Empire State Trail

Fall 2023 Bike Trip

Day One: Hastings-on-Hudson to Carmel. 39.8 miles • +1,636 ft / -1,177 ft

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First day was a bit of a shake down, as we rode with all our gear and sorted out logistics. A little rain but a whole lot of fun!

Always a little disorganized and late to get going on day one!

PB &J’s winning the day!

This bridge made strange squishy sounds as we rode across, so although the view was stunning, I did not linger!

New Yorkers in black, Mainers in bright hunting colors!

Day Two: Carmel to Poughkeepsie. 46.1 miles • + 1,630 ft / -2,207 ft

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I was delighted to see the forecast. 72 and sunny!… all day! Then I realized it was Cupertino, CA. Our weather looked far less appealing, showing rain— steady hard torrential rain— all day. But when you are in (with nothing but your bike and a couple of panniers) you are all in! So we said goodbye to our Ukrainian host (“I am so sorry for all your troubles” I exclaimed as we rode off into the rain. “It’s not just our troubles” he replied, “It’s a fight for democracy”.) It truly is.

Our host’s TP. Appropriate.

When I say it rained, it doesn’t quite do our situation justice. It POURED and did. Not. Let. Up. For 46 miles. The ride looked exquisite, but there was no stopping to enjoy. We cheered each other on, and if you haven’t heard your adult kid (or someone like that) yelling “you are crushing it Mom!” (or something like that)! you need to figure out a way to make that happen, because it is the best feeling (even in the pouring rain).

During our soggy 46, I contemplated hatching a couple of inventions: an App. that shows dry underpasses; a device that drys your socks, shoes and gloves powered by one’s peddling and a way to do this more often (sogginess and all! )

At least the last leg was pretty much all downhill.

After a 20 minute hot shower, I could begin to feel my toes again. It was type 2 fun! And how DOES our room explode with crap when all we have are panniers? !!

Riding between the raindrops (but not)

Yesterday’s cold pizza dinner is today’s underpass lunch

Post shower exhale!

Room explosion!

Day Three Empire State Ride- Poughkeepsie to Hudson. 27.7 miles: +910 ft / -857 ft (edited from original ride)

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What I am reading now– “IT SEEMS TO ME THAT EVERYONE CLIMBS ON A BICYCLE WITH THE SAME IDEA: A CRUISE IN TEMPERATE WEATHER, PLEASURE MASQUERADING AS EXERCISE. THAT’S CERTAINLY WHAT I HAVE IN MIND EACH MORNING WHEN I LOAD UP MY BIKE AND TAKE OFF FOR YET ANOTHER STRANGE MOTEL FIFTY OR SIXTY MILES DOWN THE ROAD.

THERE IS ALWAYS, OF COURSE, SOMETHING WAITING FOR ME MERE MOMENTS INTO THE DAY’S RIDE TO DISABUSE ME OF THAT VISION.” Bruce Weber Life Is a Wheel: Memoirs of a Bike-Riding Obituarist

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We awoke to sunny skies and after some confusion finding the right access to the bridge, rode over the expansive and vast Hudson River feeling strong and ready for a long day of riding. But as noted in the quote above, halfway through I was disabused of that vision when Walter barreled into me when I made a quick right turn to follow the poorly marked trail after a fast downhill. It was only my second crash EVER after a lifetime of riding, and it felt somewhat comforting to us when cyclists in the area knew exactly where we went down. But still, not good.

Mighty Hudson River

It’s an odd thing to see your bike next to you in the exam room of the ED. Incongruous but also reassuring. She was ok too. 12 stitches and 2 hours later Marnie and Walter arrived on their bikes. I was ok and realized it could have been a lot worse. As luck would have it, Walter’s college roommate lived 10 miles away. He arrived with a standard transmission VW, a bike rack and a full half an hour of hair raising bike calamities that made ours sound downright pedestrian (pun intentional). And all of the stories ended with the line “and then I saw him back at the bike shop a week later! ” Badass Marnie rode solo the rest of the way “the hardest ride ever”. A ride that sounded only slightly less tough than the gash on my leg. She’s amazing!

Glad I have Medicare! (at least until I get the bill). Was kind of cool that I could log into MyChart and see I was up to date on my Tetanus shot.

“No shame in crashin’” Duncan to the rescue!

Hudson was the perfect place to put my leg up and eat the best darn hamburger I have ever had at Grazin in Hudson (happy cows!)

Day Four. Zero Day in Hudson.

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Hudson, NY was a great place to hang out. We splurged on a nice room (still only $135 bucks at The Nest. Highly recommend!) and spent the day wandering around cool curated shops and galleries and had by far the best food of the trip. (Although PB&J and pizza is a pretty low bar). Exhausted, we took a big long nap together before Marnie headed back to the city. Even though we ended our trip a day early, it was fantastic! The ability to have a one on one adventure with my adult daughter was absolutely worth the “dent”! And we will never forget it!

Also, when I told people I was from Maine they looked at me with a dreamy gaze in their eyes. I really feel fortunate to live where I live!

In 2027 when we embark on our cross country tripwe decided a SAG wagon would be good. PM me to apply