Not only did I get a late start today (after Ken drove me to every electronics store in the greater Albany area looking for an adapter that would allow my anti-social GPS to talk to my tablet - no luck, btw), but I also made a big, stoopid navigation error. Ken lives in Albany (sorta), and the Erie
Canalway bike trail starts in Albany (kinda), and so I didn’t think twice about my default plan to go from Ken’s place to the start of the trail and hie westward without
delay. Bad idea
If I had taken a few minutes to look at a map, I would have
seen that it would have made much more sense to go north to Schenectady and
pick up the trail there. Instead, what I
ended up doing was heading east to the start of the trail, then doing a big curve
around to the north. After a full day of
riding, I ended up only two towns away and farther east from where I started, pretty much losing
a whole day of forward progress. I did
get to enjoy the Hudson and Mohawk rivers in all their glory, but it didn’t
quite make up for the frustration of basically having gone in a big half-circle all day!
I found a hidden clearing along the side of the trail,
ignored the “No Trespassing” signs (surely, they don’t mean me), set camp, and
walked to a nearby sports bar (around 1.3 miles away) for dinner (which turned out to be an Everything
in the Barn burger - mmmm). I had a hotel
reservation in Syracuse for Friday night, giving me only two days to cover 160
miles. It would be difficult, but with a
flat, paved bike path the whole way it was doable. All I needed was a good night’s sleep and to get
an early start.
What I learned: Study the map! Then double-check it!
What I learned: Study the map! Then double-check it!
Distance Today: 31 miles
Total Distance: 239 miles
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