Greetings,

Intro: I've been biking in and around Pawling since moving here in 1992. In the
80s I did
some long bike tours in the upper Midwest, Canada, New York, India, Sri Lanka,
Nepal,
Thailand, and Malaysia, and thinking about doing one in France next year for my
50th (!). For
the fun of it I recently started a bike log at
http://dutchessbikelog.blogspot.com/. I've done
lots of longer rides than the blog shows, but almost all on the east side of
Dutchess County
except for a foray or two to New Paltz.

Query: I'd like to do some rides from Pawling to Beacon (partially inspired by
noticing a
Muddycup coffee shop there recently) and back, perhaps via Cold Spring one way
or the
other. I know that Rte 301 is a decent ride to Cold Spring, but I'm wondering if
there is a nice,
traffic-avoiding way to get to Beacon or at least Fishkill. Hills are fine but
I'd like to avoid Rte
52 and other trafficky roads if possible.

Thanks,

Al