Typically, my last big ride of the year, before the weather turns too cold for riding up along the Hudson River, is
on “peak day” of the fall foliage season. If my work schedule and international travel cooperate, I like to take the train out of Manhattan and ride through the brilliant reds, yellows and greens this time of year.
So, yesterday afternoon I booked a room at a motel in Highland, across the river from Poughkeepsie and caught the 2:50 train, which got me to the River Station Restaurant in time for happy hour (US$2 beers) and a good pre-ride meal.
Then, as the sun was going down, I rode across the Mid-Hudson Bridge to the Super 8 in Highland to watch the news, figure out my route for the next day and get a good sleep before the ride.
The morning was the coldest so far this year, and I waited until it was about 4 degrees before starting out, with the sun over my shoulder as I rode due west for the first leg of the trip.
Then it was up that “peak” you can see on the elevation map above, up and over Mountain Rest Road and the Shawangunk Ridge. These are the famous “Gunks”, world renowned for being some of the best vertical rock climbing in the world. Today the bike felt like I was climbing 5.9 for some reason.
 |  |
I think it may have been the hill intervals that I’d ridden in Central Park on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday this week or just being over my usual cycling weight and hung-over from the beers the night before, but I didn’t feel all that great on the climb and decided that there would be another day for a longer ride. So, I stopped and took pictures, and dropped in to visit Wendy and Joe Barton, who live in Stone Ridge.
This shot above, was taken looking up Roundout Creek, just outside of Rosendale, at N41 50.580 W74 05.123 for the GPS-inclined.
My original plan was to do about 120 km, out around Ashokan Reservoir. The ride ended up being about half that distance (66 km) in three dawdling hours instead of a fast five. 1200 meters in vertical climbing.
This last shot is looking south down one of my favorite cycling roads in the world, Martin Swendish Road (N41 49.093 W74 01.766), which winds through some fairly deserted rolling woods and always has some cool birdlife and few cars.
By this point in the ride, I could hear a cold beer calling my name from River Station Restaurant, and I crossed the bridge into Poughkeepsie just after 1:00 pm and took the 2:33 train back to Grand Central Terminal after a relaxing lunch.
On the Mazlovian pyramid of human needs, right up there at the top of the self-actualization pyramid are the aesthetic needs. Being able to combine the appreciation for nature’s most colorful expression of change with several hours of high-end aerobic activity, is a peak experience in so many ways.
Comments