VICKI AND BECKYRIDE AGAIN

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Four fabulous–and mostly flat–Columbia County bike routes.

BY V I C K I R O S E N WA L D A N D R E B E C C A STO W E

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A couple of years ago, we mapped outa series of bicycle rides aroundClaverack for this magazine. We'vebeen venturing further afield over theyears, and here are four of ourfavorite Columbia County rides. Wereally like flat rides, but geographydoesn’t always cooperate, and wehave to deal with hills. Only one ofthese rides is completely easy (TheCopake Cows and Camping Ride); theothers are moderate. Mostly flat butwith a few unavoidable hills. From 17to 21 miles; they take anywhere froman hour and a half to a little over two.The last two rides include portions ondirt or gravel roads. We've indicatedwhere, so riders with road bikes canchoose alternative routes. They're allbeautiful, simply because they’rehere.

FRUIT LOOPS (VICKI'S FAVORITE RIDE)We think a good bike ride has threeelements: little traffic, wonderfulviews and the possibility of a snack,because you do get hungry when youride. This ride has all the above andanother virtue: the possibility of varia-tions that make it a little bit longer,somewhat longer, and so muchlonger that we can't do it, but maybeyou can. The starting point is Buckley's

Corners, the intersection of Routes9/23 and County Route 31 inGreenport. You can park and shop atthe Eger Brothers farmstand, the firstof many produce vendors and farmsyou will be passing on this trip. Ridesouth for a mile on Blue Hill Road(Route 31). Make a right on Route 14,which is Church Road. On your right,you'll pass Don Baker Farm, whichhas PYO (Pick Your Own) cherries inseason, and apples in the fall. AfterPleroma Farm (organic meats, rawmilk, eggs and vegetables) make a lefton Howe Road. There's no road sign,but there are signs for both Smithand Fix Brothers Farms. Howe Roadbecomes White Birch, for a reasonthat soon becomes apparent. AtSmith Farm you can pick raspberries(while admiring Olana's tower in thedistance) from late July until the firstfrost, $2.50 a pint. Mrs. Smith doesn'tspray the raspberries, so you can eatthem right away instead of havingthem turn into jam in your backpack.She also has peaches, nectarines andapples. A little ahead on the left is FixBrothers, where PYO begins withcherries in the early summer and con-tinues all summer with peaches andapples, and you get stunning views ofthe countryside from the top of thehill you have to ride up to get to thetrees. Continue on White Birch, past the

recently acquired state forest on yourright, until White Birch ends atCounty Route 10. (Again, no sign.)Left on 10 into the charming hamletof Linlithgo, with its gray and white

Carpenter Gothic former school-house, which will be on your left asyou turn right onto Wire Road. Ride on Wire to Dales Bridge and

turn right. We can only say "BeCareful!" as you go really fast down-hill and across the Roe-Jan Kill,because you'll have to walk your bikeup the hill on the other side. Onceyou've made it up and can breatheagain, continue to the end of the roadwhere you'll see the Taconic Farmscomplex in front of you. Make a leftonto County Route 33. At CountyRoute 8, turn right into Germantownwhere you can refresh yourself atOtto's Market on Main Street. This is the mid-point of the basic

ride (21 miles total if you head backnow). If you want to keep riding, headon into Tivoli by continuing west on 8to the traffic light at 9G. Make a left,

and then your first right onto thewonderfully flat Woods Road. There'sa dog leg at County Route 6, whichyou follow to the right, past Clermont(where you might want to ride in for alook at Chancellor Livingston's man-sion, the beautiful grounds, view, andgardens, or the Saugerties Lighthouseacross the river) and then left at the Tinto Tivoli. Still not tired? You're now on your

own, because we can't do it, but if youcan, consult your map and continuesouth to Annandale Road and make aright. Ride through the Bard Campusand don't forget to take a look atFrank Gehry's Fisher Center (on yourright). Annandale eventually turnsinto River Road and you can ride allthe way to Rhinebeck, 50 miles or soround trip.But enough about you. Back to

our ride. We'll meet you back atOtto's, where we're sitting at a tableoutside, just about ready to get backon our bikes and head east on 8.There are, alas, a few hills to dealwith. Just after passing the hand-some Rockefeller Homestead (onyour left), you'll find the KeepConservation Preserve, where youcan take a break to watch birds andwildlife. Continue on 8 to EasternParkway. Turn left on Eastern (this isa very dangerous intersection, soplease be careful) and ride along alovely road that passes the DiehlBrothers vineyards and takes youback to Dales Bridge. Right on DalesBridge and build some momentumbecause it's down and up this waytoo. At the top of the hill, turn righton Wire. Almost immediately to yourright, tucked down a long driveway

you will see stately Teviotdale, the18th century Georgian home ofWalter Livingston and his son-in-lawRobert Fulton, of steamboat fame. Continue on along this perfect

country road. Protected forever by aconservation easement, Wire Road isan untrafficked ride with a postcardview of the Catskills to the west andthe Rockefeller farmhouse to thenorth, surrounded by abundant corn,wheat and soy fields, grazing cattle,and long open views. At the end of Wire Road, turn left

on County Route 31. If you're up for ashort detour, take your next left ontoWalkers Mill Road. The bridge isclosed but you can stop and admirethe mill pond and the old mill beforeturning around and returning to 31.The other thing you can do, when youget to the next crossroads (County

Route 10) is take a left for a couplehundred yards and find a piece ofindustrial history in the brick build-ing to your right, the old Burden IronMine. If you're not interested in mill

ponds or iron mines, then just keeppedaling on 31 through the orchards—Hopedale Farms has an honor sys-tem PYO apple concession on KlibarRoad to your right—and back toBuckley's Corners and your car.

THE RIVER AND RIDGE RIDEThis 19.5 mile ride from Kinderhookto Stuyvesant and back took us abouttwo hours. It's more hilly than we like(we had to get off our bikes threetimes to walk up hills), but the viewsare more than worth a little huffingand puffing. Bring plenty of waterand maybe a snack to reward yourselfwhen you get to the top of RidgeRoad. (Although we think ridingalong a road with the Berkshires toyour left and the Catskills to yourright is a reward in itself.) Otherrewards include stopping at eitherBean's Place or Pi Café in Kinderhookfor an afterparty. Starting from the four corners in

Kinderhook, head south on Route 9,4/10 of a mile, passing some gorgeoushistoric houses, including one visitedby the historically notorious BenedictArnold, to Eichybush Road. Turn rightand go straight on Eichybush,through rolling farmland (if you'vebeen hankering for a farm to call yourown, there's one for sale on your right)to Hollow Road, and turn left. Theroad is downhill most of the way, pastsheep and cattle grazing in the fieldsand down into the cool, swampy hol-low. There's a noteworthy waterfall toyour left as you begin to climb backup the hill. At the top, you'll be atGibbons Road. Turn left, but only for3/10 of a mile. Turn right onSummerset Road, which will take youpast more cattle grazing, and down ahill into Stuyvesant. At the small townpark at the bottom of the hill, make aright, which will lead you to Route 9J.Make another right, onto 9J North. (Ifyou turn left, you'll end up inStuyvesant, where you can stop at theRiverview Café for refreshment.)Traveling north along the river,

you'll get some spectacular views: ofthe river itself and the cliffs on theGreene County side, and the Catskillsbeyond. At mile 7.7, there's a roadmarker on the left commemoratingHenry Hudson's landing onSeptember 19, 1609. As you travel justpast this point, there's an unobstruct-ed view across the river. And whileyou're gazing, don't forget to look up—you might see an eagle or falcon,cruising above the river, looking forlunch. Just around the bend after cross-

ing Mill Creek, you'll see (on yourleft), the entrance to the Nature

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WHEELS

RIDING FOR A CAUSEWant to enjoy the beauty ofColumbia County on your bike anddo some good in the world at thesame time?

THE HARLEM VALLEY RAIL RIDEThis Bike New York ride offers fiveroute choices ranging from 20 to 100miles. (To view the routes go to(www.bikenewyork.org/rides/hvrr/index.html.) All routes begin with a rideon the Harlem Valley Rail Trail(www.hvrt.org) starting in Millerton,and then meander through New York,Connecticut, and Massachusetts,depending on the route. Becky hasridden the 30-mile route twice, andrecommends it enthusiastically.There are some hills steep enough toforce you off your bike, but you won'tbe alone. The great thing about thisride is the good will and high spiritsof the participants—you've got hard-core road bikers, kids on no-speedclunkers, and disabled riders on spe-cialized bikes they pedal by hand.Afterwards, there's a big party atEddie Collins Memorial Field inMillerton. A portion of the proceedsgoes to the Harlem Valley Rail TrailAssociation; the rest, to the EastCoast Greenway Alliance and Recycle-a-Bicycle, among others.

COLUMBIA LAND CONSERVANCY'S COLUMBIA COUNTY BIKE TOUR2009 was the inaugural year for CLC'sBike Tour, which offered two routesthrough northwestern ColumbiaCounty—one at 50K and one at 100K.We opted for the 50, but pulled aRosie Ruiz (you may remember herfrom the 1980 Boston Marathon) andcut across Schnackenberg Road inPhilmont, stopped at the Dairy Queenin Ghent for refreshment, and contin-ued back through Chatham to thestarting point on Rock City Roadalong a flatter route. However, weloved riding through New Concord,even if it nearly killed us. The ride wasreally beautiful, just very, very hilly.We have it on good authority that nextyear's ride will have an easier optionfor riders with less…um… stamina.To view the routes, go towww.clctrust.org

NORTHERN COLUMBIA TRIATHALONThe Northern Columbia Triathlon,held in August, includes a biking seg-ment of approximately 19 miles. Thisyear, for the 5th annual triathalon,the bike route went from QueechyLake to the Kline Kill Airport inGhent. We can't tell you about theroute, because we didn't do it, but wegreatly admire everyone who did, andwe think maybe it’s something weshould shoot for in the future. All pro-ceeds go to the Cystic FibrosisFoundation. For more information,and to see the bike portion of theroute, go to www.northerncolumbia-triathlon.com.

THE COLUMBIA COUNTY CANCER RIDEThe Columbia County Cancer Ride(www.columbiacountycancerride.c0m,now in its third year, offers threeroutes: 10, 25 and 50 miles, all in theChatham area. To see the maps, go towww.columbiacountycancerride.com/cancer_ride_008.htm#Links. Wehaven’t tried it, but intend to go forthe 25 mile ride next year. Money goes to either the Lance

Armstrong Foundation or theAmerican Cancer Society. Fundsdonated to the ACS are placed in arestricted account designated forColumbia County, so your dollars stayhere to help your neighbors.

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owned by Great Performances, aManhattan catering company knownfor its 100-Mile Menu. Fischer thentwists and turns through farming andresidential areas until it turns intoLetter S (our favorite road name).Letter S is a nice curvy downhill ride,which ends back on 22. To your right,you'll see a few big white heads stick-ing out of the grass at the FieldsSculpture Park of Art Omi. Turn rightto the Charles B. Benenson VisitorCenter & Gallery (Thursday to Sunday,11–5) to see the gallery, get a map ofthe Sculpture Park (7 days, dawn todusk), use the bathrooms, or visit thecafé. After visiting your favorite sculp-

tures (we like the Dirt Man, which weconsider to be both intellectuallychallenging and quite handsome),get back on 22 and head west (leftfrom the parking lot). Take the sec-ond right at Habeck, and bear righton Schmidt. There are some moder-ate hills on this route, but nothingyou can't handle. Schmidt takes youback to Route 66, turn right, pastGrazin’ Angus Acres (they'll let you

visit and sell you grass-fed beef) andturn left onto German Church Road.This is a great road despite the factthat it's all dirt and gravel, and there'sno church. There is, however, an oldcemetery and lots of cows, and youget to ride right through the middleof a pasture. Nice. German Church ends at County

Route 9. Turn right for a blissfully flatride ending in Mellenville Squarewhere you turn right on 217 to takeyou back to Ockawamick and your car.

v i c k i ro s e n wa l d and her hus-band bought new bikes and a houseon Stone Mill Road in 2003. In herother life, she is an oncology researchnurse in NYC. Becky and Vicki havebeen pedaling and talking since theymet in 2004.r e b e c c a s t o w e is the author ofthree novels, and numerous shortstories and essays. After thirty yearsof writing, editing and teaching, shehas changed course and returned tograduate school to study AnimalBehavior and Conservation.

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Conservancy's Lewis A. SawyerPreserve, one of only five freshwatertidal swamps in New York State.There is a half-mile boardwalk lead-ing through the swamp, with inter-pretive signs, which we always findhelpful, as we both tend to forgetthings these days.After the preserve, you'll climb a

short hill, at the top of which is aspectacular view of Schodack IslandState Park, sitting in the middle of theHudson. Watch for Ridge Road onyour right. Ride (or walk) up the hilland follow the road as it curves to theright, then up another hill and onto anice long flat piece of road throughresidential areas and farmland, withthose stunning views of the Catskillson your right and the Berkshires onyour left. Continue on Ridge Road until the

stop sign at Schoolhouse Road. Makea left and ride 7/10 of a mile to Route21. Make a right onto 21 and take itback into Kinderhook Village.

THE COPAKE COWS AND CAMPING RIDEIf you think farm animals are anessential element of country living,this is the ride for you. It’s repletewith cows, pigs and chickens. And ifyou're a camper, you can pitch a tentor rent a cabin at Taconic State Parkor park your RV at Oleana orWaubeeka Campgrounds. At 17 miles, this is our shortest

and flattest ride, G-rated and suitablefor the entire family. It's easy. Really.If you've ridden the Harlem ValleyRail Trail and are ready for some-thing a little more challenging—butonly a little—this is a good next step.It's also a very good ride for people

without bikes (or who have guestswithout bikes) as it starts at the RailTrail in Copake Falls, adjacent toBash Bish Bicycle, where you can rentbicycles by the hour or the day(www.bashbishbicycle.com). Head south on the Trail until it

turns briefly onto Valley View Road,which is partially dirt. Instead of turn-ing left to continue on the Rail Trail,keep riding on Valley View down thehill and through the open pastureand hay fields until you reach Weed

Mine Road. Turn right on Weed Minewhich will take you to Route 22. Turn right onto 22, and almost

immediately turn left onto 7A into thehamlet of Copake. Turn right at theclock and leave town on Route 7A,admiring Langdonhurst Farms, thefirst of several dairy farms you will beseeing, on your right. A bit further on,7A turns into Route 7 at the OleanaCampground. Pass Upper RhodaPond on your right, then CampPontiac and Lower Rhoda Pond onthe left. You can take a water breakhere to share fond (or not-so-fond)memories of sleepaway camp. At 7.5 miles, turn left on Simons

Road. This soon turns to dirt, so ifyou are on a road bike, you will wantto turn off Route 7 earlier, at FourCorners Road, to avoid ruining yourtires, and rejoin the route later. OnSimons you'll ride past a vast swampon your left and then come around abend to see the beautiful “1799 Barn”on your right. Pass two more dairyfarms and turn left at a T onto WiltsieBridge Road, where you will driveright through a farm, with cows on allsides. At 8.5 miles, turn left ontoEmpire Road, riding through thewide flat valley of the Roeliff JansenKill. You'll be riding toward theBerkshire Ridge, and have a greatview as you head back to Copake. Ifyou need refreshment, you can stopat Dad's for drive-up ice cream, with-out even getting off your bike!Continue past Dad's on 7A, to

Farm Road on your left. Go straight onFarm Road passing WaubeekaCampground and ride through rollingfarmland until you reach 22. On yourright is Pigasso Farm, famous for pas-

tured poultry. (If you have a basket,you can buy a chicken.) Turn right on22 and go 8/10 of a mile before bear-ing left onto 344, back into CopakeFalls. Once there, you can take a jumpin the Ore Pit Pond in Taconic StatePark, or bike on up 344 to the trailhead for Bash Bish Falls and take awalk through the woods to the Falls. Ifyou're with the kids, and you feel theyneed a history lesson, take them overto the Copake Iron Works.

THE ART AND HISTORY RIDE (AKA THE RIDE OF MANY BATHROOMS)This is a really great ride, with some-thing for everyone: a little 19th centu-ry history, some art, beautifulcountryside, a farmstand with a pet-ting zoo, and lots of public restrooms. We met in the parking lot at

Ockawamick School on Route 217 inClaverack, and headed north onTishauser Road, an easy downhill ridethat cuts through farmland and offersa long, unobstructed view of theCatskills. When you cross Gahbauer(which isn't marked), Tishauserbecomes Tipple and you are now inGhent. Open farmland turns into coolshady stretches through woods, lead-ing to Route 66, continuing straightonto Orchard Road. Orchard ends in aT at George Road. Make a left and fol-low George as it rises along an openfield that was dotted with massivebales of fresh hay the day we rode. George ends at County Route 22.

Go left and make a decision when youreach the West Ghent ReformedChurch. Are you hungry? Do you needa bathroom? If so, continue to Route9H, and make a left. Less than a mileon your right is Love Apple Farm,where you can get (depending on thecalendar) fresh cherries, raspberries(black and red), blackberries, cur-rants, apricots, peaches, nectarines,plums, pears and apples (many vari-eties). Also homemade Mexican food,apple cider donuts, and slices ofhomemade pie, ice cream and drinks.You can pick your own fruit, and youcan also get your animal fix for theday at the petting zoo. We madefriends with a goat who was eating anapple tree. If you want to forge ahead without

a pit stop, then make a right on OldPost Road before you get to 9H. Thereis a brief stretch of hard-packed dirtroad, so road bikers may want to cutover to 9H earlier. Everyone else headstraight on Old Post until it stops at9H. You will see Lindenwald, thehome of our eighth President, MartinVan Buren, across the road on yourright. There is a bathroom and watercooler at the visitor center, also books,brochures, videos, First Lady PlayingCards, and coloring books, for anyonewho is getting a little fidgety. Head north on 9H to Fischer Road

and make a right. Immediately onyour right is organic Katchkie Farms,

m a p ss c a l e : o n e i n c h = 1 . 5 m i l e sReproduced with permission of j i m a p c o , i n c .c o l u m b i a c o u n t y t e n t h e d i t i o nc o p y r i g h t 2 0 0 8 Buy a copy at bookstores and convenience storesthroughout the region. Shows and names everysingle road. Best investment a Columbia Countytourist can make.