Whew, Out of New York!

Today we got a somewhat earlier start, since we were riding closer to 60 miles. Also today, the hills begin in earnest. Several of us had elected to stay at the Days Inn instead of the Holiday Inn across the street. The Days Inn was not very plush, but at least we did not have a fire alarm in the middle of the night. Breakfast for me was a belgian waffle and a donut.

At 9:00 it was time to load up, and Mike helped me wrangle my bike down the stairwell and out the door. It was drizzling lightly, but we expected it to gradually clear up, which it eventually did. We met up with the rest of the group at the Holiday Inn, and set out through the bumpy urban streets of Schenectady, headed for the bike trail we had used a lot yesterday.

The bike trail was a delight, keeping us away from the New York traffic for most of the morning.



We could make really good time since we rarely encountered intersections. At one point we went through Jeff Blatnik Park.



I remembered this from last year. Jeff was an relatively unknown Olympic wrestler who beat the top seeded wrestlers one by one and after winning the Gold medal, responded to the ABC comentator's question about his stunning victory with, "I'm a happy dude!" Also on the trail, Joe found the spot where his cross country ride almost came to an end in 2005, whe he encountered a pothole and fell, dislocating his shoulder. Here is the re-enactment. No bikers were harmed in the making of this picture.


Unfortunately, our bike path came to an end as we approached the bridge to Troy. The worst part of the ride came as we stopped to help (watch? )Joe fix a flat. While stopped, all the bikes but mine were up on the sidewalk, but I had just come back from scouting the route ahead, and was still on the street, right by the curb. Suddenly, a car pulled in really close to me and the driver started cussing at me. He pulled up to the curb on the next block, and came back to our group in a very confrontational manner. He came right up to Ted and asked in quite bizarre language, "May I inquire as to what you are doing?



Next came a stream of profanity which I cannot repllicate, but he basically implied that we didn't belong here, and should "get the *%^@ out of here". He seemed really spaced out, and kept rambling on about something, but was mostly incoherent. Our group closed in around Ted and the others who were being confronted, yet the guy seemed ready to take on all 9 of us! Eventually he turned away and drove off. We rode very carefully after that, ready to avoid him if he was waiting down the street. Fortunately we never saw him again and headed across to Troy for lunch.

This makes three times that I, or my group, have been assaulted in this part of New York. Back in 1972, I was riding through Albany, just down the river, with a Mennonite youth biking group called Outspokin. We had made it most of the way through the center of the city when a group of teenage boys closed around us and grabbed our bikes. We talked with them, trying to de-fuse the situation, but they said we would never make it to the end of the block. We managed to ride away, but one of our rider's wheels was hit by a large stick hurled at him, and he broke several spokes. We sprinted away at top speed and finally made it to a better area. Then, last year, as we rode out of Troy, several riders in front of me were verbally assaulted by some local idiots in a car, and I was afraid it too would escalate, but they eventually drove off. I would like to know why this part of New York is so hostile to cyclists. I plan to write a letter to the local papers to do some venting about this.

That incident put somewhat of a damper on our spirits, but a good lunch at the same restaurant we stopped at last year put us back in a riding mood. We were joined by the rest of our gang, including two more of Kent's grandkids. I think our group now numbers around 20, with all the wives, kids, in-laws, and friends who have come along to share the experience.



After lunch, we immediately began our climb out of the Hudson River valley toward the hills of Vermont. It was a cruel first day for Charlie, husband of Kent's daughter who was riding with us for the first time today, but he handled it well, as did all the other riders who have never done this route before. The terrain was challenging, but beautiful. A few miles later, we escorted Kent into the penultimate state of his journey.






Toward the end, we were looking for a bike shop and ice cream stand that were supposed to be at a particular location. We never found them, but our search finally brought us to the beautiful town of Bennington, our destination for the day. Our motel is very nice, a perfect place to unwind from a tough day. We ate at a restaurant in a converted train station. I am really tired now, and think I will stop for now. I may be late in posting this since there is only internet access in the motel lobby.