10.1 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Thursday, December 22, 2016
So why ride a fat bike on the bike path? Especially since I was riding the Colonie-Niskayuna stretch, where there are 2 two mile long segments that are plowed in the winter? Well, one reason is even after those sections are plowed, there can be stretches of ice on the path. Another is the 0.4mi stretch of path connecting those two segments that isn't plowed (because, after all, it would make too much sense to actually have a continuous 4.5 mi stretch that's easily accessible in the winter - though that would probably require more wrangling than Colonie and Niskayuna can muster to work together.) And if you want to continue past the end of either of those segments, you head into unplowed territory. In fact, that's one of the reasons I bought a fat bike in the first place - so I wouldn't be restricted to going back and forth along two short sections of the path in the winter - that gets boring really quick, especially at night.
As much as I'd like to say it was much easier pedaling the bike this time... that sucker still weighs a ton (somewhere around 40 lbs, compared to my 16 lb road bike...) so it's a workout just riding it, and I can't even contemplate trying to climb a real hill. But the wide tires sailed over and through everything, including some ice patches that would have dumped me on the ground if I tried going over them on my road bike. There wasn't much snow (about an inch of fresh stuff) and it plowed through that no problem. Like snowshoeing, I just have to get used to working pretty hard to go really slow.
Since my last ride on this bike I replaced the handlebar grips (I definitely find the new ones more comfortable) and the freewheel (basically the same as the previous one but with a 34 tooth large gear rather than 32... I wish I could find an inexpensive one with all the other gears slightly larger as well.) I'm still debating whether or not I want to keep using the pedals and toe clips I installed or switch to platforms.
This is probably the last time I'll get to ride before the end of the year... for much of the next week and a half Ann and I will be together and it's tough to justify taking the kind of time I need to go out for a ride (at least 90 min to 2 hrs, depending on where I go and how long the drive to and from the trailhead is.) I'm pleased that I did manage to make it past 2100 mi for the year - a new record!
JMH
