the Way of the Turtle

A VERY SHORT RIDE
5 Mile Ride Along the Mohawk-Hudson Bike Path
Saturday, February 16, 2008

Today was such a gorgeous sunny day (though a bit chilly) and the forecast is calling for rain for at least part of the next two days. So once I got back to Albany I changed into riding gear and took my ATB over to the Niskayuna Lions Park, figuring that even if the rest of the path was too icy I could always do a couple of laps on the Gerbil Wheel (the 2 mile stretch of path that's plowed in the winter.)

Unfortunately, I got there late in the afternoon, so it got even chillier pretty quickly. I rode out to Lock 7 and wandered around a bit taking pictures, then tried riding a bit on a snow-covered portion of the path... in the end, that proved to be more hard work than fun, so after only a quarter mile or so I headed back to the road and then the plowed path.

On the way back to the park, I spotted a heron crouched next to a section of open water, and amazingly he didn't fly off when I stopped to get some pictures. At one point he started moving and I thought he would either snag some dinner or take off... but in the end he went back to just standing there, contemplating whatever it is herons contemplate on a cold February afternoon.

I briefly considered putting the light on my bike and heading out for a 2nd lap when I got back to the car... but in the end the chill and my tired legs won out, and I packed up and headed home instead.

JMH