the Way of the Turtle

13.1 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path & Through Colonie Mohawk River Park
Friday, May 7, 2010

It was tough to drag myself back out the door once I got home from work (it's been a very long week, as all the weeks rocketing toward the end of the school year are) but the weather was looking too nice to stay indoors, and tomorrow is supposed to be rainy and cold. So I put the bike on the car and headed over to the bike path to do a little bit of riding before it got too dark.

Headed east to the Colonie Mohawk River Park and rode down to the picnic area/boat launch. Lots of people at the Little League games near the entrance to the park, but no one else down at the boat launch... just me, a few geese, and two kildeer (and some ducks somewhere out on the water; I could hear them but didn't see them.) Spent a few minutes taking pictures and enjoying the scenery, then headed back up the hill to get the short stretch of road between there and the bike path done before it got too dark to ride safely.

Just past the water treatment plant I heard what I think was a grey catbird singing off in the bushes, so I stopped and shot a short video clip... couldn't see him, but his singing certainly was pretty. A mile or two later I heard a woodcock calling in one of the fields across River Road, but he was too far away to get a decent recording. On the way back to the Niskayuna Lions Park I thought about riding over to Lock 7 and back, but it was getting darker and chillier so I decided getting home for dinner made more sense, so I could get some sleep before heading west in the morning. As I was pulling into the parking lot two herons flew overhead, silhouetted against the darkening sky... before I could get my camera out they were gone across the river.

JMH