Could anyone please suggest the best (easiest and quickest) way to get to New Paltz from the train station in Poughkeepsie? Not that I'm being lazy--I'm going up there for a super challenging race (ultra distance duathlon), so I'd rather save my legs and energy for the actual event...
I searched through the ride library and found 2 options, one within the Poughkeepsie-Hunter Loop cue sheet(http://www.nycc.org/rl/ups/poughkeepsie_hunter/poughkeepsie_hunter.html), and another one in the Peekamoose cue sheet (http://www.nycc.org/rl/ups/peekamoose/peekamoose_77_cue.xls)
These 2 routes are slightly different, although the distance is about the same--is one less challenging than the other? I am not really familiar with these roads at all, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Or, alternatively, is there a more direct route I could take? I've also printed out directions from Mapquest, but that tends to be a crapshoot, since it's not really geared toward cyclists but motorists...
Thanks in advance!
shortest, flattest route from Poughkeepsie to New Paltz?
When you get off the train walk to the train platform’s southern end as there is a set of stairs leading up to Main Street. Go right (west) about a block and turn left on Rinaldi Drive. Go about ¼ mile and make a right turn on Gerald Dr. After a hundred yards or so you will see on your left a ramp for the Mid-Hudson Bridge; cross the bridge. At the far end is an unmarked street called Haviland Road; continue on this for a small climb out of the Hudson Valley up to 9W. When you get up to 9W (3/4 mile or so), make a right. Follow 9W for about 2 miles and make a left on 299, which goes directly to New Paltz, about six miles more. The 9W stretch is very 9W, but this is the easiest and most direct route if you don’t know the area.
I hadn't seen Bike Hudson before. Now I have dozens of new Ulster routes.
Thanks.
I have most of these routes in GPS (.gbd and .gpx) formats, if you like taking the train and riding out of Haverstraw (weekday ferry from Ossining), Garrison, Beacon or Poughkeepsie. If you want the file with all the Hudson Valley routes in .gbd, let me know.. or request individual routes in .gpx format. Yes, geeky and an extra 8 oz. but I'd be lost (literally) without my Garmin 76S mounted on the bars while riding in Dutchess and Ulster counties.
According to Delorme version 5.0, the stats on the route are: Total distance 9.5 miles after the bridge, min elevation 183 feet, max elevation 432 feet, climbing elevation 643 feet. The hill profile - in the first 3 miles after the bridge you climb to 350 feet on 9W, turn onto Hwy 299 and do rolling hills between 350 and 432 feet until half a mile before New Paltz when you descend to 250 feet.
Good luck in the race.
Bob
