Ken, June 2004:
Hudson to RhinecliffMy skate from the Hudson train station south to Rhinecliff was
mostly rather nice. Along the way I made (too many?) pleasant
bakery stops at Hudson, Tivoli, Red Hook, and Rhinebeck. The
negatives were a couple of sections on high-speed Rt 9G with narrow
or no shoulders.
I started by going up the hill from the Amtrak station to the
river viewpoint at the west end of Warren St in Hudson, then east on
Warren St for a breakfast snack at Cascade. Took Rt 9G and Mt
Merino Rd -- seemed like the pretty view to the Athens-Hudson
lighthouse was blocked by vegetation.
Rip Van Winkle Bridge: I skated all the way across
the Rip Van Winkle Bridge and back and stopped a couple of times
along the way to enjoy the fine views. The shoulders of the
traffic lanes had nice concrete, but there were loose stones on it.
I also tried part of the sidewalk -- much fewer stones -- so next
time I would skate in the sidewalk. Watch out for an expansion
joint in the middle -- have to either stop before it and step over
-- or have the skill to hop over it.
The section of Rt 9G south from the bridge had narrow or no
shoulders, so I had to be careful and use good vehicle-traffic
interaction techniques. Then I tool Rt 14, Rt 31 to its end,
Bingham Mills Rd, Rt 8 West, Hog Trough Rd, Rt 6 West, Moore Rd,
Lasher Rd - Rt 80, cross Rt 9G to Stony Brook Rd and North Rd into
the village of Tivoli and a bakery stop.
From Tivoli, I took Kidd Rd to Rt 9G South. Narrow or bad
shoulders on Rt 9G. Tried Budd Corners Rt - Rt 79, becomes
Linden Av into the village of Red Hook and a bakery stop.
Then followed last part of the
Rhinebeck - Bard - Red Hook bicycle route into the village of
Rhinebeck, for another food stop, before taking West Market St to
the Rhinecliff Amtrak train station.
