October 13, 2021 - Sears Bellows County Park, NY, to Montauk Point, NY, and Return

Start and end: Sears Bellows County Park, NY
Turnaround: Montauk Point, NY
Miles: 89.8
Feet climbing per mile: 33
Records of the day's rides:
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/76991927
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/76999461

I woke at 6:30 and went back to sleep thinking I would get up in an hour. I surprised myself by sleeping until 9:00. The plan for the day was to ride to and from Montauk Point.

I put my contact lenses in my eyes at my campsite without a mirror, which I had sometimes done on my 4,500-mile trip in 2019. I felt chilled so I packed my gear and rode to the comfort station where I had a shower. I soon realized there was a problem with my left contact lens. I wasn't sure whether it had slipped up under my eyelid or had fallen out. I spent at least half an hour before determining that it was the latter. I used the lousy mirror in the bathroom to insert the extra new lens that I was carrying. As I recently wrote in Aphorisms and Exhortations, redundancy is my friend. I finally started for Montauk at 10:00, which seemed rather later given I was looking at an 84-mile day. Twelve miles into my ride I saw a wind mill which I later learned was the Corwith Wind Mill.

Corwith Wind Mill

Five and a half miles later I came upon an unusual structure created by Robert Mojo, Tipping Point XIX, which wasn't moving until I gave the smaller silver sphere a push.

About 23 miles into my ride I encountered another wind mill, the Hook Wind Mill.

Hook Wind Mill

After riding almost 24 miles it was time to stop to enjoy a beverage. Mountain Dew was not available so I had a Boylan root beer.

When I was three miles from Montauk Point I saw a sign that said DEAD END. I assumed it was there because the road would loop around and return to this same location, so I continued ahead.

A mile and a quarter later I discovered that I had been mistaken about the DEAD END sign. My mistake meant my trip for the day would be two and one half miles longer than if I had taken the sign seriously. But how much of an adventure can it be if everything goes according to plan? As I was backtracking I saw a man and a woman heading toward the dead end. As we passed each other I called out, "Do you know it's a dead end?", but they continued without responding. I thought that maybe they lived in the neighborhood.

After a few miles I reached the Montauk Lighthouse. There I again encountered the couple I had passed near the dead end. Nathan told me he had continued on the trail while Kathryn backtracked and took the other road approaching the lighthouse as I had done. Nathan said the trail would not have been ok for my bike with its narrow (25mm) tires but was ok for his bike with wider tires.

Montauk Lighthouse

I continued a short distance to George's Lighthouse Cafe where I enjoyed another root beer. Inexplicably they had no Mountain Dew.

At George's Lighthouse Cafe with the Atlantic Ocean in the background

After finishing my root beer I took the footpath to the beach where I removed my shoes and socks and put my feet in the water. As you can see in the video, the beach was as rocky as the one I visited on the north shore in September.

For my return I had planned two sections of a few miles each that would be different from how I rode on the way out and would add some climbing. I considered returning the way I had come out but decided instead to follow Rober Frost's example and ride the road less travelled. I'm glad I did. The first section ran through the beautiful Hither Hills State Park, and the second section ran through the peaceful Napeague State Park. I wonder what the building shown below is that I saw on Napeague Meadow Road. Is it on stilts to keep it above the water during floods? The picture I took reminds me of the painting Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth. It just needs a woman on the ground and looking toward the building.

Seen from Napeague Meadow Road

Napeague Meadow Road

I stopped at Carvel for two scoops of chocolate ice cream 73 miles into my trip. Three miles later I passed the Parrish Art Museum. Is Bob Marley's influence expressed on its exterior wall?

Parrish Art Museum

Just four miles from the campground I saw the view of Shinnecock Bay shown in the video below. Notice how dark it was at 6:00, about 15 minutes before sunset.

Shortly before arriving at the campground I stopped at Salvatore's of the Hamptons where I was told I could bring my bike inside where it would be safe. I said that I would be back. I arrived at my campsite at 6:30 and after a shave, shower, and change of clothes, I returned to Salvatore's at 8:00. As I've written in Aphorisms and Exhortations, everything takes longer when camping.

I parked my bike inside next to an outlet to which I connected my two lights and two external batteries to recharge during dinner. I had been planning to have a New York strip steak for $32, but the menu my waitress brought me announced a Wednesday special of a half-pound hamburger with fries for just $11.99. To the hamburger I added mushrooms, red and yellow peppers, and mozzarella for another $3. I started with a Caesar salad made with shaved parmesan, and finished the dinner with three cannoli drizzled with chocolate.

I prefer not to ride on highways after dark, but it's almost unavoidable with sunset at 6:15. Fortunately Salvatore's was only a mile and a half from the campground and there was no significant traffic. I was back at my campsite at 9:45.

The roads I had ridden to and from Montauk Point had excellent surfaces and shoulders even more generous than the day before. Often the shoulders were as wide as a regular lane and marked as a bike lane. There was more climbing and steeper climbing than the day before, but again I never needed to walk and never needed my small chainring. The weather had been sunny and in the 60s all day long.

My lights and batteries had not fully recharged during dinner, so I spent some time in the comfort station for additional charging. I turned in at 11:30, looking forward to a return trip with beautiful weather.

This night and the previous night the campground was almost empty. In contrast to the first night of my stay at Wildwood State Park the previous month, I heard no noise from any campers. However the previous night the trucks from the nearby Sunrise Highway (NY-27) almost drowned out the sounds of the wildlife. This night the trucks were much quieter.

Previous day: Amityville, NY, to Sears Bellows County Park, NY
Next day: Sears Bellows County Park, NY, to Amityville, NY

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