9.5 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, February 22, 2015
We've had a few other "warm" days this month, but they've always been during the week when I was at work or on a weekend when I was out of town, so when the forecast for this afternoon called for low 30's and sunny, I was pretty enthused... especially since we're supposed to drop back into frigid temperatures for the rest of the week. In other words, this would probably be my only chance to get out on my bike this month and maintain my "ride every month" streak...
I started out at the Mohawk Riverside Landing Park, figuring I could take the road from there to the Lions Park and then walk my bike through the snow on the way back (and thus avoid crossing the road.) I was met with incredulity from a number of walkers, who apparently had trouble wrapping their minds around the thought of someone riding in February - or maybe it was the 3-4 inches of snow covering the path, since the town hadn't plowed it after Saturday's storm. Got to admit it was a workout, especially after this morning's snowshoe race, but it was rideable until I hit a spot just before the old railroad bridge where the wind had drifted snow onto the path over a foot deep. I did a short stint on the road to bypass that on the way back, then pushed on through the snow back to the parking lot... where I put the bike back on the car and drove to the Lions Park. The thought of slogging 4/10ths of a mile through drifted snow while pushing the bike just did not appeal to me...
Fortunately, Niskayuna had plowed their section of the path, so that was pretty easy going, though also very crowded. I rode over the Lock 7, took a break to try and get some shots of the frozen-over Lock 7 dam, and then headed back to the car. Not a long ride by any stretch of the imagination... but long enough for a February afternoon, even one as pleasant as today's, after a weekend of two tough snowshoe races.
JMH
