14.7 Mile Ride in Clifton Park & Vischer Ferry
Saturday, September 22, 2007
I wanted to get in a short ride on the Dawes today, after replacing the front brake pads and front tire last night, so I decided to head up to Vischer Ferry and ride part of the bike course for the Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway Duathlon which I'm planning to do in mid-October. I parked at the main entrance to the Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve and first rode down Riverview Road toward the area where the race will start, then back out on the rest of the course.
The weather today was more mid-summer than September - hot and hazy. Rode through some nice countryside and the small town of Vischer Ferry, which reminded me of some of the small Berkshires towns I used to ride through back when I lived down there.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
I wanted to get in a short ride on the Dawes today, after replacing the front brake pads and front tire last night, so I decided to head up to Vischer Ferry and ride part of the bike course for the Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway Duathlon which I'm planning to do in mid-October. I parked at the main entrance to the Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve and first rode down Riverview Road toward the area where the race will start, then back out on the rest of the course.
The weather today was more mid-summer than September - hot and hazy. Rode through some nice countryside and the small town of Vischer Ferry, which reminded me of some of the small Berkshires towns I used to ride through back when I lived down there.
The bike course is definitely challenging - lots of hills! Some of the roads are also tricky to ride, because there's no shoulder, but since the traffic wasn't bad today I don't expect it will be any worse early Sunday morning. And if the leaves haven't all dropped by then, it should be a beautiful ride!
Just before I got back to the Preserve, a snapping turtle was hustling across the road in front of me, so I stopped and watched him for a bit. He was much more mobile than the last one I saw - as I moved around him he circled to keep me in sight, and after a couple of minutes he picked himself up and continued on his way into the weeds and, presumably, the swamp just beyond them.
A good ride, all told... though given how tired my legs were on the climbs, I suspect I'm in for a slow time at the Pfalz Point Trail Challenge tomorrow morning!
JMH
Just before I got back to the Preserve, a snapping turtle was hustling across the road in front of me, so I stopped and watched him for a bit. He was much more mobile than the last one I saw - as I moved around him he circled to keep me in sight, and after a couple of minutes he picked himself up and continued on his way into the weeds and, presumably, the swamp just beyond them.
A good ride, all told... though given how tired my legs were on the climbs, I suspect I'm in for a slow time at the Pfalz Point Trail Challenge tomorrow morning!
JMH
