Omaha to NYC Day 40
Animated map: https://www.relive.com/view/vMv8zgmDkN6
I woke up at 6:00, before Kisho, in our fancy, old inn. I wrote the last blog entry then went out for a look at the town. Despite a heavily used main road and narrow sidewalks, it has a lot of toney shops and restaurants including a Japanese restaurant I'd like to come back to. I got back at 7:00. I wasn't expecting him to be up, but there he was all dressed and ready for breakfast. The inn had a self serve breakfast, but no Fruit Loops, powdered eggs, or u-bake waffles here. They had local yogurt with homemade granola and fresh scones. Yum! No roughing it this morning.
We were ready to ride at 8:15. Kisho would ride to Poughkeepsie and assess his situation. He could take an MTA train straight into New York or continue with me. I worked out a plan to do the ride in three days instead of two. The original plan was a 66 hilly ride to Mt. Kisco then a 50 mile ride to Brooklyn. The three day plan still went through Mt. Kisco, but taking a flatter, longer 82 Mike route in two days with a hotel in Pawling.
The ride down to New Paltz went well. Kisho has a lot of sore spots that didn't get magically better overnight, but got tolerable. We ran across what seemed to be a performance/bike rental/food/camping space which, in fact, it was, Stone Mountain Farm. Entering greater New Paltz we pedalled right up to Dry Fly Coffee and they had pour overs. Sorry, Frankie, the bagel shop looked great, but this was custom coffee right in front of us. And they had fresh baked goods. While relaxing over our coffee, Kisho decided he'd try the three day plan. Feeling as strong as the clearing skies, we rolled toward Poughkeepsie.
After some road riding, the trail became smooth and wide. The early fall leaves crunched under our tires in the dappled, gentle fall sun. Life was good. At the Western side of the famed Walkway Over the Hudson, we stopped to let Jesse know the plan. We were 17 miles into a 44 mile day. We rode into the Walkway. I was stunned by the views. You are high above the Hudson with the whole valley spread out before you. It takes 30-40 minutes to walk it and 8 minutes on a bike. It's big.
Poughkeepsie is on the eastern side. It's a big town and marks the very outer edge of the New York metro area. It's the final MTA train stop. Crossing the Walkway was like taking the ferry into Seattle from Vashon: one side is rural and the other residential, but urban. It was now lunch time. We had functional lunch at a Mexican place right off the trail. The bathroom was out of order so I had to return to the Walkway. If you watch the animated map see if you can tell where I went back.
From Poughkeepsie, the trail felt suburban. Trees lined the trail, but you caught glimpses of businesses and subdivisions through them. One ‘highlight’ was riding past the Trump Hudson Valley golf course. Appropriately, I snapped a picture through a chainlink fence. Who is were those guys playing at Trump's club?
Gradually, we got closer to Pawling. More to my taste was a link up with the Appalachian Trail. We saw someone had left a tin of sardines for hikers. In a moment of inspiration, I had the brilliant idea to leave the food that we had purchased the day before and hadn't eaten for hikers. I bagged it up in Kisho’s gallon Ziploc and put it at the base of the sign. I left feeling smart and kind until Hisako, in a reply to a texted photo of my act of trail-angelness, that the food would soon be in the belly of a bear.
The Appalachian Trail crossing also marked where we'd exit our own trail for a 4 mile road into Pawling. The second mile was steep! What a stinger at the end of the end. Despite being tired on his third consecutive day of biking, Kisho ground up the hill. The reward was two miles of downhill. Thank god we exit a different route tomorrow.
Pawling looks like a slice of Americana from a Hollywood set. There's even a Village Pizza. Our lodging is in an old house that's now an inn, but one with a modern, Airbnb contactless check-in. Still, was had a human we could call which made it feel personable. Our room is in the attic. My bed is in a gable.
After showers, we wandered over to the bookstore, because, of course, the town has a bookstore. I got a new book because I finished The Great Gatsby. At the recommendation of the guy writing the front I got The Gate by Natsume Soseki. After book buying we had a dinner with lobsters, trout and cider. Full, we digested with a walk around town that ended with the Harlem Valley Car Club show. Ever since Michigan, I've been saying I should do shorter mileage days. It took riding with Kisho to get me to do it and it's been wonderful.
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