was cloudy and in the mid 60s as I began to ride, and it would stay that way for a few hours. Less than an hour into my ride I noticed that my battery was losing charge quickly, despite being connected to an external battery. I thought that maybe the cable was the culprit, so I replaced the one I had been using with a brand new one. That seemed to have solved the problem.

As I was riding parallel to the tracks of the Long Island Railroad I was disappointed that I was still riding through suburban areas, and that maybe on my return ride I would catch a train farther out. About an hour and a quarter (15 miles) into my ride I was happy to be riding on the beautiful country road shown in the picture below.

Montauk Highway

I stopped at the Starbucks in Sayville about 20 miles into my ride for a hot chocolate and a brownie. About 27 miles into my ride I saw the water fowl in the picture below on Mud Creek. I would see many more of these birds later in the day. If you know what species they are, please tell me in the comment section below.

I saw a horse about 38 miles into my ride but could not get him to pose properly. 

When the sun came out about three and a half hours (40 miles) into my ride I noticed that my mood immediately improved. I soon stopped to enjoy my favorite biking beverage.

After posting an intended route for this ride on Facebook, Michael Alcamo, one of my ardent readers, suggested I alter my route in order to include the barrier island. I followed his suggestion and at mile 51 had the following view as I crossed the Post Lane bridge to the island. 

Looking northeast up the Quoge Canal

Just a mile and a half after entering the barrier island I came across a sign saying ROAD FLOODED. I knew that the bridge I planned to ride off the island was almost six miles away, so that if the road were closed near that bridge I would have quite a distance to backtrack. But we hadn't recently had a lot of rain so I decided to take a chance and continue forward.

Eventually I did come to a low spot in the road that was covered across its full width and for a length of 20 or 30 feet by a few inches of water. I carefully rode through the water without any trouble. I regret that I didn't take a picture.

I wrote above that I would later see many of the same type of bird I had seen on Mud Creek. There were dozens of them on the barrier island, but whenever I got close to take a picture they would disperse. Again, if you know the species of these birds please leave a comment.

While riding the barrier island I had a sense of being close to the Atlantic Ocean despite any view of it usually blocked by the dunes, private homes, or resorts. At Hot Dog Beach I walked onto the sand but did not put my feet in the water.

As I left the barrier island by crossing Ponquoge Bridge, I saw men fishing in Shinnecock Bay.

Looking northeast from Ponquoge Bridge

Shortly before arriving at my destination I stopped at two restaurants to learn whether I would be able to bring my bike inside if I returned for dinner. At the first restaurant the best I was offered was hiding my biking behind some bushes. At the second restaurant I was told I could put my bike in an area accessible only to employees. At Slo-Jack's Drive-In, which offered outdoor seating at picnic tables, I was told by two men who were eating there that the food was good if you like greasy hamburgers. Can you guess where I had dinner that night?

I arrived at Sears Bellows County Park at 3:45 and was told at the office that I could camp without charge in the bike hostel section for one night, and that I didn't need to register. When I asked for a map of the campground I was told to take a picture of the one in the window. Strange, right? Every other campground I've visited has offered a paper map to take with me.

Contrary to what the map showed, I was told the bike hostel area was up the road and to the right, not the left. I saw a sign for the bike hostel and pitched my tent.

In what I thought was the bike hostel area there was a camper with two bikes near it. I met the owner of the camper and asked her how strict they were about the one-night restriction. Enid told me I could probably stay two nights in the bike hostel, just as I had been told a week or so earlier by an employee of the campground, but that she was not in the bike hostel and neither was I. She told me she was parked on a trailer site and that I had pitched my tent on the trailer site next to hers. The bike hostel was the other site adjacent to mine. Enid said that I could probably get away with staying where I was for two nights, but suggested I move my tent onto her site so that I would be guaranteed to not have to pay. A additional advantage of such a move would be that she could watch my tent while I was away the next day on my ride to and from Montauk. I accepted Enid's gracious offer and moved my tent onto her site.

I showered, shaved, and dressed in my off-bike clothes. By the time I was ready to leave for dinner it was 6:30. Sunset had been at 6:16, so it was already getting dark. I decided to eat at Slo-Jack's, which was just a mile away. I enjoyed my half-pound hamburger with fries and a pint of chili. I took the picture below as I arrived back at the campground at 7:45.

Looking back on the day my impression was that the first 40 miles (almost two thirds) of the ride had been through suburban, and therefore uninteresting, areas. The roads usually had excellent surfaces and adequate-to-generous shoulders, although riding through a few towns I had to take the lane. As I had expected, there was little climbing and no steep climbing. I never had to walk a hill and never even needed to use my small chainring, so the lowest gear I used was 48/24 (i.e., 48-tooth chainring with a 24-tooth cog).

Knowing that the temperature would get down to 60, I brought with me the sleeping bag I had bought earlier this year and had never used, rather than the heavy-duty sleeping-bag liner I've used in place of a sleeping bag. At first it seemed that I would have been comfortable with the liner instead of the sleeping bag, but as the temperature dropped I was glad for the sleeping bag. I found that the sleeping bag would easily slide on my air mattress, so in the middle of the night I put my silk sleeping-bag liner around the air mattress in order to minimize the sliding.

Next day: Sears Bellows County Park, NY, to Montauk Point, NY, and Return

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