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07-06-08, 05:42 PM
On friday morning I took off from my house outside of Schenectady heading for North Creek - I had maped out a nice 76 mile route using bike route toaster (http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/) - a great site - I use it exlusively now over route slip or bikely. I was able to print cue sheets and get the GPS coordinates for my GPS (just in case I took a wrong turn). The ride up was up hill as I was going up into the Adirondak park. I packed all my food for the trip and planned one water stop near the 1/2 way point - in Corinth. My wife drove the car to meet me up there for the weekend. Some pictures as follows:
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0538.jpg
A corn field along the way - this was on Friday - knee high by the 4th of July!
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0540.jpg
The little town of Corinth - this marked about the 1/2 way point - I stopped here and refilled water bottles and the Hydration pack. I bought a bottle of Gatoraid and a gallon jug of water (gallon was only $0.99) both up and back. The old steel Simoncini is taking a nap under the sign - she is such a joy to ride on a long excursion.
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0541-1.jpg
Further up the road is Hadley and Lake Luzern - this is where the Hudosn comes through the narrows in Hadley - it is damed up further down stream - that is why at Corinth there looked like there was a lake - effective there is, it's the Hudson though.
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0545-1.jpg
Once I got to Corinth my route followed the Hudson up to North Creek. Here is a tranqual spot along the way - some where around mile 50. Notice the railroad tracks in the foreground - this track is being restored for a train to go from Saratoga to North Creek to take skiiers in the winter - kind of like the WinterPark service from Denver. Right now the Adirondak scenic raiload uses some stretches of the track. The track follows the river as well - so this kind of sets the grade for a lot of the route.
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0548.jpg
This area of the Hudson is called the rock garden, it is north of Warrensburg. I did not go through Warrensburg as my route kept me on the south bank of the river.
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0549.jpg
A "Tin Lizzy" spoted on a back country road about 5 mile south of The Glenn - as the name is painted on the door.
We went to see fireworks on Friday night in Indian Lake and then again in North Creek on Sat night - North Creek has a town festival and all the townies come out in full color.
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0559-1.jpg
This young fellow is selling (and making) hats out of duct tape for $5 (this is North Creek mind you) - his shirt is made from blue and silver duct tape. You have to be resourceful when you are up in the North Country...
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0556.jpg
And what North Creek festival would not include a game of chicken @h#t bingo - who ever bids on the square where the chicken does his business wins. The pot is split - 50% to the winner, 50% to charity.
And since we have been discussing Nutrition - here is what I laid out for the trip home
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0563.jpg
I only put water (packed with ice cubes) in the hydration pack so I don't ever have to worry about cleaning the bugs out. The ice made it till the end - even with a reload of water.
All but 2 Gu and one TLC bar remained when I got home. With the Gatoraid - about 1400 calories consumed which is probably about 1/3 of what I burned up if you believe the estimate on the HRM and teh GPS. Not to worry though - I did my carbo loading the night before, lots of brew at the North Creek festival :D
On a side note - I usually can't stomach Gatoraide, I started using nuun this year but I forgot to pack the tablets on this trip, I needed electrolites so it was Gatoraide, I tolerated it OK - only once did I feel like tossing my cookies on a really hot stretch.
Stats for all those interested:
On the trip up - Total climbing: 3600ft
On the trip back - Total climbing 2900Ft
Elevation change - 700 ft
Average speed up 15.3MPH - kept my heart rate low to pace myself fod the climbe at the end
Average speed back 16.8MPH - let my heart rate go higher but kept it below the Lactate Threshold - also had a slight head wind.
Two stops to rest in both directions - one at the 1/2 way point and one at the 3/4 point.
This route turned out to be better than I expected - not only was the scenery great but I had a lot of fresh asphalt - some of the backroads I had expected to be choped up pavement had been repaved over the last few months - what a treat!
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0538.jpg
A corn field along the way - this was on Friday - knee high by the 4th of July!
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0540.jpg
The little town of Corinth - this marked about the 1/2 way point - I stopped here and refilled water bottles and the Hydration pack. I bought a bottle of Gatoraid and a gallon jug of water (gallon was only $0.99) both up and back. The old steel Simoncini is taking a nap under the sign - she is such a joy to ride on a long excursion.
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0541-1.jpg
Further up the road is Hadley and Lake Luzern - this is where the Hudosn comes through the narrows in Hadley - it is damed up further down stream - that is why at Corinth there looked like there was a lake - effective there is, it's the Hudson though.
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0545-1.jpg
Once I got to Corinth my route followed the Hudson up to North Creek. Here is a tranqual spot along the way - some where around mile 50. Notice the railroad tracks in the foreground - this track is being restored for a train to go from Saratoga to North Creek to take skiiers in the winter - kind of like the WinterPark service from Denver. Right now the Adirondak scenic raiload uses some stretches of the track. The track follows the river as well - so this kind of sets the grade for a lot of the route.
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0548.jpg
This area of the Hudson is called the rock garden, it is north of Warrensburg. I did not go through Warrensburg as my route kept me on the south bank of the river.
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0549.jpg
A "Tin Lizzy" spoted on a back country road about 5 mile south of The Glenn - as the name is painted on the door.
We went to see fireworks on Friday night in Indian Lake and then again in North Creek on Sat night - North Creek has a town festival and all the townies come out in full color.
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0559-1.jpg
This young fellow is selling (and making) hats out of duct tape for $5 (this is North Creek mind you) - his shirt is made from blue and silver duct tape. You have to be resourceful when you are up in the North Country...
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0556.jpg
And what North Creek festival would not include a game of chicken @h#t bingo - who ever bids on the square where the chicken does his business wins. The pot is split - 50% to the winner, 50% to charity.
And since we have been discussing Nutrition - here is what I laid out for the trip home
http://home.nycap.rr.com/dwsexton/DSCF0563.jpg
I only put water (packed with ice cubes) in the hydration pack so I don't ever have to worry about cleaning the bugs out. The ice made it till the end - even with a reload of water.
All but 2 Gu and one TLC bar remained when I got home. With the Gatoraid - about 1400 calories consumed which is probably about 1/3 of what I burned up if you believe the estimate on the HRM and teh GPS. Not to worry though - I did my carbo loading the night before, lots of brew at the North Creek festival :D
On a side note - I usually can't stomach Gatoraide, I started using nuun this year but I forgot to pack the tablets on this trip, I needed electrolites so it was Gatoraide, I tolerated it OK - only once did I feel like tossing my cookies on a really hot stretch.
Stats for all those interested:
On the trip up - Total climbing: 3600ft
On the trip back - Total climbing 2900Ft
Elevation change - 700 ft
Average speed up 15.3MPH - kept my heart rate low to pace myself fod the climbe at the end
Average speed back 16.8MPH - let my heart rate go higher but kept it below the Lactate Threshold - also had a slight head wind.
Two stops to rest in both directions - one at the 1/2 way point and one at the 3/4 point.
This route turned out to be better than I expected - not only was the scenery great but I had a lot of fresh asphalt - some of the backroads I had expected to be choped up pavement had been repaved over the last few months - what a treat!