September 28, 2023 - Lake Taghkanic State Park, NY, to Lafayetteville, NY
End: Lafayetteville, NY
Miles: 38.2
Feet climbing per mile: 71
Record of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/135935538
In my previous blog post I mentioned the cold and being disturbed by a critter as reasons why I didn't sleep very well. Another reason was that when I set up my tent I was unable to find any level ground. So I set up my tent with my head pointing down a slope to my feet. As a result my air mattress tended to slide down and I tended to slide down on the air mattress.
After dropping down to 40 during the night it was still cold in the morning so I stayed in my tent until almost 9:00. When I got up I was pleased that no critter had gotten to my things hanging from the branch of a tree.
I also noticed a line hanging from the branch of another tree. I presume that line had been used to keep food and other items away from critters, and that the person who used it left it behind for others to use.
The large rock in the picture below is not the rock I used to drive my stakes into the ground.
Rather I put it next to the stake I couldn't drive all the way down so that I would not trip on the stake.
By 10:15 I had made a reservation to stay at Jenny's Country Manor Lodge that night. I spent the morning leisurely packing up my gear and planning a route to Jenny's. Rather than riding directly to Jenny's, which would have been only 14 miles, I planned a route of 38 miles and another of 43 miles.
As I checked the pressure in my tires before departing from my campsite I discovered that the air gauge on my air pump was not working, displaying only 0 psi. After returning home I reset the gauge according to the directions in the manual and the gauge worked again.
I left my campsite at 12:20, by which time the temperature had risen to 62, allowing me to wear a short-sleeve t-shirt and my shorts. At mile 0.8 I decided to follow the shorter of the routes I had created, heading south on 82 rather than north.
It was sunny and warm and I was riding beautiful country roads. Does it get better than that?
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| New Forge Road |
At mile 14.0, where my route crossed the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, I spoke with a couple who were riding the trail. They told me it went to Millerton (and beyond), where my route would take me, and that the scenery along the trail was beautiful. Although the surface of the trail was beautiful, I told them I was going to continue on my route. As I did so I wrote the following alternate lyrics for Loch Lomond (click the link to hear a gorgeous rendition of the song):
Oh you take the flat road and I’ll take the hilly road
And you might arrive before me
But I’ll get to climb and also descend
And I’ll have more fun my way
At mile 19.7 I stopped to appreciate Rudd Pond.
Of course I refreshed myself by putting my feet in the water.
As I turned onto Main Street in Millerton I immediately realized I had been there before and I headed straight to Irving Farm New York where I had stopped on my ride described in November 16, 2021 - Danbury, CT, to Hillsdale, NY. I enjoyed a hot chocolate and a slice of pumpkin bread.
I arrived at Jenny's at 4:40. I was glad I had chosen the shorter of my two routes. If I had taken the longer route I wouldn't have arrived at Jenny's until 5:00 or later.
Jenny's BBQ, mentioned on the sign in the picture above, was closed. I started my 2-mile walk to Cider Bros Roadhouse at 5:00. I decided to walk rather than to ride for three reasons:
- It's a luxury to walk to dinner after riding for several hours (my newest entry in Aphorisms and Exhortations)
- There's only a minimal shoulder and the traffic is rather heavy on 199 between Jenny's and Cider Bros Roadhouse
- If I had ridden it would have been dark for my return to Jenny's
On the way to Cider Bros Roadhouse I saw the beautiful rock formation shown in the picture below.
When I found Cider Bros Roadhouse in the middle of the previous night, I saw smoked brisket on their menu. I was pleased when my waitress said it was available. I normally don't take pictures of my dinners, but this time I made an exception for this outstanding dish which followed a Caesar salad.
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| Smoked brisket with baked beans and mac & cheese |
I walked against traffic while going to and from Cider Bros Roadhouse. While walking to Cider Bros Roadhouse I experimented with walking close to the white line as the cars started to approach me and then moving away from the white line as they came closer. I noticed that many, maybe most, of the cars would move towards the other lane until their wheels touched the center line. I had the impression that the cars did not move that way as often if I always stayed farther away from the white line, but my sample was rather small. While returning in the dark from Cider Bros Roadhouse I performed the same experiment. It seemed that the cars did not often move toward the center line. If those patterns are what they seemed to be I wonder why. If you have ideas about that, please write them in a comment below this blog post (and be sure to identify yourself).
In case you were wondering, I did not walk along the road in the dark without any light. When a car started to approach me I would flash my Molly light (see Miniature Flashlights in Gear Update - November 13, 2021 to learn why I call it a Molly light) three or so times, and as the car came closer I kept the light on and swept it across my face several times.
I had some minor leg cramps in the middle of the night, but nothing serious. I think my increased consumption of water, and the electrolyte I've been adding to one bottle of water each day, have been effective in almost completely eliminating leg cramps.
Previous day: September 27, 2023 - Cold Spring, NY, to Lake Taghkanic State Park, NY
Next day: September 29, 2023 - Lafayetteville, NY, to New Hamburg, NY
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