If you wonder what the hell it means, it’s a loose translation from the Wappinger language of the name Poughkeepsie. That’s where a group of Brompton owners, including yours truly, cycled to yesterday. We started in Brewster on the Empire State Trail, heading north. Last year I cycled in the opposite direction towards NYC; parts of that trail were and still are in such a bad shape it got a unanimous thumb down from our group. Going north though, was a different story: the trail surface was practically flawless and we were flying through the woods. It was such a pleasure to cycle on a car-free trail surrounded by nature.
For the whole ride, there was a proverbial carrot hanging in front of me: an ice cream shop at the end of the ride. In fact that shop was in New Paltz, about fifteen kilometers past Poughkeepsie, our intended destination. So, I pressed on at full steam with the goal to get a couple of scoops and make it back to Poughkeepsie on time for an earlier train. Guess what, I got my treat and I made it to the train station on time, but I had to really sweat for this.
By and large it was an enjoyable ride. The only downside: over five hours of subways and trains to get back and forth.
Today in numbers:
93 km — distance cycled
1210 km — total length of the Empire State Trail, the longest in the US