Kingston, NY to Middletown, NY

After a fabulous breakfast of Bruce's banana and walnut pancakes, Eric, Bruce and I set out, headed South. Before I go any further, I should take a minute to explain who these folks are.

Bruce, Lynda and Eric are fellow juggling teachers at Clearwater (Lynda unofficially). Jenny Boas and I really like all three of these people. When Bruce and Lynda heard that I would be passing through the Mid-Hudson Valley on this trip, they extended an invitation to spend the night. Thank you, Lynda and Bruce!!

Eric, when he heard I was bicycling through the Mid-Hudson Valley, he was immediately curious about what routes I would be taking and if he could join me on parts of my ride! As I came to find out, Eric knows LOTS of back roads in his area, centering around his home in New Paltz, NY.

So, Eric took me the back roads South from Kingston, and for the first two miles, Bruce happily joined us! It was much fun to have three of us all together for a bit.

] (Bruce sez: See photos of us leaving Kingston at http://midhudsonjugglingclub.googlepages.com/brettphotos)

Eric and I stopped in New Paltz for a few reasons. Eric went home and changed clothes, while I bought some new bike shorts, new gloves, and had the cleat on my right shoe adjusted. According to those behind me, one pair of my bike shorts was giving too much of a view, hence that purchase. My hands were not happy with the seams on my gloves, hence that purchase. My right foot sometimes gets intensely painful on really long rides, and I felt a twinge, hence the change in hopes of avoiding a major problem.

We also ate a wonderful vegetarian cafe before leaving New Paltz. I believe the name of it was Karma Road, and I highly recommend it to anyone in that area, both for the food and the service.

By this point (almost 20 miles), I could tell that this was going to be a struggle of a day. I was tired in all parts of my body, especially those that contact the bike: my feet, my hands, and my rear. The new gloves are way better than no gloves or the old gloves, but they don't solve everything for me. The feet are just a constant discomfort, though the major problem hasn't gotten much worse, perhaps due to the change the bike shop in New Paltz made.

With many stops for rest and a few stops to restock water supplies, Eric and I made it almost to Middletown. And then we hit the inevitable construction. Whenever one travels, there is always construction along the way somewhere! Today we hit it in the form of a closed bridge. We figured perhaps the bridge would be closed to autos but just have a barrier up or something, but that was not the case. The bridge was in the early stages of being rebuilt. From scratch. There was no bridge over the busy highway.

After some hemming, and much hawing, Eric and a very tired Me decided the best thing to do for me was to cross the highway directly rather than go all the way to the next bridge, especially since we weren't even sure the best way to get to the next bridge. The best thing for Eric was to bid me farewell and turn back for home (his plan eventually anyway). This is not a rinky-dink little highway (see the map: http://tinyurl.com/2qp9os). This is a divided highway, with two lanes in each direction. So, with Eric wishing me luck, I took an on ramp, waited a bit for a gap in the traffic, and then crossed over to the median, where again I waited for a gap in the traffic. It really wasn't that hard, and I made it safely to the far side, up the off-ramp, and on my way with a triumphant wave to Eric who signaled with a thumbs-up.

Even with that major hurdle overcome, I was to face an even scarier situation that evening. I haven't mentioned the intense and draining heat much, but often on the backside of heat like that is a big ol' thunderstorm. This was quite a storm, and I am very thankful that I had already made it to Middletown, used my hour on the library computer, and reached the pizza place I'd decided upon. (Apparently, I'd ridden through the "ghetto" where crime is high and so are drug sales to get to the pizza shop...) Even thought it was a small shop, the fellas there were very kind in allowing me to stay there for an hour or two while the storm moved in, hit, and then lessened.

By about 8:30 I had had enough of the loud, hot but air-conditioned pizza joint, and the storm looked tame enough. I was wrong in thinking the lightening was done, but it had lessened, and none seemed to be close by. I thought my next decision out a good deal, but I liked my other alternatives even less: I decided that since my contact for a place to stay in Middletown had fallen through (mostly my fault for waiting so long to get back to her, and some the fate of mobile phones, as she had crappy to no reception), I headed back up the road out of town a few miles and found a place I thought I could get away with tenting for the night. It was still raining steadily, but not hard, it was still pretty warm, and the mosquitoes were biting. It was not the most fun setting up a tent I've ever had. In the end, I did get it set up, hoping that I wasn't tenting in poison ivy (I wasn't, though five feet further in and I would have!), and hoping it would stay dry inside (it did!).

For the first time on my trip, I went to bed reading my book. I had already written in my journal in the pizza shop. To read about Greg Mortensen's adventures in and for the area around K2, the world's second highest peak, seemed so fitting, so RIGHT. Thanks to Carolyn for giving me this book. I had a safe night, even if other people see me as crazy for the decisions I made.

Total Stage III Distance: 65 miles

Stage Time On Bike: not sure, but it was very slow going, so many hours

Total Stage time: about 14 hours

Total Trip Distance: 202 miles

Net Elevation Change: ?

On to Stage IV

Back to Stage II

Back to Bike Travels

Check out the libraries I've used--I love libraries!