Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Little Falls to Albany, NY

72 miles, 4:29 riding time, 1,862 feet climbing, 3,647 Calories

This morning, we delayed our start by one hour, sleeping in, having a leisurely breakfast and then signing out at 8:15. The usual group of Peter, Al, Willie, and I started down Route 5 which parallels the Mohawk River below Little Falls. It was a glorious day, with blue skies and puffy white clouds. Al spotted a red fox hunting beside the road! A few miles down the road, we stopped to visit Fort Klock, a fortified house built in 1750. The house has gun slits next to the windows for firing at raiding Indians. The Mohawk valley was the gateway to the west from the coastal communities in the Colonies and some of the old houses still exist.

Although heavily wooded, we were often able to catch a glimpse of the river and surrounding farmland. In Amsterdam, the railroad station is right next to the river. Peter looked at the schedule and said he could take the train home to New York City from there; he opted to continue riding with us instead. Peter is going to ride his bike home from Boston at the end of our trip!

As we were rolling down one long hill, I spotted two Cross Roads riders sitting with their bikes beside the road. I knew they were CR riders because they were wearing CR jerseys and one had his orange flag on his bike. I was confused however, because I knew they weren't with our group; everyone in our group was behind us. We stopped and met Don and Barbara, Cross Roads alumni from last year's ride. They live in the Albany area and Don volunteered to ride in with us.

Eventually, we left the beautiful countryside behind us and rolled into Schenectady - lots of traffic and bad pavement! We must have stopped at every traffic signal in town. Finally, we turned into the suburbs where it was a little quieter, but the streets were narrow and the road surface was in need of repair. Don said the last few miles of the CR route were dangerous and under construction; did we want him to take us to the hotel by a safer and more scenic route? Peter and I opted to go with Don, but Al said he wanted to stick with the route sheet. We followed Don down to the Mohawk River and rode a very nice bike path for several miles before climbing up the hotel. Later, Al said we had made the right choice, that the road he was on was not safe to bicycle.

We have two more days of riding left, plus the short ride into Revere Beach on Friday. Where has the time gone?

6 comments:

  1. I'd forgotten how lovely that part of New York is - love the photos of the green, green, green countryside.
    Tonight, mom and I (along with Les Domestiques and the Fourth Rider) will be visiting Mexico (i.e., we are having Mexican food for dinner) and England (i.e., we are watching the latest Poirot mystery).
    Safe travels on the final legs of your incredible journey - I can't believe it's almost over!

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  2. Jim, thank you thank you thank you for your great blog posts and the wonderful pictures of the USA. We've been reading and enjoying every day. It is hard to realize your ride is almost over, after starting on Mother's Day in MB. See you soon, Fran & Sid

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  3. WOOF - Les Domestiques and the Fourth Rider, D-Dog and B-Dog, buddies forever!!! ;~@

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  4. Don was one of our strongest riders last year and one of our EFI riders. He led a large group of us in to Albany by the senic bike path along the Mohawk River - also saving us from the downtown traffic.

    Iowa Bob
    XC08

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  5. migosh that time went fast! i am feeling let down already! i'm sure all of us will miss reading about your adventures.

    v.

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  6. Real men,like Peter, ride their bikes all the way home to their houses. (Typed in the comfort of my computer room with the temperature 68 degrees F. and the forecast for no rain.)
    Bob

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