Saturday, September 23, 2006

20.5 Mile Bike Ride Out New Scotland Avenue
Saturday, September 23, 2006

After a long morning and early afternoon teaching karate and then working on getting the school ready for the colored belt testing next Wednesday, I came home and convinced myself to get out on my bike for a ride. (Especially since it's supposed to rain tomorrow.) Headed over the New Scotland Ave and out toward the Helderbergs. There's a fair amount of traffic along that road, but the shoulders are moderately wide, for the most part. Did the loop off on Fisher to Orchard and down past Five Rivers. As I was going past the ponds, I caught a glimpse of a heron right near the roadside dam - if not for the hill I was facing immediately after that, I'd have stopped to get a better look at him.

It got a bit dark toward the end, which was a bit nerve-wracking - at least I had on my reflective orange safety vest. I also noticed on the hazards of city riding as I returned to Albany - 8" curbs just inches away from my right pedal! With cars zipping by on the left, it took a lot of concentration to stay well away from those curbs and not crash!

But I made it home without mishap and I'm glad I went riding... it's a lot less stressful than running right now, and I've got 20 miles of hills to ride next Sunday at the Rochester Autumn Classic Duathlon!

JMH
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