September 29, 2023 - Lafayetteville, NY, to New Hamburg, NY

Start: Lafayetteville, NY
End: New Hamburg, NY
Miles: 35.6
Feet climbing per mile: 48
Record of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/136028139

After I woke up I watched the news and saw images of flooding in New York City like those in the video below. I called Lori, my wife, and told her I was considering spending another night in the motel and returning home the next day. She told me things were not so bad in our neighborhood. The Metro North website said that trains were running but behind schedule 20 to 30 minutes. I decided to not delay my return.

My original plan for the third day of this trip was to ride 64 miles from Lake Taghkanic State Park to Cold Spring where I would catch a train home. From the motel riding to Cold Spring would have been 49 miles. I didn't want to ride that far, both because of the rain and because I would delay my departure as long as possible in order for the temperature to increase. So I used the RideWithGPS app on my iPhone to create a route from my motel to the Poughkeepsie train station just 25 miles away. I found the Golden Russet Cafe about 8 miles along the route and the Country Corners Deli about 10 miles later. I called both of them and was told they were open, so I knew I would have two places to stop and get out of the rain.

Besides creating a route to Poughkeepsie I also created a 35-mile route to New Hamburg in case I wanted to add ten miles to my ride. The route to New Hamburg deviated from the route to Poughkeepsie at mile 22, at which point I would decide how to complete my ride.

Because it was raining heavily and would continue to do so, I knew that I would need to keep my phone inside my handlebar bag rather than on the mount on my handlebar. I also knew that because of the rain it would be difficult to use the touch screen of the phone. I thought that maybe Siri could operate the RideWithGPS app but I quickly learned that it could not. I decided to keep my phone inside the orange sock I use to store my windbreaker in order to minimize the water I would transfer from my hands to the screen.

At 10:00 the temperature was about 50 and forecast to increase gradually into the mid 50s over the next few hours. Checkout was at 11:00 but Donna, the owner of the motel, told me I could stay until noon.

I wore tights, two long-sleeve wool shirts, and a windbreaker. The windbreaker is waterproof and the tights absorb little water, so despite the heavy rain I would never feel drenched throughout the day, and despite the temperature being in the mid 50s I would never feel cold. After returning the key and saying goodbye to Donna, I was on my way at 12:20. It was raining heavily and the temperature was 52.

After riding a mile on 199 I found myself on a beautiful backroad with an excellent surface, lots of trees, almost no traffic, and few leaves on the road. Because of the rain I couldn't take a picture, so the image below from Google Street View will have to suffice.

Willow Brook Road

I stopped at the Golden Russet Cafe & Grocery at mile 7.9. Their only hot chocolate was Swiss Miss, and unlike Stewart's two days prior, they had no milk. I was surprised how good the hot chocolate was despite being made with water.

By the time I left the Golden Russet the temperature had risen to 55. It was still raining heavily but the forecast showed that the intensity of the rain would diminish over the next hour.

The backroads continued to be beautiful and I wished I could have stopped to take a picture. The image below is from Google Street View at mile 12.4.

Browning Road

Starting at mile 15.7 the traffic on Quaker Lane was heavy enough and the shoulder narrow enough (sometimes non-existent) that I often had to ride in the middle of the lane in order to prevent the cars approaching me from behind from buzz passing me. I was glad that I was fresh because it takes both nerve and alertness to do that safely.

About about mile 16.5 my eyes started burning, probably from the rain. At mile 18.6 I stopped at the Country Corners Deli & Pizzeria where I had a cup of Bigelow Classic Green Tea, the same tea I regularly enjoy at home.

The rain had been reduced to a drizzle by the time I left the Country Corners Deli, but the substantial traffic continued another three miles until I was again on back roads. At mile 22.2 I had to decide whether to take the Dutchess Rail Trail north to Poughkeepsie or south to New Hamburg. I was having a great time riding, even with the rain, so I decided to head to New Hamburg. It was 3:45 so I thought I could probably ride the remaining 17 miles in time to catch the 5:01 train.

The Dutchess Rail Trail was beautifully paved. I rode it for five miles and made good time doing so. After leaving the trail my route took me through a parking lot and then to the gate shown in the picture below. I was glad the gate was unlocked, but I would have easily found a detour around it if it had not been.

Three quarters of a mile after passing through the gate I encountered very heavy traffic on Red Oaks Mill Road. As I had done two days prior, I stopped to take a video of Wappinger Creek, which I think was now more turbulent due to the heavy rain.

At mile 28.6 I headed south on Vassar Road. This was a mistake. Vassar Road is part of 9D, which I had avoided two days prior following the suggestion of Michael Alcamo. It was rush hour and the traffic was heavy in both directions, and the shoulder was never generous. If I had remembered that I had avoided this section of 9D two days prior I could have taken New Hackensack Road (376) with its wider shoulder and probably lesser traffic. That change would have added just a few miles to my ride. Instead I rode 4.5 challenging miles on 9D.

I arrived at the New Hamburg train station one minute before the 5:01 train was scheduled to arrive. There was no information on the TrainTime app about when any of the trains would arrive, nor was there any such information on the signs at the station. I was happy when the 5:01 train arrived about 5:30.

Earlier in the day, as I was leaving the Country Corners Deli, I was attracted to a piece of chocolate cake which I bought to eat on the train home. On the train I had just a taste of the cake, deciding to save it for dessert that night. It was so rich that I ate only half of it for dessert, keeping the second half for dessert the next night.

The train arrived at Grand Central at about 7:15. It was past sunset and I was tired, so instead of riding home I took the S subway train from Grand Central to Times Square and then the 1 subway train to 28th Street. From there it was just a walk of a few blocks to my home, where I arrived at 7:50.

* * *

This trip was long overdue, being my first in three and one half months. I rode a total of 140.7 miles and climbed an average of 61 feet per mile. I never needed to walk any of the hills. Although this trip was three days long, due to the heavy rain on the third day which led to my leaving the campground the morning of the second day, it did not have the typical format of a three-day trip in which I spend two nights at the same place. Instead it felt somewhat like a two-day trip on which as soon as I arrive at my destination on the first day I'm thinking about returning home.

A few days before I left on this trip there was no rain forecast for the third day. By the time I left that had changed, although I don't remember how much rain was forecast. If I had known how much rain there would be I'm quite sure I would not have taken the trip this week. Nevertheless I'm glad I did, and in fact a highlight of the trip was my ride in the heavy rain.

The sleeping bag I bought in March of 2021 has a lower-limit of 40 and a comfort limit of 48. On a few trips, including on this one, the temperature has gone down to 40 at night. I now realize I'm no longer interested in camping when the temperature goes below 50, both because of the cold nights and because one of the main attractions of camping, swimming in a lake or pond, is eliminated.

Unless there is a stretch of a few days of unusually warm weather, this will be my last camping trip for the year. But there is certainly the possibility of one or more trips on which I would stay in a motel, although I have not planned any such trips.

A few of my trips have concluded with a short ride home from Grand Central, often (maybe always) in the dark with a substantial amount of traffic, and sometimes in the rain. This was the first time I thought to take the subway. Doing so takes longer than riding, but it felt luxurious to not have to deal with traffic in the dark. I will remember that for future trips.

On this trip I wrote alternate lyrics for one song and started alternate lyrics for another. I've created a new page, Alternate Lyrics, on which I have published my alternate lyrics. Check it out!

Previous day: September 28, 2023 - Lake Taghkanic State Park, NY, to Lafayetteville, NY

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