jppe

FANY 2019 Done!!

Woodstock to Poughkeepsie! We were on paved roads, gravel bike paths and paved bike trails today. We even had to dismount on one of the gravel roads to get across a large tree that had fallen across the path. The gravel paths took us across two neat old trestles.

Mark another week long tour off the list. Interesting approach without rest stops but the routes take you by plenty of stores, cafes etc. While we didn’t camp others seemed pleased with the nightly stops. It’s the first time I’ve used GPS on my Garmin to follow the routes and it worked just super. Scenery was outstanding. Lots of memorable steeper than normal hills. I’d definitely do this tour again. Organizers do a great job of making it challenging but rider friendly.

It’s always a special week when my wife is just up the road ahead of me. She sees things I miss. I hope you’ve enjoyed following along and didn’t get too bored! I’m not that good of a journalist to be able to capture the uniqueness and beauty of the area. All to often I’m still trying to catch up with a rider visible in the distance and see how fast I can ride from one point to another. Another week of meeting new and old cycling friends and enjoying seeing areas that are new to me.










Next up is Cycle Oregon in a little over a month!!!

jppe

The walkway over the Hudson was incredible

BlazingPedals

Ya had me interested until the gravel path. My bikes HATE gravel. Even 10 mph is a white-knuckle experience. A ROAD tour should not include gravel!

The pics are still nice, though.

Steve B.

The reporting was just fine as always. The pic’s do a better job of showing what the countryside is like anyway. Glad you got to ride the Walkway over the Hudson. That’s a remarkable bit of path, 200+ft over the river. As well, seems like there wasn’t much of a crowd, which I’ve encountered on a weekend. It became a walk-a-bike moment.

I’ll pay attention to FANY for next year, this is the first I’d heard of it.

Bmach

Thanks! Interestesting.

Helderberg

You know I enjoyed you reporting and photos. Thank you and very happy you had a safe trip and fairly good weather.
Frank.

Greenhil

Thanks for taking us along - I enjoyed all the posts.

jppe

It’s a nicely organized ride. It would have been even more interesting had we camped with the other riders. But we still met a number of others at the places we stayed.

This was the first year they used this route. It will be interesting to see what they do next year.

berner

Thanks for the memories. I'm old enough to remember when the train trestle carried trains. The walkway/bikeway over the Hudson is the perfect use of existing infrastructure and on weekends is very busy.

Champlaincycler

Thanks for all the great pics and ride reports. You are an exceptional rider, and I'm taken by your wife's willingness to support and find some things to do on her own while you're riding. I think you came by my house on your first day, your narratives and pictures make me want to go visit where I already am. You really are a great ambassador for cycling. It just seems like any day on a bicycle is a great day for you, regardless of weather/conditions/traffic etc. Kudos and can't wait until the next trip report.

indyfabz

Nice. I have done the Walkway twice, but on weekday mornings when it has not been crowded.

Were you on the Walkill Trail at all? If so, which stretch? I went south from New Paltz during a tour last year. Wasn't impressed. Not much to look at, and the southern end was muddy.

BTW...I have done most of the days used on this year's Cycle Oregon.

Pack for all sorts of temps. When we stayed in La Pine in 2007 there was ice on the tent the next morning.

Hopefully they have a shuttle from Dorena Lake into Cottage Grove. That's the town where the homecoming parade scenes of "Animal House" were filmed. If you are film fan, it's neat to visit.

The Aufderheide is a great ride. You will hardly realize you are climbing until the last three or so miles.

McKenzie is, if course, McKenzie. Both times I was up there is was clear and sunny, but it can do anything up there at any time. Have good foul weather gear just in case.

Diamond Lake was nice, but a bit cramped in places. We finally found a clear enough spot amongst the trees to pitch our large tent. The dock by the lake is nice.

If you ride around Crater Lake, do the short out and back to Cloudcap Overlook. Great view.

Be extremely careful on that steep descent towards Dorena Lake. There were several bad crashes in 2007. I saw one woman leave the road, bowl over a seated volunteer holding a caution sign and do a Superman into the back of his car. Fortunately for her, it was a hatchback, the door was open and the back was filled with soft-sided luggage. She literally hit it with her face and bounced back out, escaping with only a black eye.

jppe

I just did a very short stretch of the Walkill trail. I had just ridden 3 miles of trail and Walkill was a second trail we could ride for one mile. It didn't look like much so I took the paved roads around it to New Paltz. Most others were stopping in New Paltz for food but I continued riding and on to the end in Poughkeepsie. We rode paved bike paths all the way from near New Paltz to across the Hudson walkway and the end of the tour. Probably 15 miles??

I rode McKenzie Pass on Day 2 of my cross country ride in 2016. It was a perfect day to ride as I recall. I guess that day was Eugene to Sisters. I'm guessing the climb was mostly 4-5% grades.....certainly nothing very steep.

We are planning to spend two nights at Crater Lake before the Tour. I'm going to ride the rim one of those days that we are staying in the Park. That will give me the option to climb up to the loop and do it again several days later. Thanks for the information on the spur to Cloudcap and the Animal House town. That would be a hoot.