November 18, 2021 - Hillsdale, NY, to Brewster, NY

Start: Hillsdale, NY
End: Brewster, NY
Miles: 71.8
Feet climbing per mile: 61
Record of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/78744108

Have gone to sleep the night before at 10:30, I was up at 6:30 and on the road at 7:00 with the intention of arriving at my motel by sunset at 4:30, maybe even by 3:30. Eight and one half hours ought to be enough time to ride 73 miles, right?

An hour into my ride I saw the building in the picture below. What a great fixer-upper! Who would like a cabin in the woods?

Twelve miles into my ride I saw some chickens and turkeys. Several turkeys, but none of the chickens, came to greet me. One week before Thanksgiving, do you think they were saying, "Please don't eat us!"?

I saw the structure below in the Buttercup Farm Audubon Sanctuary. What do you think it is? Please post your answers in the comments below this post.

For much of the 16 miles I was on Route 82 there were substantial headwinds and the surface was rough. The traffic was substantial and many of the cars did not have their lights on. Because of the headwinds I was unable to hear the cars behind me, and because of the non-use of headlights it was difficult to see the cars behind me whose dark colors blended with the grey of the pavement. I would have done better to have taken backroads rather than 82 (but then I would have not seen the structure in the picture above and the photograph of The Three Graces below).

Three hours (30 miles) into my ride I stopped at Peyo's Cafe for a hot chocolate and a flan cake.

In the bathroom I saw a photograph featuring a modern (mid 20th Century) version of The Three Graces.

The Three Graces

Deviations from my route are usually detours adding distance to my ride, but I saw, just before mile 41, that I could take the short cut shown in the map below.

Six hours into my ride (51 miles) I stopped at Beekman Square Diner. Who said one shouldn't have dessert in the afternoon?

Death by Chocolate

While on Old Route 55 I saw the Whaley Lake Stream to my right.

After leaving Old Route 55 and entering Route 292, 55 miles into my ride, I saw a rail trail with an excellent surface that I thought might help me avoid traffic and maybe shorten my ride. I spoke with a cyclist who was resting alongside the trail about where I might exit the trail in order to get to my destination. He thought the trail had an intersection with Route 312, but the appearance of my map suggested that the trail went over 312. After talking to the cyclist for 15 minutes I decided to take the Maybrook Trailway and determine my exit later.

Maybrook Trailway

After riding the trail for four and one half miles I saw two cyclists at a rest stop on the trail. Neither of them was sure whether I could exit at 312 or where could exit that would be useful. After speaking with one of them for 15 minutes I realized that I could leave the trail where I was and get back on my planned route. Maybe there would be a better place to exit but I didn't know where so I left the trail. I had spent 30 minutes talking to cyclists about where to exit the trail, so any time advantage I got from riding it four and one half miles was much less than the time in conversation.

At mile 63, as I was turning left from Route 311 onto Route 164, I was startled to see a car on 311 rapidly approaching and about to broadside me. Fortunately my adrenaline kicked in and got me clear of the danger. I don't know whether the driver saw me and slowed down. I had thought that my left turn would be safe, so how did I come to put myself in harm's way?

Left turn from 311 onto 164

The picture below, taken from Google Street View, is from my point of view just before I turned left. Clearly the main road curves right and there is no reason to expect oncoming traffic to stop. How did I not see that and turn left without checking for oncoming traffic? I had probably just glanced at my phone which appeared as in the picture above (except that the red line and blue dot would not have been into the intersection). Had I concluded, based on the blue line of my route, that the main road curved left? My cue sheet shows that just before reaching the intersection I heard "Slight left toward NY-164 E". Perhaps hearing that instruction I discounted the seriousness of the turn. Would I have acted differently if I had heard "Turn left toward NY-164 E"? In any case after seeing the picture below I'm surprised that I didn't stop and check for oncoming traffic.

Intersection of 311 and 164

Shortly after my close call, while riding on Route 164, I passed under the rail trail. When I was eventually on Route 312 there would be a similar passage under the rail trail, as I had expected.

Route 164 under Maybrook Trailway

When I was planning my route I had a concern about Ice Pond Road. I decided to take Ice Pond Road despite my concerns. Some sections of it were rough but I was on it for only two miles.

The substantial traffic, minimal shoulder, and lousy surface made the 2.5 miles on Route 312 unpleasant. For the final two miles of my ride I was on Route 22 with heavy traffic, so I was glad for the generous shoulder and excellent surface. I had to cross 22 in order to get to my motel, and because of the heavy traffic I had to run when there was finally a gap. I arrived at Heidi's Inn at 4:30, just a few minutes before sunset. I had expected to arrive by 3:30, but somehow I used the entire hour of cushion I thought I had.

After my shower and shave I noticed that one of my off-bike socks had a hole in it, so I used my sewing kit to darn it. As I wrote in my blog post about my ride two days earlier, touring on a bike requires all sorts of skills.

I had dinner at Las Mañanitas, just a short walk from the motel. The black bean soup was one of the best I've ever had but the three (not one) enchiladas with three different sauces were as bland as could be. I noticed that the tip guide was based on the total including tax, a subtle way to deceive unsuspecting customers. The acoustics were dreadful making for a noisy environment.

I went to sleep at 10:30 so that I could get an early start for the final day of my trip.

Previous day: November 17, 2021 - Hillsdale, NY to Lenox, MA, and Return
Next day: November 19, 2021 - Brewster, NY, to New York, NY

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