Biking to Work

I"m finally starting to switch over to biking to work. Coincidentally I started during bike to work week, I started yesterday, and I think I'm getting the hang of it. I may be jumping the gun in writing that, but I have a better idea of how much time I need and how to get there. Majority of my ride is on trails, but it starts and finishes with streets. The worst part is the afternoon trip back to Troy, with having to deal with that intersection at the Green Island bridge. Everything else has been decent.

Hopefully the area starts to wise up and put in bike lanes. Give me a slight sense of security as I try to be get around on my bike.

Tour de Vine This Weekend

Need something to do this weekend? Have a bike? Like wine? If you've answered "Hell yeah!" or even "yeah... sure. Okay," you should check this out (blurbage taken from the mailing):

A Cycling Tour of the Wineries & Vineyards of the Upper Hudson Valley Saturday, October 17, 2015 - 10:30 AM start

Enjoy a cycling tour of the Upper Hudson Valley wineries and vineyards in Easton, NY.  This casual, 20 mile, fully-supported ride features wine-tastings at 4 Upper Hudson Valley Wine wineries and a catered, gourmet post-tour lunch at scenic Amorici Vineyard.  Post-ride lunch, ride leaders, course markings, mechanical & sag support, and scenic views are all included in your registration!  Vegetarian lunches available!

The vineyards on the tour:

Amorici Vineyard (where the tour starts)
637 Colonel Burch Road, Valley Falls NY

Natural Selection Farm Winery
85 Darwin Road, Cambridge NY

Victory View Vineyards
11975 NY-40 Schaghticoke NY

Northern Cross Vineyard
1106 Beadle Hill Road Valley Falls NY

Lots of rolling hills should make for a great scenic ride. They have the route posted on Ride With GPS. I'll be on a bike adventure of my own, so if you do attend, know that I am jealous. M and I have visited Amorici a few times and it's nice to know there are good wineries less than an hour away from us. 

If you can't make the tour; or you would rather drink instead of work for it, I've included the addresses so you head out there and have a glass or two. And of course, be responsible. DD's get free meals in my book.

Spaces are limited to 50, registration can be found here

Biking Extravaganza!

Such a wonderful day today, wasn't it? I got to take my parents convertible out for a spin and I must say... it was very nice. But the day is winding down and I have to get ready for my action packed week ahead.

As the title of this entry states, I have planned a biking extravaganza for my vacation. This isn't one long trip, but a series of small rides in Northern New Jersey, the Hudson Valley, and the Capital Region.  By getting all these miles in, I should hopefully be prepared for the Berkshires to Boston tour that's coming up in a few weeks. 

Tomorrow I will be going on my first bike overnight. I don't remember if I had written about this before, but bike overnights (also known as S24Os - sub 24 hour overnight) are when you bike for a day, stay somewhere overnight, and then bike back. It's baby steps into bicycle touring, something that I would like to do more of. So tomorrow I have a ride planned not too far from here. Almost all on a car-free path, and I'll be staying at a hotel for the night.

Because this is just an overnight, I don't have to worry too much about packing gear. Just a toothbrush and a change of clothes. And lots of snacks. And water. I'm using my two rear panniers to get used to riding with the additional weight. 

I'm sure there will be a lot of pictures on Instagram throughout the day. And the obilitory phone calls/text messages to let people know I'm doing alright.

Think I'll finish up this Lifetime movie on Full House and get some sleep. Have a long day ahead of me.

Biking Vicariously

So the Berkshires to Boston tour is rapidly approaching and I have to confess - I haven't been biking.

I blame the weather for my inaction. It's been either too hot or rainy. But I did make it out this morning. Uncle Sam bike path, a little over six miles in 35-ish minutes. It was raining lightly at the start of the ride, but that didn't last long. The skies stayed overcast, which made for comfortable biking.

Took it easy and biked a steady 9-10 mph. The trip back is always easier... probably because it's the sign that I'm almost done. I should start going for longer rides, riding days on the tour will be at least 50 miles!

While I haven't spent enough quality time with my bike, I have been reading/listening to people who are. Kind of motivates me to get going. Kind of.

Listen: Pedal Shift podcasts. If you're curious about bike touring, definitely check this out. Tim Mooney (man behind the podcasts) recently finished up a bike tour of the Erie Canal, which I followed daily. I even offered up some helpful tips about the parts I know on that trail. His next adventure is traveling from Boston to DC with a bike and regional transit. If you're wondering, he's going to use a folding bicycle.

An aside, but Amtrak needs to get with the times and start allowing bicycles onto more of their service routes. I was planning on a bike adventure using the train to get to my start location, but the route from Rensselaer does not allow bikes or check in baggage.

Read: Adventure Cycling Association. Covers cycling (duh) and good resource if you want to go on a bike tour. When I have the time I would love to do the TransAmerica tour. But that takes a couple of months!

Read: Bike Overnights. If you're not too sure if touring is for you, a one or two night trip might be a good way to start. They show you what you need, how you should pack, and riders post information about the trails so you'll be prepared. I've marked off rail trails that are on the bike list.

Read: Fat Guy Across America. Okay, there not really much reading, but something I'm following. Eric Hites is as the title says, biking across America. He's doing this to help shed the excess weight and win his wife back. He started off in Massachusetts and I think he's made it to New Hampshire. The last few weeks his story has really taken off - you may have seen it floating around on Facebook. People along the way are helping him out; someone have him a GoPro to record his trip, and a bike shop built him a new bike that would support his weight when his bike gave out. Feel good story... I hope he completes his trip.

Watch: Any and all videos about bike touring. It's all I look at on YouTube lately.

Saturday Ride–‘Murica Edition

Happy Fourth!

I got up early this morning and took an “easy” five mile ride. Just to get used to back-to-back rides. Well, after my day yesterday, this easy ride was far from it. I didn’t feel achy when I got up, but once back on the bike it all came rushing forth.I My bike has one of those gel foam seats, which when paired with padded shorts wasn’t too bad. Sure, I had to stretch and shift positions, but I made it. Today, no padded shorts because it was supposed to be a quick ride.

Right off the bat, pain pain pain. Maybe if I had a super fluffy pillow top bike seat would this ride have been enjoyable. Rode on the ever-so-patriotic Uncle Sam’s bikeway.  Asphalt, which is maintained for the most part. Cracks here and there are on the path, but tree roots like to cause trouble. Fact. Trail is flat, with barely a hill. Can it even be called a hill? Baby hill? Hill lite? Mini hill. Chance to use my gears, which I need to work more on.

This coming week I’ll be starting my training for the fall rides. At least attempt. Depends on the weather and how I feel after workouts and work and things.

Well… I’ll probably nap for a bit before we head out. Hopefully there are places open.

America… w00t!

Berkshires to Boston Bicycle Tour

I think the theme for this summer and fall for me will be biking. As in two wheels. Motor free. Pedal power. I'm not really sure how this reinvigorated interest in the bicycle came to be, but I will freely admit the last few months have really sucked. Lots of taking on more than I can chew; my personal life faltering; and a need for an escape. What better way for freedom than with my own two feet? Running? Eh, makes my knees hurt. Driving? My can can be a gas guzzler. And then there's my bike.
And my other two bikes.

Yes, I have three bikes. Overboard? Maybe. But one I got for free, and the ten speed I've delegated as my training bike. The hybrid is the star and chill as much as he or she wants. I haven't decided if it's a he or a she. No name, just bike. But maybe it will get one this summer.

Anyways, I'm on this biking kick and researching all the bike paths/rail trail in the area. I forget what exactly I was looking for, but I came across the Berkshires to Boston bike tour. Still relatively new (it only started back in 2013), participants bike roughly 240 miles over four days from Western Massachusetts to Boston, just in time for that city's bicycle celebration "Hub on Wheels." Riders can choose to stay at the campgrounds each night or stay at a participating hotel if they don't really feel like roughing it. There are meal options where they supply you with most of your meals, or just breakfast or dinner. There's even a pre-tour bike ride to Mt. Graylock, the state's highest peak! If you can't get away for the four days, there's a weekend option. For an additional feel they bus the riders (and their gear) from Boston back to the starting point.

I am foregoing the warm up ride (have to work), but I will do the tour in its entirely. My plan as of now is go to work, get in a workout before heading over to Hancock, MA to meet up with group. As part of the registration fee Wednesday night's dinner is included. I chose not to get the meal plan for two reasons... okay, three:

1. I'm not really a breakfast person, so I can't see shelling out $60 for a bunch of stuff I won't be interested in. I'll just grab a coffee on the route.
2. I going through towns in Massachusetts I never think twice about. I'm going to explore and enjoy what's out there. Eating included.
3. Registration fee plus the ride back to Hancock was over $400.00. Even though I'll be buying stuff along the way, I want to try to save as much as I can.

Even though I'm biking with a group, I'm doing this by myself. Which doesn't make it so scary since there are other people doing this too. Strangers, yes... but doing the same thing. Who knows, maybe some readers out there are signed up or interested in signing up. If so, woohoo! Always good to see a familiar face. Or maybe not familiar face but whatever. You know what I'm saying.

The prices, sadly, have gone up. To register for this tour is now $398 (full)/$235 (weekend). The ride back may still be $65, you'd have to check the website for that. And if it seems pricey, know this is what you get for it (full registration, C&P job from the website):

• Marked route each day
• Camping accommodations on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
• Shower and sanitary facilities in each campground
• Baggage transportation each day
• Sag support each day
• Mechanical support on route and in camp
• Seven rest stops
• Wednesday night dinner at Hancock Shaker Village and opening night entertainment
• Hub On Wheels registration
• Rider Guide
• High-quality printed route map and guide
• Rider registration bag with useful tour and take-home items.

Freebies! And I think you get stuff from the Hub On Wheels as well. 

Anyways, check out the Berkshires to Boston website. If you are doing this, post in the comments. If you're not but have done something similar (supported or unsupported), leave a comment as well. 

Two Wheel Adventures: Mohawk Hudson Hike - Bike Trail

So after my workout yesterday I decided to go for a ride. The weather hasn't helped much - it rained during my workout and a few raindrops hit my windshield as I drove over to Watervliet. But if I want to be ready for my upcoming bike adventures (which I'll write about tomorrow), I need to get in as many miles as I can.

I run on this trail quite often, and once in a while I bike it. It's easy, relatively flat. Depending on what time you go, it can be desolate or packed. The rain scared most people off, so I didn't have to worry about sharing the path. But I did stay as far right as possible.

I didn't bike the whole trail, just to Jennings Landing and headed back (that rain!), so roughly ten miles. For the most part the ride was bug-free.

I just ordered a bike rack for my car, so I won't have to deal with throwing my bike into the back. The ten speed is slightly heavy, but manageable. My hybrid, totally different story.

Adventures on Two Wheels: Schenectady to Rotterdam Junction

No pictures yet again.

After my final (which I passed, thankyouverymuch) I drove over to the far side of the school's parking lot and hit up the Mohawk Hudson Bikeway, a trail that runs alongside the Mohawk River. My final took much longer than I thought it would and by the time I got out, it was pretty overcast. Wasn't sure if it would rain, but I was determined to get a ride in.

The trail starts along the river and stays along the river for the most part. Mostly flat, with just small hills. Nothing to worry about though - you see them coming and nothing a couple of quick pedals won't tackle.

I had sunglasses on, but I think one of those neck things would be good to protect from the gnats, which I kept flying into. I did get a bug in the eye... nasty. There might still be some bug in there.

I biked down to about Rotterdam Junction, just before the path is cut by an active railroad line. The path starts up again, maybe a quarter of the mile down, but you have to get onto the road to access it. Hopefully they finish that small part and make it bike accessible. I'm pretty sure this is how they go on the Erie Canal Bicycle Tour, something I've been meaning to do for years.

One of these days.

Breakfasting on Wheels

I was on a good streak there, exercising. But a majority of the summer I've been busy until the late evening so working out just had to wait. Then came that nasty humid weather, or the downpours on the weekends that got in the way of healthy activities.

But I did it. I got back on the bike and enjoyed the nice weather. I really wanted to bike out to Rotterdam, but I ran out of time. Settled on twenty miles. A good number and I got to do some uphill work - and failed.

Must say I really like the crunchy peanut butter Clif bar. Going to have to remember to buy more of those.