Thursday, August 21, 2008
Well, I'd hoped to do some riding out in western NY, possibly along one of the old Erie Canal paths or on the Ontario Pathways trail... but after finding it tough to get my backside in gear, I ended up settling for a ride a little closer to home. The Erie Canalway trail in eastern NY runs from just outside of Albany to Fort Plain with only a few miles of road riding needed here and there to connect sections of the trail. One of the longer sections is from Amsterdam to Fort Plain (approximately 30 miles altogether.) I rode the path from Amsterdam to Randall back in July; tonight I decided to start in Randall and ride to Fort Plain.
As I noted back in July, this section of trail has two disadvantages. It runs basically parallel to the Thruway, so there's always a background of traffic noise. And many sections of the trail are relatively flat and straight, so it can be a bit boring. Of course, that can also be an advantage - since there weren't many distractions, I spent most of the time just cranking out miles and got in a reasonably good workout in a relatively short distance. The section from Canajoharie to Fort Plain is paved, which was a big help. I always find myself appreciating pavement a little more after spending some time riding on packed stone dust!
JMH
