the Way of the Turtle

19.3 Mile Ride Along the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path and at Colonie Mohawk River Park
Monday, October 13, 2008

As I was riding along the bike path tonight I was reminded that yesterday there were hundreds of folks running along the same route in the Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon... a race which I would like to run someday, but which will mean passing on one or more trail races that are held on the same weekend. I was reminded of the marathon first by the bright orange mile-markers that are painted on the pavement - granted, I almost always notice them, but today they held a little extra significance. I was also reminded by the small pile of cups alongside the road where one of the water stops had been set up, and by a cardboard box in another spot supporting a group of cups apparently filled with Gatorade (leftovers from the race, presumably.) I ran the 2nd half of the race back in 1997, to support a friend who was running the marathon that year. Someday I will run the entire thing...

Spotted a number of herons in the river and a couple of egrets. When I made my way down to the boat launch in the Colonie Mohawk River Park, there was a heron just off shore, and while I was there an egret flew in and another heron flew overhead. The heron population seems to be going strong on the Mohawk!

I also spent a few minutes watching a squirrel snag maple seeds and munch away at them... during a recent broadcast of In Our Backyard, WAMC's environmental program featuring NYS Wildlife Pathologist Ward Stone, Ward spoke about how there is a larger-than-normal squirrel population and competition for food is fierce, resulting in many of the squirrels he's examined being underweight for this time of year. I haven't seen any more squirrels than usual, but I was glad to see this fella was having no trouble finding food to build up some weight for the coming winter.

There was also a big group of gulls on the water above the Lock 7 dam... not as impressive as when they were all lined up along the lip of the dam (or when they were all wheeling through the air above the water this past summer) but still quite a sight.

JMH