September 26, 2011

Fishkill to Suffern, NY

53 miles

Today reminded me of why I love riding bike. It was one of the best I've had in a very long time. The weather cooperated again. Partly cloudy - with some sunshine - 80 degrees and very humid. A little sweating has to be good for you, right? The scenery was fantastic! A dozen or more lakes, lots of valleys, mountains, rivers, waterfalls and more...plus lots of early American history - which I love...mainly the Revolutionay War. We saw where the colonist put a chain across the Hudson River to keep the British ships from going south into New York City. It's also where Benedict Arnold betrayed the colonist by trying to lower the chain so the British could get through. That failed...and he made an escape across the Hudson to the West.

We stopped before, on and after crossing the bridge over the Hudson River. The fog was just lifting in the distance. It's a BIG, muddy (because of all the rain) body of water. So now I've ridden across a number of the major rivers in our beautiful country...including the Missouri, Mississippi and now the Hudson!

Speaking of the British, look at the picture by the historical sign for Fort Clinton. The colonist met the British here and pushed them back. The fellow bike rider on the ground is Doug - from Britain. I thought the pose was appropriate - and he was a good sport about it! Some of the roads were the worst we've seen so far. There were probably ten miles of teeth jarring riding. We had 3614 feet of climbing - so it was a good workout for yours truly. I felt good and hung with the a pretty good group. (Yes, my legs are feeling it)!

No flat tires and the new bike worked just great. Many of you may remember that I HATE going downhill fast. But with a big uphill in front of you it sure helps to get up a head of steam. Having said that - I've gone over 40 mph 8 or 9 times. Talk about a white faced, white knuckled, scared to death old man! Almost everyone else loves it... 50+ miles an hour is nothing to them.

Another picture shows a road that was totally lifted up and moved over 20 or 30 feet as a result of the last hurricane. There were lakes on both sides of the road. One lake overflowed into the other lake and took the road with it. Once again, the power of Mother Nature.

Tomorrow is another fairly short ride day (64 miles) to Somerset, NJ. (state #6). I'm afraid to ask about how much climbing there will be - so I'll just wait and be surprised.

Carol sends her best to all!