[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on May 20, 2005]
Greetings from Whitehall, New York, where the Hudson River valley becomes the Lake Champlain valley. I was planning to wait to write until my last day in the US, but I have time now and won't then, so...
I had a very short ride today: I was at my campsite by 2:00! But my knees let me know I shouldn't try to make it to the next place.
I was put off by the price of the campground that was given to me over the phone, so I looked for other options, but it turned out that was the peak-season price, and the season doesn't start until May 27. I've managed to follow the off-season all the way north from Florida! It'll hit me hard in Michigan, though, I'm sure.
My campsite is up on a plateau overlooking the river.
22.3 mi
This afternoon, after several hours of route research on Eleanor's computer, I biked back to the Empire State Plaza and the State Museum. I spent most of my time there in the 9/11 museum, the first permanent exhibit on the subject.
Eleanor and I both slept in until about 11, and then I caught up on my e-mail while she ran errands. Around 2 we took a bus to downtown. While she watched some AIDS documentaries in the film festival, I walked around downtown.
I had a very leisurely day... stayed in the hotel and watched two episodes of Buffy before hitting the road, and then the trip to Albany didn't take nearly as long as I expected. Near Castleton-on-Hudson I met another bicyclist who lived nearby and was on her way into Castleton for her morning coffee. The cafe turned out to be the only business in Castleton that I could see. I told her that if she wants to help cyclists she could open a campground or hostel near her home.
I was expecting a short day's ride today, so I had a very leisurely morning -- the ranger never did show up to collect payment for the campsite -- and rode at a slow pace. The rain was substantial for a few hours, so when I got to the campground and found it would cost me $30 to set up my tent in the rain, I decided to ride on into Hudson and get a hotel instead.
I rode into Poughkeepsie this morning, expecting to get there around 11 but actually closer to 10. I waited at a community garden near the Vassar campus until Anna was ready to see me. She showed me all around the campus -- which is more like an arboretum than a shady lawn -- and the art museum where she works.
In the dining hall, I felt pretty cool hanging out with the college crowd ... until I learned that Anna's friends had assumed I was her father! Don't get me wrong, her father is a good-looking guy, but he's gotta be 20 years older than me...
I had a lot of fun this morning riding down all the hills I had struggled up yesterday, but alas I had a slow leak in my tire and had to stop to pump it every few miles, all day long.
The highlight of the day was when I crossed the Appalachian Trail (and the Hudson River) at Bear Mountain. I wish I could think that this was also the high point of the trip, but that will be more than 500 feet higher...
[Note: although my journal indicates the name of the state park was Whirlpool, the park by that name is on the opposite side of the state. I've put the pin for this day in Bear Mountain State Park instead.]
The forecast rainstorm for today didn't show; in fact the weather was lovely all day. I had no trouble biking out of New Jersey. My campground for the night in Whirpool State Park was several miles into the Catskills, so I walked my bike quite a lot. It's a beautiful park, rustic but not too rustic, and only an hour's drive from Manhattan.
33.6 mi
This morning I rode the bus back into Manhattan and went to the southern tip of downtown, Battery Park. I walked from there to the World Financial Center, where there's an exhibit about the plans for the WTC site. Ground Zero itself just looks like a construction site at present, but I got a photo of a nearby building that hasn't yet been repaired from the blast. From there I walked through Greenwich Village to Washington Square Park, where the famous chess boards are. Business was slow, because the park was being set up for NYU's graduation festivities.
