10.2 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
December 14, 2008
I have to admit I was torn over what to do today... on the one hand, I was originally going to run down in Westchester and would have a rare winter opportunity to run locally during daylight... but on the other hand, there are few chances for me to ride my bike safely this time of year. In the end the chance to ride won out, and I took my road bike over to the bike path west of Schenectady hoping to put in 20 miles or so.
Unfortunately, it never occurred to me that even though the Albany sidewalks are free of ice and snow, the bike path would still be mostly covered in both... otherwise I would have taken my mountain bike and possibly even my running shoes in case riding wasn't practical. Instead, I spent the better part of 90-120 minutes riding very carefully on some very challenging surfaces. Mostly a thin layer of snow on top of a layer of ice, but in spots bare ice (yikes!) The footprints and, along one stretch, a deep bike tire rut, made life more interesting. At least I didn't fall anywhere... but riding carefully on the snow and even more carefully across icy stretches (a good number of those I walked around.) A few downed trees and branches added to the fun... by the time I reached Scrafford Lane I'd had enough of wondering when I was going to take a spill so I hopped on the road and hustled back to the Rotterdam Kiwanis Park where I took the bike path for the last couple of miles...
Not the greatest of rides, but it was still better to be outdoors riding slowly and carefully than indoors doing work!
JMH
