All good things must come to an end, right?
That is what this day felt like. Something was ending. The Biker Gang was breaking up (not really).
It felt weird that we were not going to be together every day.
It felt strange that we would not be riding our bikes, or hanging out together, joking around.
Or wearing the same clothes.
The real world was calling. Our families and jobs were waiting for us. It was time to go home.
We were greeted to clouds, drizzle and cold temperaures on our last day.
Like I said...all good things must come to an end, and that meant the good weather too.
I had brought medical gloves to use if we have to fix anything on our bikes, so our hands wouldn't get covered in grease . I handed them out to my friends to help keep their hands a little warmer.
Fortunately, we had a covered place to pack up our rigs. But, we could delay no longer. It was time to get wet.
The forecast was for rain the entire day, but it appeared to just sprinkle on us at the start, which was good. A hard rain would not be pleasant.
With only 40 miles and rain the whole day...we were going to ride as long as possible before stopping. We looked for possible food places along the way. There were some spots in Schenectady that looked promising, so we decided to go for it.
We could do 20 miles, right?
The forecast of rain wasn't exactly right...it would sprinkle on us for a bit, then nothing. Then 10 minutes later, a few more sprinkles. I kept expecting rain--not a downpour, but the nice soaking rain that wasn't too hard, not a sprinkle, but just right.
We didn't get that.
Instead, the on again, off again spitting of rain drops meant that I would take my hood off from over my helmet, then have to put it back on again a few minutes later.
This was annoying.
Yes, I could have just kept it on all the time, but it wasn't all that comfortable, and I would lose my peripheral vision, and I didn't like that at all.
But, I was glad I had the rain jacket, as it kept me fairly dry, and warm. Without it and that hood, I would have been completely miserable.
As we rode into town, we had to get off the trail and onto the roads, right through town. Luckily, the path continued to be well marked, so we knew where we had to go. Being that it was Sunday morning, there was not much traffic. And, wouldn't you know it, the restaurant we picked was just off the path.
And as we locked up our bikes outside the restaurant, it started to rain a little harder. Perfect timing to get inside, warm up, and eat!
Moon & River Cafe was our choice this rainy Sunday morning; a little off the beaten path restaurant, eclectic and delightful. The drinks were hot and the food yummy. It was exactly what we needed.
As we finished up our meal, we discussed the remaining 20 miles. We confirmed the decision to head to Peebles Island, where the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers meet, and where the actual Erie Canal begins to head westward. There family and friends would pick up us, and our ride would end.
This seemed like a much better option that riding across the Hudson River and up the steep hills into Troy.
We also discussed the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon that had just started. Would we run into any stragglers, since they run the trail to Albany?
We knew we couldn't delay anymore, and the rain appeared to have let up again, so we bundled up in our semi-dry gear and headed back to our bikes.
It wasn't long before we were back on the trail, and off the road.
The rain had been hard enough that there were a few more puddles on the path. Combined with falling leaves, we needed to be careful. We could easily slip and fall, and that would be horrible with the end so near.
Not far from Schenectady we saw the start line of the Marathon--a line of 30+ port-a-potties and pop-up tents. The race had started earlier, but that didnt mean we wouldn't see some runners, especially since we were riding much faster, and the weather could mean difficult running conditions.
And wouldn't you know it, we did not see anyone, but we did see the signs that supporters had placed on parts of the course.
Those actually gave us an added boost to our damp spirits.
One thing mentioned at breakfast was a hill in Niskayuna by the GE plant. How bad can it be? We are on a bike path/tow path/rail trail. And we weren't running it.
How wrong could I be!
We experienced an almost 9% grade after riding for 20 miles in the rain.
It hurt--a lot.
My chest was so tight it hurt to breathe.
This was the first time during the entire ride-- a long long time in fact, where I wondered about my health.
This was worse than the detour outside of Palmyra that I thought was tough.
It was that bad.
Now realistically, it wasn't that bad, but after 350 miles, and lugging around a 30 lb bike, 20 lbs of clothes and equipment, and myself (I will not disclose my weight, but significantly more), it was painful.
Like, my chest hurts just thinking about it again as I write this.
I reached the top...not stopping on the way up, and just coasted for a sec. There were a couple of people there. I don't know if they were there to cheer on runners, or if they were just out for a Sunday stroll, but they cheered me on as I made it to the top.
I could have hallucinated them, but I do recall someone telling me I was almost there, and keep going.
God?
At the top, I needed to get my heartrate down, and fast. It was pounding!
Coasting for a bit, helped. Granted, I wasn't going that fast to start, but not pedaling, and not willing my bike up a hill definitely made a difference. I calmed my mind and slowed my breathing. I was able to recover...and enjoy the downhill. Before the next incline, which luckily was not nearly as taxing as that first one.
We came into Cohoes, and the trail ended. We needed to get back on the road. The trail would reconnect at the Hudson River. We turned north for the remaining miles to Peebles Island.
Here we were back on the trail. Heading north to the confluence of the two rivers.
Peebles Island does have an Erie Canal Visitor Center, but we would not be stopping in. We were cold, wet and done.
We went over a bridge, and I thought this is it, we are done.
But I was wrong. We had crossed over onto Van Schaick Island, a larger island, just before Peebles.
I guess I didn't realize just how many islands there were at the junction of the Mohawk and Hudson. Guess I should have looked at a map, but in my defense, when we first planned the trip, we had talked about heading to Albany, then Troy. Heading north was a good decision.
As we peddled along, I hung towards the back. I listened to my friends chatting, their tone and volume louder and more excited as we pushed on those last few miles.
You would have thought that the sun was shining and it was a beautiful fall day for a bike ride.
Going over the bridge from Van Schaick to Peebles, we all picked up some speed. We knew that family would be there waiting for us, with a warm car to climb into to take us back to their home with warm food, and hot showers.
The weather hadn't defeated us. The sore knees, hands, and saddle sores hadn't stopped us. We had many, many stories and experiences to share and remember to last a lifetime. We won.
We conquered the Erie Canal Trail.
Now...what's out next adventure?
And thanks for taking the trip with us through this blog.
Stats for Day 8's ride:
Miles for the day: 40.7
Hours in the saddle: 3:31
Total Daily Hours: 4:42
Total Ride Statistics:
Miles total: 369.5*
Hours in the saddle total: 31:53
Total hours on the trail: 49:19
*For some reason my fellow riders clocked 5 miles more than I did. So unofficially we rode 375 miles. These stats are from my GPS data which was uploaded to Ride With GPS, along with mapping details.
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