the Way of the Turtle

Off to Minnewaska... or Saratoga... or Maybe a Ride...
21.4 Mile Ride at Colonie Mohawk River Park & the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, November 1, 2009

Up until a little under a week ago I had planned to spend a big chunk of today down near New Paltz, running the After the Leaves Have Fallen 20k at Minnewaska, one of my all-around favorite places to go. A week of hoping my knee would bounce back quickly (it didn't) followed. A day ago I had changed that plan to going up to Saratoga for the Fall Back 5 Mile trail race at the state park... I've never run that one, so this seemed like a good opportunity to take the lemons of missing Minnewaska and make some lemonade (or maybe some lemon iced tea.) This morning I woke up tired and cranky, so I convinced myself to give my knee a few more days so I could take my bike out today instead.

I mixed things up a bit by parking at the bike path lot across from the entrance to the Colonie Mohawk River Park... I figured that would force me to ride a bit further than I might if I used my usual spot, the Niskayuna Lions Park. To be honest I didn't expect much from today's ride, beyond spending some time outdoors... I know the past few weeks of relative inactivity have taken their toll, and with colder weather moving in there are fewer critters to see.

I started out with a quick loop through the park, down the hill to the edge of the river. Other than squirrels stocking up for the winter and a few ducks on the river, not much to see. From there I headed west, first on the local roads that connect the sections of the bike path separated by the Northway, and then on the bike path itself. I stopped to take some pictures of the mob of pigeons sitting in the sunshine on the Twin Bridges, and must have annoyed a hawk perched nearby, since he screeched and flew off almost directly overhead... unfortunately, I couldn't get him in focus quickly enough to get a picture.

On the bike path I passed a downy woodpecker flitting around looking for food and a mockingbird singing some very pretty songs... I snapped pictures of him for a little while and I don't think I heard him repeat himself even once before he flew off. Spotted a few ducks and a muskrat, but for the most part the river was pretty quiet. I had planned to stop at the base of the Hill... ended up riding to the top instead. It was tougher going than it should be at this point in the season, but I made it.

After taking a short break to catch my breath and drink some Nuun, I headed back down the Hill. Passed several bluebird houses along the way and thought about how they're usually set up in pairs so that if a swallow moves in one, there's still another one for the bluebirds (apparently swallows won't tolerate each other as neighbors) and then next thing I knew, I was looking at bluebirds in the trees alongside the path. None of them sat still long enough for me to get a decent picture, sadly, but it was still good to see them - apparently the attempts to bring their numbers back up are succeeding.

I kept an eye on the trees as I rode, but didn't really see anything unusual until I got back to the Gerbil Wheel... at which point a bald eagle flew almost directly overhead with a fish in his claws! A second or so later another eagle followed, this one completely brown - I'm assuming a juvenile bald eagle. By then I had my camera out in case they came back, and I watched them flying around one another a ways off. I couldn't figure out what they were doing until the first one dropped the fish it was carrying - maybe it stole the fish from the other one? After that they headed back to the river and disappeared. I managed to get one halfway decent photo, but they were still pretty darn cool to watch.

Once I got back to the parking lot, I decided to make one more loop through the park, and headed back down to the river again. Along the way I caught a sweet view of the full moon over the trees. The river was a lot busier this time around, with several flocks of geese out on the water and a few more groups coming in to land while I was there. I watched (and listened to!) them for a while and then decided it was time to call it an evening, heading back up the hill to the car and a few errands I wanted to get done before heading home.

JMH