After a spectacular run of warm, dry weather it does appear autumn will finally arrive this weekend. The current forecast for early Saturday morning indicates a high precipitation probability, but late morning and the afternoon looks acceptable. Generally, when faced with these conditions we are inclined to start the ride an hour later than usual. The other option is to take a chance and go as planned. There is a café in Cold Spring that is quite large and can accommodate us should need some time for the showers to pass.

Another slight change is that I now have an evening dinner engagement in Philadelphia and I must be on a 6:05 Amtrak train. This means I will not be riding to Cold Spring; rather, I will be targeting the 2:07 train from Southeast; however, we have an able co-leader to guide everyone back to Cold Spring.

The route to Pawling is moderately challenging with 3 longish climbs. However, there are long flat-rolling sections enabling the 55 miles to be completed nonstop. Cool conditions are predicted so prepare accordingly; the route from Pawling to Cold Spring is quite straightforward and pretty easy, with only one small climb on Mooney Hill Road and those bumps on 301.