Loop from Poughkeepsie NY
May 28, 2023
(~220 miles)

We were feeling the effects of those margaritas this morning, though we still awoke fairly early as is our custom (and in part due to the uncomfortable bed). It was a slow start to the day, but we forced ourselves to move along so as to take advantage of the cooler morning temperatures. The weather was warming up each day, and it was supposed to get into the mid-to high 80s later today. Today’s agenda included riding the NER Hudson River Valley Ride route.

It was yet another clear and beautiful day outside – we were really lucking out on this trip! We rolled out by 07:40 and, it being Sunday morning, we beelined straight down route 9 to Fishkill to make our third visit to the Red Line Diner during this trip. We weren’t actually all that hungry after last night’s Mexican feast, but it felt important to fuel our bodies for the long day of riding. I went with simple eggs & sausage with a bagel, while Char tried the pecan banana pancakes. Sorry, no pics due to slight hangover. 🥴

Feeling a bit more human after some breakfast, we stopped for fuel nearby and then took I-84 across the Hudson River. We exited immediately on Route 9W and then local roads to weave up through northern Newburgh and into Plattekill. After a quick mile on NY 32, we turned riverward on East Road and entered Ullster County on some nice new pavement.

Shortly before the Marlboro town line, I did about three double-takes as we passed a cool old Ford van parked on the shoulder, which was across from a psychedelic-painted VW bus on the other side, which in turn was next to a field with several other old classic vans mounted 50 feet in the air on poles! WTAF! We had to turn around for this, as l love old vans.

After a few snaps, we continued carving the turns on Plattekill Rd to the next major intersection with CR-11, where we turned north again. Not knowing what to expect from this ride and suspecting that it might be just “local filler” to round out the trip, we were quickly disabused of that notion. Ed had discovered and plotted out some lovely scenic and lightly traveled back roads north along the side of the gentle ridgeline that runs between the Hudson and I-87. We passed many farms and vineyards

In Lloyd, which is directly opposite Poughkeepsie on the river,  we merged onto US 44 despite several signs about a road closure detour a couple miles down and local traffic only. I often view these as a personal challenge to see how closed the road actually is. In this case, it was very closed, with a small bridge being rebuilt and no way through, even for a motorcycle. After wandering around through a small neighborhood to try finding another way around, we backtracked to CR-11 and went out to US 9W.

A McDonalds in a shopping plaza provided a restroom break before we turned right on tiny Mile Hill Road, descending down the bluffs to the river alongside the Walkway over the Hudson footpath, which crosses over into downtown Poughkeepsie. The pedestrian bridge was on our list of possible things to do, but neither of us felt like taking a break this early in the ride to hike out there in our gear. We were surprised to find a quiet little public road down there (Oakes Rd) that runs right along the river and railroad tracks. There were unique views of the Walkway and US 44 bridges from this perspective.

Going south was a dead end, so we turned and headed back along River Road, crossing the tracks twice and passing a boat ramp and nice riverfront park. We turned inland thru a small village area to get to a bridge over the rushing Twaalfskill Creek onto Bellevue Road. This residential road is another hidden gem that skirts the top of the bluffs, providing access to all the very nice homes that overlook the river. Views are limited due to the woods and houses, but the road itself was narrow and curvy, and we passed very few vehicles along its three mile length.

Emerging back out on 9W, we cruised north several miles into Esopus, where we veered up into the hills once again via Old Post Road to wooded Popletown Road. This section was a hoot with several nice curves.

At Union Center Road, we zagged back east all the way down to (another) River Road, where we enjoyed nice water-level views of the river. This included a quick stop at the small wayside park to look at distant Esopus Meadows Lighthouse way out by the far river channel past the wide shallows on the inside curve of this bend in the Hudson. I’d been on this section of road before during my IBA Lighthouse Tour and remembered the nice scenery.

That eventually also kicked us back out on 9W for a half mile, then the route jibed inland a bit to stay off the main thoroughfare and crossed Rondout Creek via NY 213. Back along the creek and then winding north and east through the middle of Kingston before continuing to work our way north on local roads close to the river.

We merged back onto NY 32 in Saugerties and then turned west again, this time crossing I-87 to make a fun and twisty loop to the north that skirted the edges of Catskill Park. Curvaceous Cauterskill Road (NY 23A) brought us back down into the valley, but not before pissing off a grumpy old local guy in a pickup truck. He apparently didn’t care for how close we were following him at 10 under the speed limit and eventually pulled over to let us pass while shouting something about how much he liked our bike – at least that’s what I chose to believe since I wear earplugs and why ruin a beautiful day by getting pulled into someone else’s bad mood? 😉

The town of Catskill is noticeably busier than most of the other towns we’ve seen so far in the area. Like, tourists everywhere, off-season theme-park kinda busy. WTH, I mean sure it’s a lovely little community, but it’s just a small town, people! Why are you all here? 😕 We found an empty spot on Main Street across from the eatery called New York Restaurant where we planned to have lunch.

Following some sort of town-pride trend that we’ve experienced elsewhere on trips through other small towns, Catskill has installed a variety of individually decorated animal sculptures around town as variations on a theme – in this case…cats of course! A bit on the nose, but there you have it.

We were pretty hot and tired at this point and ready for a break and some food. We crossed the busy main street only to discover that our lunch spot is now only open for dinner these days. That’s twice in a row our lunch plans have been foiled now! A staffer who was cleaning their sidewalk dining area recommended a place around the block called Willa’s, so we headed there next.

The place was jam-packed with tourists, the ordering line right to the front door. After waiting for several minutes, a staffer came by and announced that current wait times to be served food was running 45 minutes. Yeah, um no thanks, we headed right back out the door and pulled up the Yelp app to help us find sustenance, preferably someplace cool.

We noticed a farmer’s market nearby and decided to head down to check it out as sometimes there are booths with ready-to-eat fare. We did spot some folks cooking stuff as we drew closer. However, after walking around in the hot sun (there was no shade anywhere and no tables anywhere in sight to sit and relax), I just wasn’t feeling it.

So we trudged back up to Main Street and spotted your typical local pizza joint, Village Pizza II. It actually wasn’t that cool inside, but it wasn’t crowded, we were out of the sun, and the food wasn’t too bad. Char got an eggplant parmesan sub while I opted for a Chicken Caesar salad with anchovies.

After catching our breath and cooling down a bit, we strolled back down the length of Main Street to the bike, taking in the older architecture and more cat statues. The lunch rush seemed to have died down, so now we know to check restaurant hours and have better timing should we ever plan to be in Catskill for a midday meal again.

Crossing back over the Hudson on the Rip Van Winkle Bridge (NY 23), we then embarked on another great series of county and local roads through Columbia and Dutchess counties. First through Livingston and crossing the Taconic Parkway east to Ancram, swooping south through Gallatin down to Milan.

Then circling back north a bit via Milan Hill Rd and Turkey Hill Rd, laddering our way west and east and south down through Red Hook, and past the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. This is a cool-looking museum of old aircraft and other vehicles out in the the middle of woods and farm country. We were pooped from the heat and didn’t want to make another stop to walk around in our gear at this point, so the Aerodrome will have to wait for a future visit.

Oriole Mills Road is an ancient-looking narrow lane running over steep hill and dale in the middle of a verdant expanse of woods by Saw Kill. An old mill cataract is a prime scenic view along the way here, but there’s nowhere to pull over safely and the waterfall was mostly blocked by the thick green foliage and seems to be on private property.

On Round Lake Road in Milan, we came across a little turtle crossing the road and stopped to give him a hand. Then we simply enjoyed the remainder of the curves and rural landscape, weaving south through western Dutchess County, skirting Hyde Park, then back over to Pleasant Valley by the parkway. When we hit NY 55, we fueled up at the scheduled Mobil station stop and then broke off west towards the AirBnB, connecting via route 113 to 9 again, to stay south of the city part of Poughkeepsie.

Still feeling full from our prior three meals, we decided to just snack on leftovers tonight, and picked up some cold soft drinks to bring back to our little bunker for the evening. We arrived back at our lodging at a very reasonable 16:00 today, which gave us time to relax and just hang out a bit for the evening.

Today’s ride had been a real surprise – I think I had expected more overall traffic and busier areas along the river. But I really should know better by now, and Ed had once again given us a fantastic day of riding and great scenery through the Hudson Valley.