It was a long day in the saddle, riding from Poughkeepsie over the Mid-Hudson Bridge to the west, through New Paltz, over Mohonk and eastwards to Cherrytown and north up through Catskill Park around Ashokan Reservoir, through Woodstock and back to Poughkeepsie. 132 Km in 5 hours 47 minutes and 1862 meters of vertical climbing.
On the way south on Highway 9, riding through Kingston, I stopped to visit the Keegan Brewery, home of the famous Keegan Ales.. Mother's Milk and Hurricane Kitty. This is my favorite local beer and Mother's Milk may be the best stout made in the US. Unfortunately, with about 25 km to ride, I didn't have the chance to taste the wares, but did spend some time talking with the owner, Tommy Keegan, who was watching his son ride his bike in the parking lot. Tommy helps sponsor two cycling teams and is one hell of a nice guy. I'd hoped to order some beer to be delivered, but they can't sell the stuff, just brew it, serve it on the premises or load it on the trucks to be sold through a distributor. I've driven up to Kingston to buy cases in the past and I should have filled my water bottles for the train ride home from Poughkeepsie to Manhattan if it hadn't have been such a warm day. However, I think that I have a lead on where to get Tommy's brews here in the city.
Now that there is better weather for riding and I'm back getting over 10,000 calories a week in exercise it is the season to put into practice one of my favorite sayings, "up a hill, down a beer."
Rondout Creek Bridge, Alligerville. Photo on the left is from the Peak ride in October 2007, at the end of the last season.. this shot on the right is from this ride, just as the trees are starting to bud.
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