River Ride

Another semi-nice day, with temps in the 50s, and I needed to get out and do something. I don't seem to be up for any big ride anymore, and haven't been riding enough to take one on anyway, so I did the usual 15-mile river loop. For the first mile or two, my right knee was twinging - it just hasn't been right since I was running last week and almost couldn't continue. It actually hasn't been 100% for many years, but the pain while biking has been only recently. After those first few miles, it worked itself out, and the rest of the ride was OK. It may be time to start putting in some regular time on the trainer just to keep things loose.

Historical Tour of Ballston

Holly had picked up a brochure from the town that outlined a 20-mile driving tour of the town's historical sites. Here's a link to some history. Unfortunately, several of the stops were on roads that were less than bike-friendly, so today we did an 11-mile subset. It was a beautiful fall day in the 60s, and we had a very relaxed ride.

A Warm October Day

Even though we climbed Whiteface Mountain yesterday, today was too nice to waste. It seemed like a good idea to just get out and loosen up the sore legs, so I did the minimum river ride, 14.55 miles out to NY103 and back. There was a pretty good headwind westbound, and my butt was complaining before I ever hit 10 miles, so I think this year's biking days may be numbered. The motivation has gone downhill, along with the level of fitness from riding regularly. I'll undoubtedly still get out to some extent, but I think the lengthy rides may be over. It's a really nice time of year for hiking, and it may be time to switch gears.

Another long one

Today was another gorgeous fall day, with morning temps in the 40s and lots of sun. I decided to ride west today to Schoharie Crossing and have lunch at Karen's Produce and Ice Cream on NY5S. I knew this was about a 45-mile round trip, but it's all flat, and I had no problem doing that mileage yesterday. Light winds from the SE were forecast.

The westbound trip went very quickly and easily, and the explanation for that was the slight SE tailwind. Got to the lunch spot just before noon and had a big burger (with onions and peppers) and fries (with cheese). First mistake. Actually it was the third. The first was doing this kind of mileage on back-to-back days when I haven't been riding very regularly for the past month. The second was accounting for the wind, which was now a pretty brisk headwind all the way home. The third was having a heavy meal like that for lunch when I needed to continue riding. Around 30-35 miles, not far into the return trip, I started to run out of gas, for all three of the above reasons. It was a long slow grind back to the car. By the time I finished, I was pretty well spent, even though I'd been taking it pretty easy for the rest of that distance.

Tomorrow will be a day off to rest and let the body catch up.

A Different River Loop, and a Little More...

Some friends from the Taconic Hiking Club were doing a rather lengthy ride today, and it actually motivated me to get back on the bike. We started at The Crossings, in Colonie, biked to the Niskayuna train station at Lions Park on the bike path and met some others, and then did a river loop, crossing first the Rexford Bridge and then the Crescent Bridge. We stopped for lunch at Stewart's on US9 near the Crescent Bridge, and continued back to Lions Park via the bike path. There, we left the group we'd met earlier and headed back to The Crossings, for a 43+ mile ride. It was relaxed and sociable, and a beautiful ride on a perfect, though cool, fall day.

Slowing down...

The weather's been iffy, there's yard work to be done, and I just haven't been motivated to get out much on the bike. Played golf, went for a run, went hiking - all on days when I might normally have biked. Maybe I'm just getting biked out for the year, having done all the big stuff that was on the agenda.

Anyway, went out for another 21-mile river loop today. With temps near 70 in October, it would have been criminal not to do something. There were scattered showers around, and I got a late start after getting some other stuff done, so my choices were limited. I do still want to get in a long-ish day to either Indian Ladder or Karen's for lunch, and if the right day comes along, I'll do that. Today just wasn't it.