the Way of the Turtle

14.5 Mile Ride Along the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Saturday, November 15, 2008

Definitely a wierd weather day... spurts of rain, flashes of sunshine and blue sky, lots of wind... and of course temperatures in the 60's in November. That made it a bit difficult to decide what to wear for my ride...

After I had lunch with Ann and her brother and they got back on the road to Rochester, I headed over to Lock 8 to ride the bike path west of Schenectady. I'd hoped to do a bit more riding than I actually did, but the weapons classes they taught ran well into the afternoon and then lunch took longer than I'd hoped... so by the time I got on my bike there were only 90 minutes or so left before it got dark. So no trip to the short section west of Rotterdam Junction today... I didn't want to risk the half mile or so along 5S at dusk. And I still ended up doing most of the ride to SCC and back in the dark.

Had a brief bit of drizzle early on but otherwise no rain, which was a big plus. This was my 2nd outing on that section of path since they chopped down all the bushes along the edge of the path... I suppose I'll get used to it eventually, but right now it still bugs me, both because it detracts from the beauty of the surroundings and because of the loss of habitat for birds and animals.

Watched a kingfisher for a bit along the old canal, and startled a heron several times as I rode toward the RR crossing at Scrafford Lane. Stopped there for a brief break and was surprised when a heron same flying in and landed just a short ways away... of course he flew off when I moved, and then a second heron came flying in to chase him off. They are definitely very territorial. I was surprised by how few ducks and geese I saw... maybe they were off looking for food or something.

Not too many folks out on the path, probably because the weather was so uncertain. That was a real plus on the way back from SCC, when it was dark enough that I really appreciated not having to dodge too many walkers or other riders.

JMH