the Way of the Turtle

ICE!
15.2 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, February 14, 2010

The weather today called for clouds, seasonable chill, and gusty winds... so naturally I decided to take a break from running and rode my bike. Fortunately, the winds were blowing east, so it was only tough riding one way (out from Lock 8 to Scrafford Lane, and then back from SCCC to Lock 7.) But when the wind was blowing it was very tough... while today was a break from running, I don't think it could be called a rest day.

The bike path was mostly clear, with a few stretches of snow and ice, and most of those were rideable with some care. The buildup of huge slabs of ice along the sides of the river was even more impressive than over in Niskayuna, and in some spots it was clear the water levels rose high enough to flood sections of the path, since there are now huge chunks of ice sitting out in the middle of the grass, like erratic boulders left behind after a glacier. I wonder how long it's going to take all that ice to melt come spring.

I spotted two deer while I was out today - or rather, the remains of two deer. The first still looked pretty fresh and was down in the section of the old canal between Rotterdam Kiwanis Park and Route 5; if I had to guess I'd say it was hit by a car. The second was just bones, out on the ice on the old canal near Scrafford Lane.

Heard more than a few birds but didn't really spot any until the 2nd half of the ride down to SCCC, when a downy woodpecker landed right near where I was stopped to take some pictures at the old Erie Canal Lock 23. She didn't hang around long enough for me to get more than one photo. Down at Schenectady Gateway Landing Park I stopped to take a look at the damage the ice did to the viewing platform and spotted a group of ducks over in the open water off the river. When I zoomed in to take some closeups I discovered that there was a common merganser in with them... and a few minutes later five more dropped down out of the sky to join them. By that time it was getting too dark for me to get good shots of them, but it was still very cool to see them.

I'm also liking the ever-increasing hours of daylight. I didn't get back to the car until after 5:30, and I could still see everything well enough that pack up without an extra light. Before long I'll once again be able to run in the evening without a headlamp...

JMH