That Other River Ride

Sunny and 70s today, but with a strong northwest wind. I didn't really feel like doing the obvious, heading west along the river first and then sailing home, since I seem to do that all too often. So I headed east, starting in Rexford, crossing the bridge, and riding down the north side of the river to the Waterford harbor on the Hudson. There are enough hills on this route to keep it interesting, and the scenery always includes the river. Had lunch on a bench at the wharf, then crossed over to Peebles Island, and came up through Cohoes to Fonda Road, picking up the bike path near US9. Heading west on the bike path was somewhat more sheltered, and the wind wasn't bad. About a 3-hour ride, including lunch, and another 35+ miles.

Biking and Mini-Golf

Or at least that was the plan. Helped Holly with some yard stuff, then set off for the mini-golf and ice cream place at NY50 and Charlton Road. Finding it closed, we headed back to her house via a longer route for about 10 miles total, then drove to Marcella's a bit further away for ice cream.

I rode the MTB just for kicks, given the short distance and slow pace, and found it needed some adjustments. When I got home, I tightened both derailleur cables and adjusted the position and angle of the front derailleur as best I could to avoid rubbing. With the warped front chainwheels, it's not possible to get it perfect under all circumstances, but it seems better now. The rear wheel seems to be a bit egg-shaped and needs truing, but that's a project for another time.

Biking and Lacrosse

The string of amazing spring weather continues. Biked to UAlbany today for a home lacrosse game against Vermont, which we won 13-3. Stiff southeast breeze for the trip over, but averaged 17-20 mph all the way home. 24.6 miles total round trip, on the old Gitane, since I had to lock it to a tree out of my sight on campus for the two-hour game. Having switched the gel seat back to this bike, this was a MUCH better trip than the last one.

Duanesburg and Ice Cream

Another amazing mid-April day, with temps near 80 and very low humidity and winds. I wanted a mid-length ride with some climbing, and I wanted to go someplace I don't go all the time. I like this ride to Duanesburg and back, but needed to figure out a way to avoid Curry Road on the return trip. So, coming back, I left NY7 at Pangburn, and cut through to NY406 via Quackenbush Road. That took me to NY158, to County Line, West Lydius, and home via NY146. This turned out to be a VERY nice route, and I will certainly do it again. Stopped in Stewart's in Duanesburg for ice cream, and also stopped and hydrated often. When I finished the 29.4 miles, my energy was still good, the seat felt comfortable, and I could have gone further. Maybe it's time to stretch it out to 45-50 and see how it goes.

2 Rides Today

Holly needed to try her new bike on my rack, and I also picked up her lawn mower, so I drove all this to her house, installed her bike computer, adjusted a few things, and then we went for her inaugural ride on the new bike, about 9 miles. Aside from some swirling winds, it went pretty well. Then, since I was already dressed, had the bike on the car, and needed more than that ride, I parked at SCCC and did a 17-mile river loop. All of this was on the old 10-speed Gitane, whose seat I had adjusted after finding it loose and wobbly the last time out. Based on today's discomfort level, that Bontrager seat has just got to go. I'll be putting it back on the MTB for shorter around-town rides, and putting the old gel seat back on the Gitane, which will be a better fit for longer rides. 26 miles total for the day.

110-Mile Week

Since I already had 93, and today was another very nice, albeit windy, spring day, it seemed only natural to go for the 100 miles. Strong winds out of the west (20-30 mph) made it a perfect day for a river loop, starting westbound with a headwind, and getting a free ride home. My average speed outbound was about 11-13 mph, but I was consistently hitting 18-20 most of the way back. Went from SCCC to the railroad dead end at Scrafford Lane, then continued out NY5S to NY103 at Lock 9, and over the river to return via NY5. About 17.3 total miles. Several days of ugly cold, wet weather coming in starting tomorrow, so next ride may not be until next Wednesday or so.

Ride to a ride

Holly wanted to get in a short ride today, and I wanted more than the 10 miles she meant by that, so I biked 13 miles to Burnt Hills, rode 9 with her, and then biked 13 miles back home, for a total of 35. That was the longest ride of the year so far, and it felt pretty good. There was a strong (20-30 mph) tailwind northbound, and a tough headwind coming home. At times it was a gusty crosswind, making holding a line difficult, especially across the Western Gateway Bridge. This ride is a good mix of urban, suburban, and rural cycling, and they all have their interesting points. All drivers were very courteous under all circumstances today, and I really think a lot of that is about clearly communicating intentions.

Tour de Clifton Park

The Taconic Hiking Club ride was rescheduled to today, and a very nice day it was. Temps at 10am were in the mid 40s, with a high expected in the mid-50s. It actually got well over 60 by mid-afternoon. It's hard to go into detail about this one, except to say that we went from Vischer Ferry/NY146A area to Ballston Lake, rode the bike path (illegally - it's closed for construction) to Round Lake, NY67 to Coons Crossing Road, then back via Ushers Road, Van Patten, Carlton, Kinns, and 146A.. We stopped at a Stewart's for lunch on Ushers Road, and talked a lot about the others' upcoming trip on the C&O Canal Towpath. They tried to talk me into it, and tempting though it was, the timing and short timeframe made it pretty unrealistic. Altogether, we biked about 27 miles, at a very casual pace with lots of stops to regroup. First real sunburn of the season!

River Ride

Looks like finally we'll get several spring-like days in a row. Today was mostly sunny and in the lower 50s, and there are several more to come. I'm planning to bike with Taconic Hiking Club on Tuesday, so today I wanted to get out for a long-ish ride. What kept coming to mind was the 32-mile loop to Amsterdam and back, going out NY5S, crossing the river, and returning via NY5. Heading westbound to Amsterdam was a breeze, but coming back, the easterly breeze was a headwind, and was more of a problem. I think it was gusting close to 20mph, so that knocked down my speed considerably. Hand numbness continues to be an issue, and I'm not yet molded to the saddle for the season, but these will hopefully improve with time and miles.

No legs today

Sunny, allegedly calm, and 40s today, so I set out to do the Grant Hill loop again. That's when "allegedly" took over. The wind wasn't supposed to pick up until later in the day, but there was a pretty good breeze in my face even as I headed down Kings Road starting out. And something was missing - I just didn't have the energy or the drive to tackle that much of a ride today. So I decided to do the Old State/West Lydius return loop instead, for 16+ miles. That took a little over an hour, for my usual 14.5 average speed.