Second – If you missed Day 1,
here’s the link. I’m probably not going to keep this up every day, but it looks like a t-storm is coming so I ducked into a coffee shop.
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| Morning stop. This village as where President Van Buren was born. |
There isn’t much better than a hot shower while on
tour. I caught one of these gems at
Copake Falls and combined it with laundering the prior day
clothes. To minimize weight you only
bring a 2-3 changes of clothes and you wash / dry the ones you aren’t wearing,
alternating days. Another secret to bike touring (in developed areas) is to under pack. I conveniently forgot several things - soap, contact solution, chain lube - and I didn't miss them for the first two hilly days. I'll grab them today and have them on hand for the flatter days.
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| Excellent graffiti art under a bridge just outside of Albany. |
Minimizing weight is of significant importance for a long
distance bike tour, particularly when you take a wrong turn and go up Texas
Hill. The sign was rotated 90 degrees
and up I went. Fortunately it was only a
slight, beautiful detour and I was able to hook back up to my cue sheet. I’m an expert at getting lost. You can ask Joel Gillespie or Valerie
Sivicek. My internal compass is faulty, particularly when the sun goes away.
Combine that with a love for trails and dirt roads and that’s a recipe
for lost. The secret to being frequently
lost is to embrace the adventure and the unexpected experiences that lost
brings you.
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| This is where I should have known things weren't right. |
Yesterday I was making good progress on the Hudson River
Trail heading north on my way to Schenectady. It was rough going for a bit. There was a bridge out and the trail was overgrown
and closed in for a half mile. And then
it got better. I was about to start
looking for camp when the trail ended.
After checking the GPS, I realized that I had gone five miles north of
my route on another multi-use path. It
was a nice path, but heading to Canada wasn’t the plan. A couple of major hill climbs and my detour
returned me to the Erie Canal path.
Losing light, I chose a wooded hilltop camp just short of a water
treatment plant – upwind.
Day Two Synopsis – From the
Taconic Valley to somewhere on the Erie Canal Path between Albany and
Schenectady. Not bad. Another hot day, but most of the massive
hills are behind me in Day One. Just
rollers today, and once I’m on the Erie Canal it’s flat until I turn South just
short of Buffalo
Storms are coming! I heart t-storms!
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| New York puts these huge shoulders on state routes. Great for cycling, even on busy roads. |
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| I heart long bridges, and diminishing viewpoints. |
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| I drank a 1/2 gallon of raw milk today. Healthy! |
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| Cute church, now town offices. |
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| Erie Canal Path! |
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| New York is kinda long |
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