16.1 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Friday, May 31, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
FINALLY - RIDING AGAIN!
11.4 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Last week was not conducive to riding - we had a lot of rain, and riding in the rain sucks.
Ann and I opted for a lot of walking this weekend rather than riding - understandably, since it was a bit chilly and she rides to work most days (so riding on a chilly weekend day sucks almost as much as riding in the rain.)
So today I was ready to ride again, over a week since I was last on the bike. I figured I'd stop at the Old Erie Canal either west or east of Syracuse and put in 15-20 miles. And what did I wake up to? Rain.
I did drive out of the storm and briefly considered riding the canal path from Utica to Rome, but the dark clouds not far to the west changed my mind - getting wet and then having a 90 minute drive home with no easy way to change clothes didn't appeal.
My next thought was the park at the Lock east of Canajoharie and ride west to Fort Plain. Weather looked reasonable, but when I got off the Thruway I found a work crew blocking the canal path and detouring onto the road to get around them twice didn't appeal.
In the end I drove home, unpacked my stuff, and then headed over to the bike path for an easy "it's been a week with no riding" ride. My legs felt curiously leaden as I headed west - I guess the hills we went up and down Sunday and Monday took their toll, along with the distance we walked... doesn't bode well for running, when my knee is finally well enough. I'm going to have a lot of rebuilding to do.
I ended up going all the way up to Knolls, despite my original plan to avoid hills today. On the way back I discovered that my legs were even more leaden when I was pushing against the headwind that had apparently been helping me on the way out. In the end, I rode east to the older parking lot by the old water treatment plant, made it to the top of the hill, and then headed back to the car. It would have been nice to go further but I couldn't see beating my legs up today and paying for it for the rest of the week.
JMH
11.4 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Last week was not conducive to riding - we had a lot of rain, and riding in the rain sucks.
Ann and I opted for a lot of walking this weekend rather than riding - understandably, since it was a bit chilly and she rides to work most days (so riding on a chilly weekend day sucks almost as much as riding in the rain.)
So today I was ready to ride again, over a week since I was last on the bike. I figured I'd stop at the Old Erie Canal either west or east of Syracuse and put in 15-20 miles. And what did I wake up to? Rain.
I did drive out of the storm and briefly considered riding the canal path from Utica to Rome, but the dark clouds not far to the west changed my mind - getting wet and then having a 90 minute drive home with no easy way to change clothes didn't appeal.
My next thought was the park at the Lock east of Canajoharie and ride west to Fort Plain. Weather looked reasonable, but when I got off the Thruway I found a work crew blocking the canal path and detouring onto the road to get around them twice didn't appeal.
In the end I drove home, unpacked my stuff, and then headed over to the bike path for an easy "it's been a week with no riding" ride. My legs felt curiously leaden as I headed west - I guess the hills we went up and down Sunday and Monday took their toll, along with the distance we walked... doesn't bode well for running, when my knee is finally well enough. I'm going to have a lot of rebuilding to do.
I ended up going all the way up to Knolls, despite my original plan to avoid hills today. On the way back I discovered that my legs were even more leaden when I was pushing against the headwind that had apparently been helping me on the way out. In the end, I rode east to the older parking lot by the old water treatment plant, made it to the top of the hill, and then headed back to the car. It would have been nice to go further but I couldn't see beating my legs up today and paying for it for the rest of the week.
JMH
Monday, May 27, 2013
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Friday, May 24, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
19 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Monday, May 20, 2013
And here we are, once again, mid-May with high humidity and temperatures in the low 80's. At least it made it easy to dress for tonight's ride...
A good ride tonight, spent most of the time pedaling at a pretty good clip. Took the bike path east past Colonie Mohawk River Park to the intersection with Reservoir St, then headed back... nice downhill from the park to where I turned, then a long but not too steep uphill back to the park. Good opportunity to push it a bit.
When I got back to the Lions Park I headed west... thought to go all the way out to Lock 7 Rd or even Lock 7, but only made it to the farm lane crossing before I decided to turn around... wasn't sure my legs had another 2 miles (out and back) in them on top of the mile and a half to get back to the car.
On Saturday I replaced my chain and bottom bracket (OK, the Kent's chain and bb) because I'd been getting a fairly loud clunking coming from that area when I rode. Apparently that wasn't the problem, because I got it tonight, too. I'm starting to think it's because I can't always keep constant tension on the pedals, and the system clanks/clunks when I catch up to it. Now I need to do a little fine-tuning of the derailleurs... maybe once school's done, unless they give me trouble between now and then.
Overall a good ride... but damn I wish I could run.
JMH
Monday, May 20, 2013
And here we are, once again, mid-May with high humidity and temperatures in the low 80's. At least it made it easy to dress for tonight's ride...
A good ride tonight, spent most of the time pedaling at a pretty good clip. Took the bike path east past Colonie Mohawk River Park to the intersection with Reservoir St, then headed back... nice downhill from the park to where I turned, then a long but not too steep uphill back to the park. Good opportunity to push it a bit.
When I got back to the Lions Park I headed west... thought to go all the way out to Lock 7 Rd or even Lock 7, but only made it to the farm lane crossing before I decided to turn around... wasn't sure my legs had another 2 miles (out and back) in them on top of the mile and a half to get back to the car.
On Saturday I replaced my chain and bottom bracket (OK, the Kent's chain and bb) because I'd been getting a fairly loud clunking coming from that area when I rode. Apparently that wasn't the problem, because I got it tonight, too. I'm starting to think it's because I can't always keep constant tension on the pedals, and the system clanks/clunks when I catch up to it. Now I need to do a little fine-tuning of the derailleurs... maybe once school's done, unless they give me trouble between now and then.
Overall a good ride... but damn I wish I could run.
JMH
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
HILLS
18.4 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Before I screwed up my knee I had planned to run the Olana Star Loop trail race this evening, for the 7th year in a row... it's one of my favorites of the spring running season (though I will admit I preferred it more when most of the trails were a bit more rugged and washed out) despite the fact that it's almost non-stop hills. The weather was good enough to take a bike out, so I decided I should ride some hills instead, and headed west on the bike path toward the Niskayuna hills near Knolls and GE.
Fewer people on the path than on Saturday, which was nice. At first I thought I'd ride to GE, but then I figured what the heck, might was well continue to the top of the killer hill above the power lines and river... and then I figured what the heck, what's one more hill and went all the way to Aqueduct Road. At that point the sky was clouding up a bit so I decided to head back in case it rained.
The trip out had two tough climbs - the old landfill and the hill up to GE - plus a lot of low-grade climbing between Blatnick Park and the path west of GE. The ride back was easier - two tough climbs (the killer hill climbing away from the river and powerlines, and the climb back up to GE) but then is relatively easy. When I got back to the Lions Park I decided to keep heading east... almost made it to the view of the river, but decided I'd had enough and turned back early. Except apparently I hadn't had enough, because I went a bit further chasing the sunset, which was lighting the sky on fire... unfortunately, by the time I got back to spot with any sort of view, it was mostly over.
It continues to amaze me how quickly everything greened up - seems like just a couple of weeks ago everything was brown and grey, and now there's green everywhere. Lots of birds around too... I spotted a wood thrush, a yellow-shafted flicker, a bluebird, and one which was either a cerulean warbler or a black-throated blue warbler... he disappeared too quickly for me to make a positive ID. Plus of course a gazillion robins, catbirds, and blackbirds. Even saw a hawk getting harassed by a group of blackbirds.
JMH
18.4 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Before I screwed up my knee I had planned to run the Olana Star Loop trail race this evening, for the 7th year in a row... it's one of my favorites of the spring running season (though I will admit I preferred it more when most of the trails were a bit more rugged and washed out) despite the fact that it's almost non-stop hills. The weather was good enough to take a bike out, so I decided I should ride some hills instead, and headed west on the bike path toward the Niskayuna hills near Knolls and GE.
Fewer people on the path than on Saturday, which was nice. At first I thought I'd ride to GE, but then I figured what the heck, might was well continue to the top of the killer hill above the power lines and river... and then I figured what the heck, what's one more hill and went all the way to Aqueduct Road. At that point the sky was clouding up a bit so I decided to head back in case it rained.
The trip out had two tough climbs - the old landfill and the hill up to GE - plus a lot of low-grade climbing between Blatnick Park and the path west of GE. The ride back was easier - two tough climbs (the killer hill climbing away from the river and powerlines, and the climb back up to GE) but then is relatively easy. When I got back to the Lions Park I decided to keep heading east... almost made it to the view of the river, but decided I'd had enough and turned back early. Except apparently I hadn't had enough, because I went a bit further chasing the sunset, which was lighting the sky on fire... unfortunately, by the time I got back to spot with any sort of view, it was mostly over.
It continues to amaze me how quickly everything greened up - seems like just a couple of weeks ago everything was brown and grey, and now there's green everywhere. Lots of birds around too... I spotted a wood thrush, a yellow-shafted flicker, a bluebird, and one which was either a cerulean warbler or a black-throated blue warbler... he disappeared too quickly for me to make a positive ID. Plus of course a gazillion robins, catbirds, and blackbirds. Even saw a hawk getting harassed by a group of blackbirds.
JMH
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Tuesday, May 07, 2013
Monday, May 06, 2013
Sunday, May 05, 2013
Saturday, May 04, 2013
Friday, May 03, 2013
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