Today was my favorite day of cycling so far- definitely want to bottle this one! A lot of us felt pretty beat up after yesterday's ride - it was great to conquer the Berkshires but it took a lot out of us. Today was longer, 75 miles, but the riding and the conditions were perfect, and just the right amount of climbing. The day started with these great, a-peeling banana slogans for the day.
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| Banana notes |
The cycling in far western Mass was really beautiful, as we cycled through Lenox and into Stockbridge and then Great Barrington.
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| In Stockbridge |
We left Massachusetts around mile 28. Everyone enjoyed the scenery in Mass and the excellent rail trails, but we were all happy to leave behind the less than ideal road conditions (but I'll miss Massachusetts!). The roads were instantly better in NY State. Upstate NY is really under-rated - it's beautiful and the cycling is really excellent. Our first SAG was at an old church which is now the Guthrie Center and contains the Arlo Guthrie Museum. The church was the site of the Thanksgiving Day meal that the song "Alice's Restaurant" was based on. We didn't get to eat at Alice's Restaurant though...
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| Tom Florek singing "Alice's Restaurant" |
This was a day when we broke up into different riding groups. The "Youts" all rode together, DJ rode with our buddies Ken N, Jim, and Newell, and I rode with my friend Stephanie and then later with my long time Anchor House friend Joan Plumb. It was great cycling with my other buddies today.
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| The "Youts" looking fresh at SAG 3 |
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| Ken and Stephanie somewhere in NY |
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| Gorgeous farm in Columbia County |
At SAG 3, Joan and I enjoyed some amazing food prepared by Papa of Papa's Smokehouse, a food truck seemingly in the middle of nowhere. We sat down at a picnic table with an incredible view of a pond and a hay field, with a tractor bailing hay in the distance.
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| Papa's Smokehouse |
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| View of the table and food truck |
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| Pond and hay field |
From the SAG, all of our various cycling groups joined back up and we rode the final 15 miles to the hotel together. By that time, it was starting to get steamy (around 90) but the ride back in was great. We crossed the Hudson about ten miles out with spectacular views of the river. We finished up in Kingston around 3:30 PM - we felt great physically, with still a lot of gas left in the tank for tomorrow. We're about 300 miles in (and an extra 60 for me) with 200 miles to go. The week is starting to go by too fast!
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| Crossing the Hudson |
Did you come into Kingston from the west, on that road with all the traffic, like on the Burlington year? Same hotel?
ReplyDeleteWas the Arlo Guthrie Museum open?
Have a fun final two days!
The pond and hay field shot is just so lovely. Would love to be there right now! I love the banana slogans and the 'youts' look fantabulous. Nice shot of you against the white fence!
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