Shadow and Light

C'mon. This is just too beautiful.

Ashokan Reservoir - 10/27/13 - Late Afternoon

Had a good ride today out to 10 Mile Bridge and back. Me, Scott, Rich the Knife and new friend ("mate" in UK parlance) Stuart. It was sunny and breezy with a strong headwind across the dyke but it got calm once we were on 28A. We contemplated putting in for a stop at Snyder's Tavern but I was too scared - it's a really sinister looking place - Rich reminded me that it bears a strong semblance to the Bates Motel. Hard to beat afternoon - good weather, good ride, great companions.

Bicycle Archaeology News

Recently discovered evidence suggests that at the end of the last Ice Age a land bridge existed allowing early proto-hominids to cross from the Eurasian land mass to Woodstock...

...That explains so much....

Me at my best/Me at my worst...

Another thing I appreciate about my biking experience - it is another opportunity to look at myself and get some sense of the forces inside me that have shaped and continued to shape me (and by that I am NOT referring to pizza). During my Saturday morning ride with The Hammer I got those glimpses of things within me that are both good and not so good. I had started the ride with a definite agenda which was to make it past the Olive Library and out to Snyder's Tavern (scary place!!!). This is a prime example of my goal-setting/goal achieving/task oriented self. Now, in many respects these are good qualities, but in my case, they are often taken to the extreme. I become solely focused on the goal and lose sight of it's meaning. And so we set off on a lovely fall morning, out across the dyke and up 28A until we got to Snyder's. I could have been content there, goal being met, to turn around, mentally putting a little "check" in my goal list for the day. But the day was beautiful, the sun was bright, my legs felt strong, and Rich's company was delightful,so we pressed on, now, without a specific goal. We were just cruising to see what lay up around the next turn. We eventually pedaled out onto the bridge where the views were just "gorgeous". We stopped for a few minutes, took a couple of photos and just took in the morning. Here is my better self emerging. Learning to relax and savor the moment, not the task. However, it was quite comforting to note that the bridge marked exactly the ten mile mark from the Frying Pan. So, not only was my task oriented creature satisfied, but the "Ten Mile Bridge" got it's name. On the return leg, out of a sense of curiosity, not a need to log distance, we turned right at the sign that say "Sundown/Grahamsville" and went up what I believe is Watson Hollow Road. Now, we were just "splorin" - riding comfortably, looking at the scenery, taking it ll in.I figured we would turn around when the climbing started to get seriously steep but that never really happened. We just kept gradually climbing for a few miles until, by mutual decree, we decided to turn around and head back. It was only when we got back to the cars that I indulged my inner goalie and asked Hammer for the mileage - 25 miles. A good days ride. Then I went home and promptly reviewed our route on GoogleEarth to check the vertical climb we made while splorin. All of 250 vertical feet. Oh well, progress...not perfection.
Goodnight Gang.

This Weekend

Quick note - reminder - Saturday afternoon evening Dinner and Hockey game to celebrate Rich's successful completion of Seashore Century ride. I suggest we leave here around 4 pm or so and head up to Albany/Troy area and we consider the following venues for dinner: Jose Malones Irish-Mexican Pub, Dinosaur Barbeque (both in Troy) or New World Bistro (Albany).

Second - season is winding down fast now - dark by 6:30. I was out last night and by 6:40 I was heading back in the very dark. How about a long ride for Sunday afternoon around 1 pm? Keep it in mind.

What a day!

Slept in a bit this morning and missed saying "goodbye" to Gail before she left for Florida. My bad, baby, I Love You.( Hopefully you arrive in one piece to read this). Saturday morning ride with the Hammer, really just an outing in the country on a beautiful day. Just the drive up to the reservoir was stunning - fog over the fields being burned away by early morning sunshine. Starting from the Frying Pan out across the dykeway and up 28A, past the library, past Snyders Tavern and out to the bridge which marks exactly 10 miles out. The bridge spans a modest gorge with beautiful views up and downstream. Took a few photos then turned around. heading back we took a little detour up the road marked "Grahamsville/Sundown". What a beautiful little side trip - gradual ascent past upland farms, meadows, barns, streams and all the other things that make living in the country the only life I would ever want. Feast your eyes!!! The run back down was fairly quick, then back out 28A, across the dyke then home to the Frying Pan. Surprisingly it was a solid 25 mile ride. Got home feeling like there was electricity running through me. Finish it off with a "healthy lunch" from the farm stand and then...
...a nap!!!

Morning Fields

Sunrise

Beautiful Willow

Ten Mile Bridge - Looking Northwest

Ten Mile Bridge - Looking Southeast

Healthy Lunch.Mmmm...delicious!

Autumn in the Catskills

The days are growing shorter and it is hard to believe that we could get out to the reservoir at 6:30 and still have lots of time for a ride just a few short weeks ago. The trade off is that the mountains are wearing their fall colors now and for just a very brief time they are in their glory. Here are a few glimpses from this week.

 

 

Gatehouse at West End of Dyke, aka The Fire

View along the dykeway

Shadows on the trees - Me and Rich M. are the shadows

Sunset over the Mountain

Twilight Colors - Unreal 10/9/13 at 6:30 pm

Evening Arrives

Seagull Century 2013

Well...the century is complete, 100 miles...and for the first time i think it is a long way to pedal.....

103.11 to be more specific.....but this ride was not for me , nor about me...it is and was for others...some are still here , and fighting , and others have gone , and it is their memory and their honor that drives me , and sustained me at various points on the ride ....

    This year we rode for one of our corporate team members wife...Ellie Teachout, who has been battling , a primary tumor , complicated by a secondary diagnosis of lymphoma....UGH...but she continues to fight , and endure and go on....     

so......I pedaled......and rode ...and rode ...and rode....but not alone....I am part of a team, actually on event day , three teams....one - The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Team Flex which is a part of the subset of LLS groups, and finally our corporate group...

I am proud that as this is our 4th year riding for this cause we have topped over $200K raised through the generosity of friends , family and colleagues.

But this ride had its fun......

and it's pain.......

and it's.....ICE CREAM !!!!!!! at mile 85

i must confess, pie and ice cream never tasted so good....and after riding 85 miles on a long hot day , i knew nothing would stop me from completing the last 15....not when I had a purpose......so...it was there....the finish

after that the first thing I wanted was ...a beer , and a burger......without shame, without guilt, I just needed the carbs and the FAT....and it was good.....but i needed more ....i needed ...

rest

until the next moring ...when it was clear i needed the three things needed by all aging cyclists after a long hard day....

however there is one last thing i need to say ...and that is THANK YOU....to my cycling buddies Paul and Rich....if it were not for your support and encouragement and mocking of my unique cycling fashion sense , I would not have been ready for this ride and would not have safely been able to complete this ride, because my mission , and the teams' mission is not complete as long as blood cancers continue to afflict one single person!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moments sublime

Well, as the weather yesterday and today has been lousy I have been sidelined and realize two things. One, that our season is rapidly winding down and two, how fortunate we have been these past two months with warm sunny days that have allowed us to ride almost every day. One of the humorous things I found myself thinking about was learning about the traffic circle bypass. This is the arc of paved pathway on the south side of the thruway circle that extends from Washington Avenue around to Route 28 where it passes over the Thruway. The irony is that, the first time Rich Burzine and I went out for a ride together in late July we had agreed to meet at "the Hurley Rail Trail". Now, in my mind, this was the parking lot at the south end of the trail on 209 where it turns into the woods. Rich, for some unknown reason, thought I meant that piece of paving near the circle. We sat at our respective sites waiting for each other for about 15 minutes before one of us called the other. Rich told me where he was and, while I really was not sure what this part of "the Trail" looked like, I drove up and met him in the commuter parking lot. We got on our bikes, crossed Washington Avenue, and rode the full length of that "trail" which is about a tenth of a mile. Then nothing. WTF?!?!? What is this thing we asked? What kind of a moron builds a useless strip of bike path connecting nothing to nowhere anyhow? We rode back to our cars, packed our bikes and went down to the lot on 209 and went for our first ride together not thinking any more about that path. It was only the week before last when Rich Maletta and I tried out a new route from the Hurley Four Corners up Hurley Avenue out Washington intending to go out Route 28 to Hurley Mountain Road. I became a little nervous about how we, on bikes, would navigate the traffic circle which would be a challenge, not just for the obvious reason of traffic whipping around it, but the fact that it is actually modestly uphill as well. I was about to ask Rich how to do this when the purpose of that "useless" trail became brilliantly clear. It was a path for bikes and pedestrians to avoid an extremely hazardous (read "insane to even consider trying") maneuver. I told Rich to follow me and we made an uneventful crossing of the circle. I further realized that for our purposes it was best to stay on the left side of Washington Avenue, traverse the bypass path and remain on the left side shoulder of 28 right up to Kenco avoiding four crossings of Washington Avenue/Route 28. My riding had come "full circle".

Annual Dues

Rich, I almost forgot - your annual dues for Bicycle Mafia is overdue. 2013 fees are $34 500. please send a check made out to cash. I'll take care of the renewal details...

The Hammer Puts it Down!!!

Congratulations to one of our own, Rich "The Hammer" Maletta who completed the 100 mile Century Ride in Maryland yesterday. In addition, he raised over $35 000 for cancer. You are awesome and inspire us all. Keep it going, Bro. Maybe we'll all join you next year. Lets see some pics of the day, please.