FIRST (LOCAL) EGRET OF THE SUMMER...
12.2 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Saturday, July 27, 2013
NO DRYDEN LAKE TRI FOR THE TURTLE... SIGH...
Saturday, July 27, 2013
... and I have only my own stupidity to blame for it. Turns out the AC units at the Ithaca Rodeway Inn are very loud... and the fan runs constantly when the unit is on. I spent about three hours trying to get to sleep and finally gave up. And since they want us at Dryden Lake ridiculously early (2 1/2 hours before the start) I don't think 3 hours of sleep is going to cut it.
Of course, what I should have done immediately is what I finally did at 3 AM... turned off the dang AC completely and fell asleep almost immediately. Dumb dumb dumb.
So I guess I'll get to Taughannock Falls and back home to Rochester a good deal earlier than originally planned - and I'll hit the trails for a much longer bike ride this afternoon.
JMH
Saturday, July 27, 2013
... and I have only my own stupidity to blame for it. Turns out the AC units at the Ithaca Rodeway Inn are very loud... and the fan runs constantly when the unit is on. I spent about three hours trying to get to sleep and finally gave up. And since they want us at Dryden Lake ridiculously early (2 1/2 hours before the start) I don't think 3 hours of sleep is going to cut it.
Of course, what I should have done immediately is what I finally did at 3 AM... turned off the dang AC completely and fell asleep almost immediately. Dumb dumb dumb.
So I guess I'll get to Taughannock Falls and back home to Rochester a good deal earlier than originally planned - and I'll hit the trails for a much longer bike ride this afternoon.
JMH
Friday, July 26, 2013
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Friday, July 12, 2013
Cleaning and Organizing STILL Sucks...
Sunday, July 12, 2012
Ironic that last summer I said "maybe I'll be done with the cleaning and organizing by the end of the month" and here I've been spending part of the last three weeks cleaning and organizing... this is the latest pile of stuff, several contractor bags and boxes to be put out with the trash and a bunch of bags of clothing and other stuff to take to the Salvation Army donation bins.
Of course, what this doesn't show is the seven contractor bags of trash that I've put out over the past two trash pickup days... At this point, I think I'll be hopeful that all of the work will be done by the end of this summer, so that I don't end up doing another post like this a year from now...!
JMH
Sunday, July 12, 2012
Ironic that last summer I said "maybe I'll be done with the cleaning and organizing by the end of the month" and here I've been spending part of the last three weeks cleaning and organizing... this is the latest pile of stuff, several contractor bags and boxes to be put out with the trash and a bunch of bags of clothing and other stuff to take to the Salvation Army donation bins.
Of course, what this doesn't show is the seven contractor bags of trash that I've put out over the past two trash pickup days... At this point, I think I'll be hopeful that all of the work will be done by the end of this summer, so that I don't end up doing another post like this a year from now...!
JMH
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Monday, July 08, 2013
Sunday, July 07, 2013
Saturday, July 06, 2013
Friday, July 05, 2013
Thursday, July 04, 2013
12.7 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Thursday, July 4, 2013
I really wasn't sure I wanted to ride again today - my legs felt pretty tired from the last two days - but I'm not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow, so I hit the bike path for what I planned as an easy ride... of course what should be easy rarely is...
Today I started out heading east for a change, looped around on the road to the water treatment plant, and headed back. The trip over to Lock 7 was uneventful. Not a lot of traffic on the bike path, probably due to both the holiday and the heat/humidity. Even the lock area was pretty quiet - I would have figure there would be lots of trailers at the boat launch, but there was nobody. Stopped to check out the high water levels over the dam (though it has gone down noticably since Tuesday) then headed on my way... except as I was leaving the parking lot it became clear I had a flat on the rear wheel. Aaargh!
It is a lot easier to change a flat when there's a picnic table handy, so in that regards I lucked out. Changing the tube was relatively easy (I've had lots of practice over the last few days) and I was riding again fairly soon. Except... "bump, bump, bump"... which I put up with for the mile or so to the base of the hill up the old landfill, where I stopped, deflated the tube, reseated the tire, and pumped it back up. No sign of problems on the ride back to the car... hurray!
I had thought to try a short run today to test my knee, but my legs (and the rest of me too) are feeling tired enough that I think I'll wait until tomorrow.
JMH
Thursday, July 4, 2013
I really wasn't sure I wanted to ride again today - my legs felt pretty tired from the last two days - but I'm not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow, so I hit the bike path for what I planned as an easy ride... of course what should be easy rarely is...
Today I started out heading east for a change, looped around on the road to the water treatment plant, and headed back. The trip over to Lock 7 was uneventful. Not a lot of traffic on the bike path, probably due to both the holiday and the heat/humidity. Even the lock area was pretty quiet - I would have figure there would be lots of trailers at the boat launch, but there was nobody. Stopped to check out the high water levels over the dam (though it has gone down noticably since Tuesday) then headed on my way... except as I was leaving the parking lot it became clear I had a flat on the rear wheel. Aaargh!
It is a lot easier to change a flat when there's a picnic table handy, so in that regards I lucked out. Changing the tube was relatively easy (I've had lots of practice over the last few days) and I was riding again fairly soon. Except... "bump, bump, bump"... which I put up with for the mile or so to the base of the hill up the old landfill, where I stopped, deflated the tube, reseated the tire, and pumped it back up. No sign of problems on the ride back to the car... hurray!
I had thought to try a short run today to test my knee, but my legs (and the rest of me too) are feeling tired enough that I think I'll wait until tomorrow.
JMH
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
Tuesday, July 02, 2013
WOODCHUCKLES REDUX & A TROUBLESOME BIKE
11 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Yesterday I left the bike I usually ride out in Rochester, both because it was raining steadily and I'm hoping my knee will have recovered enough for me to do the Tri the Oatka paddle triathlon in a week and a half - so during that time I need to put in a few miles on the bike I typically ride during races. I knew I needed to replace the tires first, so this morning I tackled that job. What I had forgotten was that I also needed to replace a broken spoke on the front wheel - and unfortunately I didn't notice that until after I had the tire replaced. Sigh...
Heading out on the bike path I felt a steady bump from the back wheel that probably meant the wire bead wasn't seated properly on the rim in one spot... I've had that issue once or twice before with that wheel, most memorably during the Mohawk Towpath Duathlon back in 2007. I figured it would be OK for a few miles so I decided to endure it until I got back to the car (how's that for foreshadowing?)
Stopped at Lock 7 to look for the six woodchuckles I saw a while ago... no sign of them near the burrows. But, as I was getting ready to leave, I spotted them - all the way across the lawn, in a brushy area near the road. Either woodchucks are incredible burrowers, the little squirts have gotten very brave, or Ma and Pa woodchuck have booted them out, because they were a good 100 yds from the burrows next to the Lock. Then again, if it came down to a 100 m dash between me and the woodchuckles, I'd put my money on them. Spent a few minutes taking photos of them, before my being there scared them into the brush, then headed on down the bike path.
Except now the "bump, bump, bump" was much worse, and when I stopped I discovered that the tube had popped the tire off the rim and was getting steadily worse. So I deflated the tube, did my best to re-seat the tire, and then pumped it back up as best I could with my hand pump. That took enough wind out of my sails that I considered stopping when I got back to the car. I haven't been on the Dawes since the end of April, and the frame geometry and gearing is just different enough that it can be take some getting used to - in other words my legs were grumbling.
On the way back I stopped at the Niska Isle bridge to take some pictures and was treated to another goose parade (flotilla?) as several families made their way single file to the far shore. An incredible number are hanging out in that area - looked like 8 adults and 30+ youngsters of various ages.
I managed to convince myself that it was worth riding down to the old railroad bridge ove Shaker's Creek, and I'm glad I did - I'd have felt pretty wimpy later on if I'd stopped after 6-7 miles. And tomorrow I get to work on the back tire again... it looks like the rubber over the bead may have torn away, so I may need to throw that one out and put a different one on...
JMH
11 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Yesterday I left the bike I usually ride out in Rochester, both because it was raining steadily and I'm hoping my knee will have recovered enough for me to do the Tri the Oatka paddle triathlon in a week and a half - so during that time I need to put in a few miles on the bike I typically ride during races. I knew I needed to replace the tires first, so this morning I tackled that job. What I had forgotten was that I also needed to replace a broken spoke on the front wheel - and unfortunately I didn't notice that until after I had the tire replaced. Sigh...
Heading out on the bike path I felt a steady bump from the back wheel that probably meant the wire bead wasn't seated properly on the rim in one spot... I've had that issue once or twice before with that wheel, most memorably during the Mohawk Towpath Duathlon back in 2007. I figured it would be OK for a few miles so I decided to endure it until I got back to the car (how's that for foreshadowing?)
Stopped at Lock 7 to look for the six woodchuckles I saw a while ago... no sign of them near the burrows. But, as I was getting ready to leave, I spotted them - all the way across the lawn, in a brushy area near the road. Either woodchucks are incredible burrowers, the little squirts have gotten very brave, or Ma and Pa woodchuck have booted them out, because they were a good 100 yds from the burrows next to the Lock. Then again, if it came down to a 100 m dash between me and the woodchuckles, I'd put my money on them. Spent a few minutes taking photos of them, before my being there scared them into the brush, then headed on down the bike path.
Except now the "bump, bump, bump" was much worse, and when I stopped I discovered that the tube had popped the tire off the rim and was getting steadily worse. So I deflated the tube, did my best to re-seat the tire, and then pumped it back up as best I could with my hand pump. That took enough wind out of my sails that I considered stopping when I got back to the car. I haven't been on the Dawes since the end of April, and the frame geometry and gearing is just different enough that it can be take some getting used to - in other words my legs were grumbling.
On the way back I stopped at the Niska Isle bridge to take some pictures and was treated to another goose parade (flotilla?) as several families made their way single file to the far shore. An incredible number are hanging out in that area - looked like 8 adults and 30+ youngsters of various ages.
I managed to convince myself that it was worth riding down to the old railroad bridge ove Shaker's Creek, and I'm glad I did - I'd have felt pretty wimpy later on if I'd stopped after 6-7 miles. And tomorrow I get to work on the back tire again... it looks like the rubber over the bead may have torn away, so I may need to throw that one out and put a different one on...
JMH
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