Day 10: Layton to New Paltz, NY

Yesterday morning, I woke up at 6:30. Tiffany was already up and making breakfast. While Scott and I were having breakfast together, Tiffany had to leave early so I bid farewell to her. Soon after the meal, I got ready, said my goodbye to Scott, and hit the road around 7:45 AM. I had over 60 miles to ride so I better start early.

The section of the road coming out of Layton was full of potholes. The good news is that there weren’t any cars.

My first goal of the day is to ride to a convenient store in Cuddebackville, New York, so I can rest before riding up a hill toward Otisville. I arrived at the convenient store O’Dell’s shortly after 10 AM. I bought a tall can of Arizona watermelon drink for $1 and rested there for about 45 minutes, while also munching on some trail mix and beef jerky. I left the convenient store when I felt ready for the climb, both mentally and physically.

The climb wasn’t as scary as I thought. The map showed a steep uphill, but the scale exaggerated the actual incline. I didn’t walk my bike up the hill this time and cycled the entire thing while taking many breaks on the side of the road to pace myself.

After reaching Otisville, the road became easier to ride since there was a slight downhill from there to New Paltz. I stopped at the next small town called Bloomingburg and had a large slice of meat lover’s pizza at Riverside Deli and Pizza. When I asked the woman to refill my water bottle, she took it into the kitchen then came out and said the water from the faucet is not drinkable, but I can buy a bottled water for $3. I had a feeling that she was lying since water is drinkable in most of America and $3 is too much for a bottle of water. I ended up buying another can of Arizona iced tea at the convenient store at the next town of Burlingham.

There had been some light drizzle in the morning and in the afternoon, but nothing heavy. I got lucky that I stayed dry for most of the ride and the temperate wasn’t too hot. After riding about 20 more miles from Burlingham to New Paltz, I arrived at my Warmshowers host’s house at 3:15 PM. I rode 62.6 miles today, a new personal record.

Suzanne’s husband, Alex, let me store my bike in the garage and showed me around the house. After I settled in the guest bedroom I sent out more Warmshowers requests since I’ll be going north from New Paltz to Albany, then west to Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo on the Empire State Trail rather than the current Atlantic Coast Route. I’ve cycled a total distance of 228.4 miles from King of Prussia, PA, to New Paltz, NY.

Suzanne and her daughter came home soon after and together with Alex we chatted in the porch room for a while. Suzanne met Alex on a bicycle tour. Their daughter, Claire, just finished her junior year at the University of Colorado in Boulder doing a mechanical engineering degree. Alex works in IT for Accenture.

Around 7:30 PM, we had dinner that consisted of Indian food and spaghetti with meatballs. A very international meal. I felt I ate so much since the only thing I had during lunch was a slice of pizza.

The four of us watched the Academy award winning animated movie Flow after dinner. It was a very good movie that featured a cat and his adventures on a boat during a flood while meeting friends. I felt it was a fitting movie for me since I’m on an adventure as well and meeting new people along the way.

After the movie, I went to bed and slept until 7 AM. Today will rain in the afternoon. I plan to ride north to Tivoli that’s about 31 miles away. However, I want to visit the Dorsky Museum of Art in town before I leave. It doesn’t open until 11 AM so I’ll leave New Paltz after lunch.

Breakfast by Tiffany

So many potholes

Finally a smooth road

Resting at O'Dell's before the big climb

No water at Riverside Deli and Pizza

Crossing a stream

Nice country road to New Paltz

Turtle spotted in Suzanne's backyard

Alex and Suzanne with one their three cats