Day 47 -- Along the Mohawk River Bike Trail

August 6, 2004

ROUTE: Little Falls to Troy NY                 
DISTANCE:  83 miles                 
WINDS: NNW 5-10 . . . nuttin much

WEATHER:  Overcast all day and threatening, but no wet stuff                 
TERRAIN: Tame--rolling in the morning, flat bike path--except for a couple steep climbs . . ..Ugh.                
TOTAL CLIMBING: 1200 feet...maybe

RIDE OVERVIEW: Mike here. Susan was Sweep today so I'll try to recap the day.  Well, our ride is winding down, but we still have a few "good" riding days ahead.  Today is the last of our practice days. We had only rolling terrain and very cool temperatures at departure.  Tomorrow we start the hills.  Also, cool is a relative term. It was 49 when we pulled out, and that's pretty cold where I'm from.

After a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs and French toast (I may never be able to look an egg in the face again after this ride), we prepared to depart in the early light, but first, we had to have a weigh-in.  Bill Gaither is having his Freightliner contest to see who has lugged the most "Mile Pounds" across the country.  He is also giving awards to the ones who were the most efficient and lightest.  The riders stepped onto the scales with their bikes ride-ready (full water bottles, tool kit, spare tubes, pump, etc., i.e., what they normally carry with them during the day) to be evaluated by Judith, the impartial judge.  You can tell she is impartial by her justice is blind outfit...complete with convenient eyeholes in the blindfold (left). The figures were tallied on Red's tailboard by Dan, who prepared a spreadsheet just for this contest. Stay tuned, the results will be forthcoming at the closing banquet.

After the official weigh in, we got on the road.  Our route took us out of Little Falls on SH 5 where, just after passing through Amsterdam, we crossed the Mohawk River and found our way to the Mohawk Bike Trail.  I really like this portion of the ride as we pass through lots of little river towns and start seeing mountains again.  The bike trail took us to Schenectady and northwest across the Mohawk River to Scotia, where we picked up the trail again.  Even though the path is along the river, we didn't see that much of the river until we neared Albany.  The biggest surprise were the hills on the path . . . a couple of steep ones to say the least. On one, I painted, "Wasn't that fun" on the pavement near the top of the climb.  There were portions of the bike trail that were a bit bumpy because tree roots had heaved up the pavement, but it was well marked even when it dumped us out into city streets.  Most of all, we enjoyed the time away from any traffic and the opportunity to sit up and ride at a leisurely pace. 

I spent most of the day with Adrian just spinning along talking about racing and whatever crossed our minds. We hitched up with Karen and Josh at the last SAG, which gave me a prime opportunity for photo ops along the path and someone to have in the photos.  I made the two of them re-ride several portions so I could get the perfect shot. (You don't think I got the shot to the left on the first try do you?)  We probably would have been in an hour earlier if I hadn't had the camera.

Riding on the path was leisurely for the riders, but a challenge for the staff in the vans.  It was hard to find roads that got us close to the paths so we could support everyone if they had problems.  There were a couple places where the riders had to go for several miles before coming parallel with a road the vans could use.  Cov and Mark did a great job navigating through the streets of Schenectady to find the common points.  Karen, Josh, and I stayed near the rear of the group to cover the "blind" points...all in all a good day.  Everyone got in by 4:00. Let's eat!

The riders are starting to realize that the ride is quickly coming to an end. We have only 3more riding days.  I think many of them are starting to feel the emotions of the end...some are glad it's about over, but most hate to see it end.  The reality of the real world looms before us. The next two days are pretty tough as we enter Vermont and the Green Mountains. Riders will have plenty of climbing over the next two days to wake up their legs and remind them that it's not all downhill to the beach just yet.  All the climbing requires getting up early and getting on the road. The first climb is only about a half mile from our front door. 

Everyone is really apprehensive about the climbs, but they fail to realize that although the days won't be easy by any definition, they are so much stronger than when they started and if they pace themselves they will make quick work of anything we'll throw at them between now and the beach.  Tune in to see how we do. I think riders will be surprised at how well they'll do tomorrow...see you then. Mike

Susan here, still alive and kicking after a long day. Coupla things: 

• First, I heard that Josh passed by some guys who were mowing the trail and thought that their mowers had spit out some debris that struck him in the rear. But they had stopped mowing when he passed. Turned out (bummer) that he'd been stung on the bum by a bee.  How did he find this out?  Well, the ever ready Docs were Johnny on the Spot and told him to "drop them" so that they could do a little trailside diagnosing and doctoring.  For them a day without doctoring is like . . . well . . . a day without doctoring.
• Second, the Docs were not around when Andrew G. overestimated his ability to multi-task.  As he passed through Fonda NY, he was riding his bike, eating a cookie, composing a limerick in his head, and probably trying to sleep as he approached a red light. BAM, he ran smack into the vehicle waiting at the light in front of him and fell. The good news was that he wasn't seriously hurt and he didn't drop the cookie. Paul even mentioned Andrew shouldn't talk with his mouth full when he assured the lady in the vehicle that he was OK.  We weren't too far from SS#1 where he self-doctored his minor road rash and bruised ankle.

Speaking of Andrew, here are a few more of his limericks, including one about his accident today:

Accidents &Denial

Andrew's a bit of a ham,

With bike a truck he did ram.

He wants you to know,

It was all just for show

All part of a well thought out plan. 

New Riders Who Joined Us at Niagara Falls

You all know Team Hammer & Nails,

The team that everyone trails,

But will the new bunch

Start eating their lunch?

Will we have some new alpha males?

Attitude--Rain

We ride in the downpouring rain,

Our motto is "no pain, no gain."

It's not as much fun to ride in the sun.

Such comforts we tend to disdain.  

Attitude--Hills

That's not a hill, it's a pimple.

In biking it's really quite simple.

Just think the hills flat, and then just like that

The flats will seem like a dimple.

Daniel

Daniel has trouble with spokes,

One after another one croaks.

And then there's his tire

In which tubes expire.

Are these the biking gods' jokes?

HEARD ON THE ROAD TODAY:  

• "You know what I want to do today?"  "Yeah, what?"  "I forgot."  [Conversation overheard between Lynn and Lisa at the motel]      

DUH! OF THE DAY:  At the second SAG, Rory came in and missed the arrows that directed him back onto the path.  When he left, he picked up the "false" trail along the highway that disappeared about 2 miles down the road.  Barb told me when I got there that someone saw him riding off down the road the wrong way. I said we'll see him soon. He'll be back.  Sure enough, he came limping in with a grin on his face. He couldn't sneak by without passing the SAG van again. That's enough for the DUH since the arrows were all over the ground to help him, but the big DUH was that he forgot to sign in when he arrived the first time, and.then he rode right by the second time and didn't sign in again! Does he get charged for 2 failures to sign in?  The group votes yes!!!  I said everyone got in by 4:00 but technically,Rory hasn't arrived at the second SAG as of this posting. Stay tuned!

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:

Pam got caught in the wedding arch at dinner last
night...where's hubby when you need him?

Well mean they.

Our route today was clearly marked...they just had
to follow the arrows, but ours are white, gang!

Jeff pauses with 4 of the "newbies" (Karen, Gary, John,
 and Conrad)  for a photo op over the river.

See, I told you I didn't get that photo above in the text on the first take...
This was the first take so I made them go back.  Yikes!  No brakes!

The old barn and vineyard at the Kanatsiohareke Mohawk Indian Community.
They also ran a Mohawk Indian craft shop and a Bed & Breakfast.