http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/ny/niskayuna/165124079295382335
The ride today started with good intentions of returning after two hours in the saddle, come what may, just stop, you know, pedaling and turning around if necessary.
So I start for J. Boyd Thatcher State Park promising to keep my word, when the inspiration hits 'Why do the park?' I've done the park. Everyone does the park, why not something else this fine day?
Mistake one.
Over the hill and up the hill . . . instead of turn right from 85 to go up the hill to the Park entrance, I continue following 86. At 443, I take a left to go down hill into Clarksville, then on to Unionville, and of course, about this time I realize I have no more time, long since past that point, and no idea where I am. I can't turn around, so take New Scotland Square Rd. to find another rider with better bearings. 'Oh, yeah, to get back to Schenectady, just go up here to where this road ends, take a left (that will be 85), right on Swift Rd. and that will take you into Vorheesville. . . In Vorheesville you got options.'
I follow, he is turning left well before Swift, so off I go. I find V-ville, wander around trying to locate Wormer or Grant Hill Rd. I manage to lose Wormer, thinking the Albany golf course can't be what I want, then reorient correctly.
By this time a wind from the north has sprung up, I've run out of water, and I'm feeling a bit of a cramp coming on by km 75. By home, all is forgiven, but taking off my shoes sets off some cramping again. And I slip out of my clips with straightened legs.
Remember the 2 hour limit? Ha. 3 hours 7 minutes!
Lunch is ready after a quick turn at the computer to find out whether Angelina Jolie has clogged up the entrance ramps/exit ramps of I-787 in Albany, since a neighbor is leaving town briefly and needs this info to plan her drive to the train station.
A. Jolie is not clogging exits.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ny/niskayuna/96695656
This afternoon's ride after my daughter's arrival from college. I spent the morning donating some time to the Roots and Wisdom opening of the garden on Fehr Avenue, Schenectady, NY.
Hot ride. It was nearly 80 F this afternoon at 5 pm!! A change in the weather. It hadn't hit 70 F during the day since September, 2008.
This follows a Monday lactic acid burn-off after the Battenkill.
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ny/niskayuna/137306707
It wasn't 38 but more like 45 F, with a stiff, I mean STIFF wind maybe 20 knots from the SSE. So on the way out, east more or less, it was brutal. We kept losing riders off the back. Bitter.
This afternoon's ride after my daughter's arrival from college. I spent the morning donating some time to the Roots and Wisdom opening of the garden on Fehr Avenue, Schenectady, NY.
Hot ride. It was nearly 80 F this afternoon at 5 pm!! A change in the weather. It hadn't hit 70 F during the day since September, 2008.
This follows a Monday lactic acid burn-off after the Battenkill.
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ny/niskayuna/137306707
It wasn't 38 but more like 45 F, with a stiff, I mean STIFF wind maybe 20 knots from the SSE. So on the way out, east more or less, it was brutal. We kept losing riders off the back. Bitter.
Finished the Battenkill
It wasn't an auspicious beginning to my cycling competitive career; I arrived at the starting line 15 minutes late. Traffic in Troy prevented me from making the predicted 1 h 05 m transit from advice generated by Mapquest. The organizers were gracious enough to pull my bib number from the file and I signed in. They had a handy junior bike with me to the starting zone. "They left some time ago," was the answer. All I needed was an indication of which way to go.
The ride was fun, I did the entire 60 miles hors groupe, but did pass some and was passed by others. The weather was perfect; cool, very little rain. The unpave was dry, clean for the most part, and the race organizers had a great organization. Turns, intersections, and crossroads were all well manned. No worries on fast turns.
At around mile 50 I managed to relieve the onset of cramping with a break, while rolling, but had to keep pedaling to avoid more cramping. I drank the last of my gatorade, had something to eat, and eased upon my legs. That did the trick until the last unpave section, the hill just outside Cambridge.
Official time: nearly four hours. My watch: 3:38. Bib number: 160.
The ride was fun, I did the entire 60 miles hors groupe, but did pass some and was passed by others. The weather was perfect; cool, very little rain. The unpave was dry, clean for the most part, and the race organizers had a great organization. Turns, intersections, and crossroads were all well manned. No worries on fast turns.
At around mile 50 I managed to relieve the onset of cramping with a break, while rolling, but had to keep pedaling to avoid more cramping. I drank the last of my gatorade, had something to eat, and eased upon my legs. That did the trick until the last unpave section, the hill just outside Cambridge.
Official time: nearly four hours. My watch: 3:38. Bib number: 160.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Goal for Saturday
I'm in the Cat 5 portion of the race Tour of the Battenkill: hope to arrive at the end, no crashes, no throwing up into the wind or uphill.
Wishing for: nice weather.
Wishing for: nice weather.
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