The Snyderville 8

I just finished riding Columbia County Route 8 in Livingston. You could rightly ask which Route 8 because, inexplicably, there are Columbia County Route 8s literally all over the map.

There is the County Route 8 that takes you from U.S. Route 9 west into Germantown and down to the Hudson River. There is a County Route 8 in Ancram at the southeast corner of Columbia that runs to the Dutchess County line (by the way, this 8 connects to a County Route 8A). And there is a County Route 8 that runs south for eight miles from U.S. Route 9 in Livingston to County Route 11 in Gallatin. This last 8 is the one I rode today. 

Before I talk about the ride, I have to ask, why all the discontiguous Route 8s? Was it some highway engineer's joke? A sign maker's error? For example, when you are riding north on Route 8 near Blues Stores and you cross Route 9, you suddenly are on County Route 31. To stay on Route 8, you have to turn left at this intersection and head south on Route 9 for about a mile, then take a right to get back on Route 8 (the part that takes you to Germantown). 

Anyway, to clarify where I was today, I am naming the road I rode The Snyderville 8, because it runs through the hamlet of Snyderville in the northwest part of Gallatin. It includes the William and Victoria Pulver House and Snyderville Schoolhouse, which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (you'll pass the schoolhouse on your ride). 

Back to biking. I am fired up about two miles of new asphalt near the Taconic State Parkway that provides a challenging climb and steep descent to County Route 11. I was having so much fun on this new blacktop that I turned around and climbed back to Parkway and did the climb/descent again. I saw just one or two cars on this section of road -- it was like cycling heaven. 

It was near 90 degrees with high humidity and the heat reflecting off the dark black road was ferocious. Perhaps that explains why, when I saw the farm in the photo below, it looked like a rocket launching facility. As I rode home I conceived the joke you see in the photo cutline below. At the time, it seemed hilarious. I think it demonstrates why my clients have stopped asking me to write jokes for them. 

The secretive Snyderville Space Center preparing for another launch of cows into space. It is the only facility in the world using cowstronauts.