Day 43 – Poughkeepsie to Elmsford, NY – updated

Today was my last full day of cycling across the USA, so how fitting that it was another beautiful, crisp, sunny day of blue skies. Autumn was in the air, but only just a hint. It was basically perfect. For so much of this trip the weather has been remarkably good. I doubt I have ever lived through a more consistently lovely summer. Today it meant that we enjoyed New York State somewhere close to its very best.

It did no harm that we were treated to seventy miles of continuous off road cycling through woods and past gorgeous lakes, all with a smooth, sealed surface. There were other cyclists and walkers about, but not too many to get in our way. Progress was easy and mostly flat along old railway tracks. The signage was largely excellent and we wove our way from Poughkeepsie through quite hilly, rural country to the east side of the Hudson Valley. Unusually today, we didn’t actually see the Hudson River; but it was all a delight nevertheless, in a less dramatic way.

No particular moments stand out above any other. It was all good. We found a small town, Brewster, for lunch at just the time we were getting hungry, and enjoyed corned beef eggs Benedict to a soundtrack of Latino music. Later in the day, with an hour to go, we passed through the pleasant Yorktown, with its old train station and open green spaces, adorned with many flags. Here we found another cafe for ice cream and some incredibly refreshing Brazilian lemonade. You should try that. I’m certainly glad we did. It made for a suitable final refreshment stop of this American adventure, the last of many that have varied enormously. Nothing quite replicated the classic British tea room experience, because not much does; but there were many highlights and something always turned up, even in the most remote and unlikely of places, and I took advantage as much as I could. It really is an important part of these adventures!

The leaves on some of the trees were beginning to show their fall colours, especially in some of the more swampy sections where there were some vivid reds and oranges already on display. This spectacle will only improve as the month goes on, but it was lovely to get at least a taste of it.

You felt you could while away many a day with this kind of cycling, and in a way that is exactly what we had done for a week. It wasn’t all the same, by any means; but taken as a whole, the Empire State Trail is a remarkable cycling experience of more than 500 miles of level, well signed, cycle friendly pedalling, and a fabulous resource that New York can be proud of. We began up near Buffalo on the Niagara River, bordering Canada, and ended today just 30 miles short of the bottom tip of Manhattan Island, a manageable morning’s work to tackle tomorrow. There’s nothing like having a good plan; but it’s even better when that plan is executed pretty much to perfection!