16.5 Miles Along the Mohawk-Hudson Bikeway
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
The last day of my holiday break - time for a bike ride (especially with the Lake Effect Snowshoe Duathlon only 25 days away!)
My legs were feeling a bit tired from yesterday's run (after all, I hadn't run or ridden in a week!) so the first part of the ride was tough. I did an out-and-back from the Niskayuna Lions Park toward Colonie, and when I got back (at about 9.5 miles) I strongly considered stopping. But instead I pushed on and went all the way to the top of the hill alongside the old landfill - and then back down, for my first ride down that hill since The Crash back in August (at least, I think this was my first ride down that hill since then...) Funny thing is, I'm not totally sure where along that hill I crashed... anyway, my legs were feeling a bit better for the 2nd half of the ride, so I'm glad I kept with it.
Some cool things to note -
- quite a bit of beaver-gnawing on the trees near the park... guess there are some beavers living nearby!
- I saw an unusual-looking bird, kind of like a mini-loon, when I was crossing the old railroad bridge near where the path turns away from the river. I'm not positive, but I think it was a horned grebe in winter plumage (black and white), based on the research I've done in books and on-line.
- sunset on the river was beautiful... as was the moon shining hazily through the clouds on the drive home
- the days are getting longer! both last night and tonight I finished near 5 PM, and it wasn't totally dark!
Based on the noises my bike was making, I need to do some maintenance work on it - maybe this weekend. And based on the noises my legs were making I need to do a good deal more riding before the duathlon!
JMH
