6.2 Mile Run To Buckingham Pond & Back
Thursday, April 30, 2020

 

Longer run that I originally planned, but once I warmed up my legs felt decent. Best of all I didn't spend any time in the car. Grey, windy, and potentially rainy (I lucked out and mostly stayed dry) which is probably why the pond wasn't too busy. The goose still hasn't hatched her goslings but I imagine they'll be here soon.

 

JMH

TAILWIND - COOL! HEADWIND - NOT COOL!
21.7 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path & Rt 5S
Wednesday, April 29, 2020

 

The forecast indicated today would be the only day without rain before early next week, so I ended up on the bike again. After an absolutely gorgeous morning the afternoon was grey and windy, but at least that seemed to cut down a bit on foot and bike traffic on the path.

 

I parked at Lock 8 and started out heading east, turning around at the end of the path near SCCC. The wind today was unusual in that it was east to west, so I had a headwind initially and then a wonderful tailwind most of the time until I turned around in Pattersonville. Unfortunately that meant I was fighting the wind pretty much nonstop on the way back to the car.

 

Spotted my first goslings for the season in a yard in Pattersonville. I also saw what looks like an old lock along the trail that's being cleared between the future tunnel under the railroad at Scrafford Lane and the start of the current trail off of Iroquois St. Can't wait for them to get those new trail segments done! Though it boggles my mind a bit that when they do, the trail from SCCC to Mohawk will be almost entirely off-road.

 

JMH

Weekly Activity Summary
4/22/2020 - 4/28/2020            

running (3) - 24.8 mi
riding (2) - 32.8 mi
walking/hiking (6) - 8.3 mi

outdoor activity 7/7 days

DDPY - WakeUp(1), Energy(1), RedHotCore(1)

JMH

SUNNY TUESDAY DUATHLON, Part 2:
18.1 Mile Ride on the Albany County Rail Trail
Tuesday, April 28, 2020

 

The Albany County Rail Trail seemed like the easiest option for tonight's ride, except that I expected it to be packed with people, though getting there around dinner time might have helped. I didn't even try to get parking in Slingerlands, instead I drove out to the relocated barn on Hilton Rd and parked there - despite it not being an official trail parking area, there were still half a dozen cars there.

 

My original plan was to try for as close to 15 miles as I could get, but that meant going quite a ways down the hill heading down to the river, and once I reached the turnaround spot I thought, what's another mile and a half (well, actually, three by the time I'd be done, with an additional mile and a half of climbing on the way back.)

 

The climb back from South Pearl St went better than I expected - I did it in higher gears than I used to, so maybe all the running, riding, and walking I've been doing is paying off (I'm sure dropping close to 20 lbs so far hasn't hurt, either. I actually rode back in almost the same amount of time as I rode out, with most of the trip back being various degrees of climbing. I have to say, it felt pretty good, especially given that I'd done a 5 mile run just a short time earlier.

 

JMH

SUNNY TUESDAY DUATHLON, Part 1:
4.9 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
(Green Island-Van Schaick Island-Peebles Island)
Tuesday, April 28, 2020

 

Something about the weather today had me wanting to both run and ride. Maybe it was the contrast with how cold and miserable yesterday was. Unfortunately, lots of other folks had the same thought about getting outdoors on a gorgeous day, which meant I spent a good deal of time pulling my mask up over my nose and mouth. Not fun, especially when there are still a lot of folks ignoring the order to wear a mask if they're in an area that's likely to be crowded.

 

The past Sunday was the date of the Delmar Duathlon, which consists of a 2 mile run, 10 mile ride, and 2 mile run. Didn't consider this beforehand, but today's run was a little longer than the total for the du. Guess I'm doing my own version a couple of days late.

 

JMH

BARRED OWL DUET ON A RAINY AFTERNOON
12.1 Mile Run Along the Appalachian Trail
(Egremont - Sheffield)
Sunday, April 26, 2020

 

Today I needed to run at least 19k on trails, to complete Steep Endurance's 19k virtual trail race. I considered a variety of venues but in the end headed to the place where I first ran on a trail, the Appalachian Trail between Guilder Hollow Rd in South Egremont and Boardman St in Sheffield. Doing it as an out-and-back made it very easy to keep track of my mileage and make sure I wouldn't fall short.

 

Yesterday was sunny and warm and every trailhead and path I drove past was swarming with people. Today was rainy and cold, so I looked forward to very little company out on the trail (and I was right.)

 

Besides getting to run somewhere that I've run more times than I can count and that has special significance for me, the highlight of the run occurred on my way out toward Sheffield, just past the Shay's Rebellion monument - I heard a barred owl call off in the conifers, and a higher pitched response (likely a female) further away. They spent a while calling back and forth while I listened.

 

I'm not sure when the last time I ran 12 miles was, so I took it very easy today - walked up anything resembling a hill and kept my pace slow even on the flats. By the time I got back to the car, my legs had definitely had it with climbing, but I still felt like I could have gone for a while longer over flat terrain. Didn't set any records for time on this one but I did meet my goal of finishing the distance without destroying my legs, which is a definite win in my book.

 

JMH

QUITE THE EVENING FOR CRITTERS!
7.8 Mile Run in the Albany Pine Bush
(Madison Ave Pinelands & Great Dune)
Friday, April 24, 2020

 

Started late because I needed to take a nap after work wrapped up for the day - I almost skipped tonight's run, but I'm glad I didn't. Especially since other than a person walking off in the distance and two runners a little later, I encountered no on else on the trails I went on tonight.

 

 

Early on I heard and was able to watch a male towhee calling - another sign of spring, the towhees are back. A little later I heard a barred owl call several times - one of the pluses to running in the evening.

 

 

Much later I surprised a porcupine, who scrambled deeper into the bushes before I could get a picture of him. I also startled several groups of deer along the way.

 

 

The real treat of the evening, however, was the 4 woodcocks I heard, trying to attract females. One was actually close enough that I was able to see him when he headed up into the sky for his courtship flight. I never get tired of hearing them call and listening to them fly at dusk in the spring.

 

(That's Venus shining brightly in the night sky.)

 

JMH



1.5 Mile Walk at Buckingham Pond
Thursday, April 23, 2020

14.7 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Thursday, April 23, 2020

TOO $@*%!! COLD
Wednesday, April 22, 2020

It's bright and sunny but only in the mid-40's and the wind is HOWLING, so that it feels more like the mid-30's. I had originally planned to go for another run today but my legs are sore so I'm giving them a break. Then I thought to go for a walk this evening, but between my rather cold walk at lunch time and going out to move my car to the side of the street where I can park legally tomorrow... I just can't muster up any enthusiasm for going back out into that cold wind, as much as I want to be outside on a bright, sunny day.

Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer and less windy... hopefully I can get out for an easy bike ride once I'm done teaching for the day.

JMH

Weekly Activity Summary
4/15/2020 - 4/21/2020            

running (3) - 21.9 mi
riding (2) - 38.5 mi
walking/hiking (7) - 12.7 mi

outdoor activity 7/7 days

DDPY - WakeUp (3), Energy (1)

JMH

AND THE COLD WIND IS BACK!
5.7 Mile Run Through Halfmoon Crescent Park & Along the Mohawk Towpath Byway
Tuesday, April 21, 2020

 

I'm beginning to think winter is upset that it woke up late and is determined to hang in there as long as it can... though at least we haven't been getting the snow that Rochester has.

 

Almost 15 years ago I did my first Mohawk Towpath Byway Duathlon, and other than a couple of killer hills on the bike course I remember enjoying it a lot. It probably helped that the times I did it we had gorgeous fall days. At that point it was staged at Krause's Grove, a commercial picnic site that was also a former restaurant, plus there had clearly been other structures on the property (cabins, apparently.) At some point the race moved to Riverview Orchards in Rexford. When I drove by Krause's a couple of weeks ago, I saw that the landscape had been cleared and there was obviously early construction going on. A little research revealed that they are finally building a complex of condos/apartments on the site, along with a yacht club and small public park, after years of planning and setbacks. I can't say that I'm thrilled, it's going to make major changes to the viewscape along that part of the river.

 

I've often thought about running the short path through Halfmoon Crescent Park (I've ridden my bike on it once or twice when I did the south & north river loop) but it's very short - at most a 4 mile round trip if you include the stretch that runs under the Rt 9 bridge. I extended that today by running the short stretch of road between the end of the park and the small parking area near the intersection of Clamsteam Rd and Towpath Rd - that's where I'd typically run to when I run the Towpath east in the Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve.

 

All told, a fairly pleasant run, bringing back some nice memories of the couple of du's I did out of Krause's... I have to say, though, some seasonably warmer weather would be nice. But at least it wasn't raining like earlier in the day.

 

JMH

 



1.9 Mile Walk on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, April 19, 2020

Turtles (including a snapping turtle), muskrats, geese, ducks, and an osprey.

The goose that was nesting is definitely no longer on that nest; the eggs I saw last time are gone.

No visible progress on the tunnel under the railroad tracks, but then it hasn't been that long since I was here on my bike, and this really doesn't seem like a project that will be done in a couple of weeks.

JMH

27.7 Mile Ride on the Erie Canalway Trail
(Canajoharie - Mindenville)
Sunday, April 19, 2020
 

7.4 Mile Run Through the Corning Preserve
Saturday, April 18, 2020

10.8 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Friday, April 17, 2020

STILL UPHILL BOTH WAYS
7.9 Mile Run on the Harlem Valley Rail Trail
Wednesday, April 15, 2020

 

Up until a little over 21 years ago, I lived 10 minutes away from the Copake branch of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail and occasionally went for runs on it after I started running. One of the things I always commented on was how it felt like the path runs uphill both ways.

 

Today I was down that way dropping some supplies off for my parents so I decided to get in a run there, and as the title states, it still feels like it's uphill both ways. Looking at the elevation profile it's clear that it's more flat than anything else... but that's not how it felt years ago, and it's not how it felt today.

 

The new segment, heading south to the next road crossing, is actually paved (though not open yet) and the section south from there to Millerton is under construction. What I'm most interested to see is if they'll manage to complete the sections from Copake to Chatham in my lifetime...

 

JMH

Weekly Activity Summary
4/8/2020 - 4/14/2020            

running (3) - 23.0 mi
riding (1) - 20.2 mi
walking/hiking (5) - 9.9 mi

outdoor activity 7/7 days

DDPY - WakeUp (4), Energy (1)

JMH

6.7 Mile Run on the Albany County Rail Trail
Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Got off to a late start this evening, so it was getting dark by the time I ran the last mile or two. One plus to that was I got to hear not only the peepers (who are now mainly active in the evening) but also toads doing their mating calls (instead of the "peep, peep, peep" of the froggies, toads do a long drawn out high pitched trill... not at all what you'd expect from a chunky little amphibian.)

JMH

1.8 Mile Walk at Buckingham Pond
Monday, April 13, 2020

One plus to the rain, there were very few people at the pond this evening. By the time I got there the rain was tapering off and it stopped completely during my first trip around.

Apparently one of the pairs if geese at the pond are return visitors - one is nesting at the same spot as last year, the wooded bank of the overflow basin. I didn't see any nesting in the usual site at the base of the dead tree across from the parking area - actually, I saw surprisingly few ducks and geese tonight.

What I saw a lot of is trash. I think I need to take a garbage bag and gloves with me sometime soon and do some cleanup, especially since our spring Community Service day has been cancelled and the Conservancy can't schedule their usual spring cleanup day. Maybe later this week on one of my "rest" days...

I wish I'd remembered a camera, because once the rain stopped it was quite scenic, with hints of sunset and mist near the surface of the pond.

JMH

BRRR... Day 2
10 Mile Run at the Vischer Ferry Nature & Historic Preserve
Saturday, April 11, 2020

2.1 Mile Walk To & Around Washington Park Lake
Friday, April 10, 2020

BRRR...
6.3 Mile Run at Peebles Island State Park
Friday, April 10, 2020

 

It took some thinking but I managed to come up with a route that took me over almost every official trail in the park without having to repeat much (at least in the same direction.)

 

The cold weather may have helped keep the numbers down on the trails, which was a plus - Peebles Island is not a big place!

 

No unusual critters today, though I did see deer and a turkey as well as plenty of geese on the water. I wonder if this pair of geese appreciated the irony of their choice of resting spots...

 

 

When I got home, I was also able to confirm that there is an eagle in the nest - looks like she was staring right at me when I took the picture.

 

 

JMH

3.2 Mile Walk at Ann Lee Pond
Thursday, April 9, 2020
 
No otters today, and fewer ducks and geese than I saw last time. I also walked a good deal longer than I planned because I followed one of the unmarked trails - I'm now thinking there are enough trail miles there that I could run there, especially if I connect to the Bauer Park trails.

The goose near the bridge is definitely nesting. It's interesting that both times I've been there, there is also at least one duck hanging out with her.

Tonight's unusual critter didn't show up until after I'd left the park and was driving to the grocery store - there was a pair of vultures alongside the road trying to make a meal out of a dead possum in the road. No big surprise, I've seen lots of turkey vultures lately, it's their migration time - except this was a pair of black vultures, which are apparently becoming more common this far north.

JMH

WINDY!
20.2 Mile Ride on the Erie Canalway Trail (Fort Hunter to Randall)
Wednesday, April 8, 2020

I know, why would I drive all the way to Fort Hunter to ride when I have plenty of options a lot closer. Part of the motivation was that I wanted to stop by the Park n Ride where I parked last night and see if there was any sign of my Garmin bike computer. (Spoilers: nope, not that I expected there would be. If I left it on the roof or trunk, there's no telling when it actually slid off, given how long it's been if it was in an obvious location someone likely would have already seen it and picked it up, and the chances of spotting it from the car are slim  - it's only a little larger than half a dozen quarters stacked on top of each other.)

I also wanted to see what the newly (to me) paved trail is like (the entire trail through Montgomery County is now paved. It's definitely easier riding, though that was hard to tell for the first half of the ride, since I was riding into a very brisk wind. But I kept telling myself that meant the ride back would be a lot easier and I was definitely right. I even considered riding for a while longer past Fort Hunter... but then thought about having to finish the ride fighting the wind to get back to the car, and decided 20 miles was plenty for today.

The next few days are supposed to be colder (and right now the forecast for next week calls for plenty of rain showers) so I'm glad I got in another ride tonight.

JMH

Weekly Activity Summary
4/1/2020 - 4/7/2020            

running (2) - 19.2 mi
riding (3) - 43.8 mi
walking/hiking (6) - 10.8 mi

outdoor activity 7/7 days

DDPY -

JMH

WOW.
20.5 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path, Rt 5S, & the Erie Canalway Trail
Tuesday, April 7, 2020

 

 

Aargh... got home and couldn't find my Garmin bike computer in my bag. I'll check the car tomorrow when there's light but I strongly suspect I took it off the bike, placed it on either the trunk or top of my car, and drove off without actually putting it in my bag.

 

Ended up riding longer than I expected tonight, in part due to a sweet tailwind for half the ride that had me buzzing along at 13-15 mph. Of course, that meant the other half of the time I was riding into that wind...

 

The big discovery of the evening was similar to last night's... when I was near to the Scrafford Lane end of the bike path in Rotterdam Junction, I passed a trail closed sign and found myself looking at - a construction site to build a tunnel under the railroad tracks, then follow the old railbed/towpath (currently overgrown) almost to the start of the section of bike path on the west side of town - the end of which also has a construction site that looks like it's going to be working on a tunnel under railroad tracks. I've been hearing about the plans for these tunnels for at least 15 years - it's incredible that by fall they will actually be built, and there will likely be a mostly road-free path from SCCC to the western side of Fort Plain (and after a short stretch of road, from Fort Plain to Mohawk.)

 

JMH

9.1 Mile Run on the Zim Smith Trail & Through Ushers Road State Forest
Monday, April 6, 2020

 

Tonight's run started with a pleasant surprise - the Zim Smith Trail parking area in Round Lake has been paved, possibly enlarged, and generally improved over the dirt lot that used to be there.

 

Less pleasant was all the damage done to the trail by heavy equipment. At first I thought it was due to what looks like sewer line work, but when I reached the eastern end of the trail I had another pleasant surprise - the trail extension I've been hearing about for a number of years has finally been built, though there's still work to be done. There's a paved parking area, a restroom building, and a paved path heading toward Mechanicville. At that point I'd already run 3.5 miles, so I didn't really dare venture along the new trail (which is still signed as being closed.)

 

The extension leads me to think that the work on the section I ran tonight may also be in preparation of paving that section. While I will be sorry for the loss of yet another dirt rail trail, if it's paved it will certainly be easier to ride.

 

On the way back I decided to check out the trail down into Ushers Road State Forest. The connection to the Zim Smith is only about a quarter of a mile long, but it ends at a loop that's close to a mile and a half. Of course being a stubborn SOB I did the whole loop, which meant I'd done over 7.5 miles by the time I got back to the Zim Smith... and the last mile and a half back to Round Lake really wasn't fun, especially since my legs haven't had enough time to recover after Saturday's 10 miler in the Pine Bush.

 

I have to say, though, I'm really looking forward to all the trail work being done and getting to ride that new section. I know some trail work has continued despite the general shutdown of construction projects; hopefully this is one of the projects currently being worked on.

 

JMH

12 Mile Ride on the Albany County Rail Trail
Sunday, April 5, 2020

10.1 Mile Run in the Albany Pine Bush Preserve
(Karner Barrens, Truax Trail Barrens, & Kings Highway Barrens)
Saturday, April 4, 2020

OSPREY
1.4 Mile Walk at the Crossings of Colonie
Thursday, April 2, 2020

When I got to the usual parking lot I use at the Crossings, I was surprised to see the entrance barricaded. Apparently, the town decided that people weren't doing a good enough job of isolating (no surprise there, the place was packed last week) and closed the park to all vehicular traffic. It's definitely had the desired effect - there were a lot fewer people there today.

Today had two critter surprises. The first was an osprey that spent a while trying to find a fish to snag in the pond, and while I was watching and taking photos, a decent-size turtle surfaced out in the pond.

JMH

CHILLY AND VERY SORE LEGS...
11.3 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Wednesday, April 1, 2020

 

The bike path was pretty crowded today, and small groups that covered the entire width of the path seemed especially prevalent. Initially that's why I climbed the hill along the old landfill and rode up towards GE - I was planning to take the road back to the intersection of the bike path and Lock 7 road. This was definitely not the best day to do that - my run yesterday really beat my legs up.

In the end I took the bike path back, and between the chilly evening and my legs grumbling and hollering, I decided to call it an evening a little sooner than I had planned. Hopefully my legs will recover enough that I can do some longer rides (and a long-ish run) this weekend.

JMH

Weekly Activity Summary
3/25/2020 - 3/31/2020            

running (3) - 22.6 mi
riding (3) - 53.1 mi
walking/hiking (7) - 11.4 mi

outdoor activity 7/7 days

DDPY -

JMH