the Way of the Turtle

11 Mile Ride on the Mohawk-Hudson Bike Path
Thursday, July 2, 2009

After a very rainy morning the storms finally eased off enough that I was finally able to get out on the bike for a short ride... thankfully the only thing that bothered my knee turned out to be clipping into the toe clips/straps, which apparently I tend to do at the top of a pedal stroke (never realized that before) which requires me to twist my knee when it's sharply bent and put a bit of stress on whatever I tore last week.

Crummy weather meant there weren't too many folks out on the trail with me... a few dog walkers, a few riders, and two runners. I didn't go as far as I'd planned, both because I was getting tired (lame, very lame) and because it was getting late in the afternoon and I still had to drive out to Rochester.

Lots of wildlife in evidence - chipmunks (I've never seen as many along the trails as I have this year), squirrels, rabbits, and even a deer and a muskrat. And tons of birds - the usual robins, sparrows, catbirds, grackles, and blackbirds, but also several flickers and a mockingbird. And out on the river - several herons and a possible eagle spotting (a large dark-colored bird perched on a branch... to far away for me to get a good enough shot even at full zoom for a positive ID.)

With luck I can get in some more miles over the next few days... both because I definitely need the exercise and because the Discover Presque Isle Duathlon is less than a month away!

JMH