Dutchess County Rail Trail (DCRT) and Culinary Institute of America (CIA)
A beautiful ride with great people and fantastic food!
This ride has us biking over to Poughkeepsie/Hudson River where, after spending a little time on the bridge enjoying the view/taking pictures, we’ll bike on local roads up to The Culinary Institute for lunch in a private room overlooking the Hudson River. Possibility of catching some foliage colors.
Name of Ride: Dutchess County Rail Trail (DCRT) and Culinary Institute of America(CIA)
Date: Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Time: 8:30 am assembly at Ridgefield Bicycle Company
Limitation: This ride is limited to max 30 riders, due to luncheon space constraints. RBSC members and their guests.
Narrative/Description of Ride:
DCRT is a relatively new rail trail running from Hopewell Junction in Dutchess County over to Poughkeepsie on the Hudson River, where it links up to the old RR bridge over the river, called the Walkway Over the Hudson. The DCRT is in excellent condition, completely paved, quite flat and has only a few street crossings. The segment up to and back from the CIA is on local roads. There is a rest room at the start and Port-o-Sans along the DCRT route.
After spending a little time on the bridge, 200 feet above the Hudson River, enjoying the view/taking pictures, we’ll ride North on local roads the 3.5 miles up to The Culinary Institute for lunch.
The Culinary Institute of America(CIA) is the premiere collegiate educational facility for aspiring chefs and food service professionals. The campus is located in Hyde Park, N.Y., overlooking the beautiful Hudson valley.
The bike group will lunch in a private dining room in “The Egg” building overlooking the Hudson, which is the dining facility used by the students, and on special occasions, guests. The setup is a series of food stations, with different offerings each day. Our RBSC group will then go to a private room, where seating/tables are set up, and coffee/dessert will be pre-positioned on buffets in the room. The room opens out onto a deck overlooking the river.
Cost: $25 per person (special RBSC Member price); Guest Price $35 to cover lunch and tip.
Bike parking: Plan is to have bike racks positioned in front of the EGG building, reserved for us. The campus is quite secure, but it would be good to bring bike locks, just in case;
Bike Shoes/Floors: The floors in the CIA buildings, including The Egg, are generally well maintained marble, tile, or polished wood, and some of these surfaces are a bit slippery. Accordingly, we’ve agreed that bikers would not wear clip in style biking shoes past the main Egg entrance door to reduce the chance of slipping and to avoid scraping the floors. CIA will provide two large lockers for us to store our shoes. Riders should bring some sandals for use at the facility.
CIA Presentation: Subject to schedules, during/just after the luncheon, Ridgefield resident, Brendan Walsh, Dean of CIA, and former owner/chef at The Elms in Ridgefield, or another CIA dean or Exec, may make a short presentation to the group about CIA, its history, facilities and food/nutrition philosophy etc.
Milage: About 35 miles, mostly on the DCRT;
Pace: 12-15 mph
Approximate duration of ride:
8:30 am: Assemble group at Ridgefield Bike Shop/load up car(s)/get coffee
9:00 Depart by car to Hopewell Junction (HJ)
9:45 Arrive HJ, disembark
10:00 Start ride
11:30 Arrive at Walkway—bike over Hudson, take in the view, pics etc
11:45 Bike North to CIA
12:15/30 Lunch at The Egg at CIA
2:15 Depart back to Hopewell Junction
3:45 Arrive HJ Depot
4:00 Depart by car to Ridgefield
4:45 Arrive Ridgefield
Driving Directions—Ridgefield area to Hopewell Junction Depot (30-32 miles):
1-Route 84 West to Taconic State Parkway North
2-Apx 1.5 miles to exit for Route 52---go West( left), toward Fishkill
3-Apx 1 Mile to Route 376 toward Hopewell—right turn
4-Apx 2.5-3 miles on Route 376 to Railroad Ave---past Route 82( you get on and off Route 82 very quickly—about 100 yards) and over RR tracks---Railroad Ave is a straight continuance when Route 376 turns left to Bridge St
5-Depot and parking lot for Rail Trail are straight ahead—look for Hopewell Junction Train Depot signs. The Depot is a restored train station at the trailhead.
Level: All levels welcomed. Given the easy terrain, expectation is that any C rider and better will have no problem with the ride. This is a more social vs competitive ride, and we will be sharing the trail with walkers and casual bikers, especially on the return leg.
Cue Sheet/Map : https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28153591
Carpool options: We’ll be meeting at the shop to start our drive over to Hopewell Junction at 8:30 am. There will be a need for drivers/bike carrying capacity, so when you register, let Joe Boland know by email if you can accommodate additional bikes/bikers in your car OR if you need transportation assistance.
Rain Date if applicable: Tuesday, October 11, 2018
Ride Leader: Joe Boland
Email: jnboland@optonline.net
Some related website links below—nice pics on the Facebook page:
DCRT: https://www.facebook.com/DutchessCountyRailTrail
WALWAY OVER THE HUDSON: http://www.walkway.org/
POUGHKEEPSIE BRIDGE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poughkeepsie_Bridge
CULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA: https://www.ciachef.edu/
THE EGG AT CIA: http://www.fesmag.com/departments/facility-design-project-of-the-month/13368-the-egg-at-the-culinary-institute-of-america,-hyde-park,-n-y
VIDEO OF WALKWAY: https://vimeo.com/164915259
VIDEO OF CIA: https://www.ciachef.edu/cia-new-york/
