Tuesday, May 28, 2013

FINALLY - RIDING AGAIN!
11.4 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Last week was not conducive to riding - we had a lot of rain, and riding in the rain sucks.

Ann and I opted for a lot of walking this weekend rather than riding - understandably, since it was a bit chilly and she rides to work most days (so riding on a chilly weekend day sucks almost as much as riding in the rain.)

So today I was ready to ride again, over a week since I was last on the bike. I figured I'd stop at the Old Erie Canal either west or east of Syracuse and put in 15-20 miles. And what did I wake up to? Rain.

I did drive out of the storm and briefly considered riding the canal path from Utica to Rome, but the dark clouds not far to the west changed my mind - getting wet and then having a 90 minute drive home with no easy way to change clothes didn't appeal.

My next thought was the park at the Lock east of Canajoharie and ride west to Fort Plain. Weather looked reasonable, but when I got off the Thruway I found a work crew blocking the canal path and detouring onto the road to get around them twice didn't appeal.

In the end I drove home, unpacked my stuff, and then headed over to the bike path for an easy "it's been a week with no riding" ride. My legs felt curiously leaden as I headed west - I guess the hills we went up and down Sunday and Monday took their toll, along with the distance we walked... doesn't bode well for running, when my knee is finally well enough. I'm going to have a lot of rebuilding to do.

I ended up going all the way up to Knolls, despite my original plan to avoid hills today. On the way back I discovered that my legs were even more leaden when I was pushing against the headwind that had apparently been helping me on the way out. In the end, I rode east to the older parking lot by the old water treatment plant, made it to the top of the hill, and then headed back to the car. It would have been nice to go further but I couldn't see beating my legs up today and paying for it for the rest of the week.

JMH
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