June 21

In my continuing effort to make the most of every last mile, today I once again turned to music. When I looked out my hotel room window this morning and pondered what I wanted to listen to, the lush green hills that Amsterdam, New York, is tucked into made me think of James Taylor. I wanted something that would help me stay in the present. His songs and comforting voice seemed to fit.

Since iTunes does such a good job deciding what I need to hear, I pressed the Shuffle button and let it select the order of the 25 James Taylor songs on my phone. I listened to three or four in my room as I packed up, and then hit the pause button to save the rest for when I would be on my bike.

I was in no hurry this morning. As forecast, very light rain — more like a heavy sprinkle — was falling when I got up at 7 a.m.  It tapered off, but there was a 50% chance of rain for the next couple of hours, and then the probability fell to 30-40% between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. I expected the 43-mile ride to Troy to take about four hours, so that 10-2 window was what I was shooting for. Of course, being in no hurry, I didn't leave until about 10:45. (You might recall that the Amsterdam Castle required me to put my bike in their garage. Retrieving it went quickly, but I was slow rearranging things in my bike bags and doing a few preparatory things that I would normally do earlier when I have the bike in my room.)

As I turned onto the (paved) Erie Canalway Trail — just a block from the hotel — I hit the play button on my James Taylor songs. The first one was the bouncy "Everyday," which has lyrics with absolutely no relationship to my being on my bike. The next song, however, was one that was fun to hear, with its references to life being a ride: 

Secret O' Life

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.

Any fool can do it, there ain't nothing to it.

Nobody knows how we got to the top of the hill.

But since we're on our way down, we might as well enjoy the ride.

Isn't it a lovely ride? Sliding down, gliding down,

try not to try too hard, it's just a lovely ride.

The music seemed to help me stay in the present. I focused on the trail and the scenery and tried to keep thoughts of time and distance and my to-do list from creeping into my mind. A little while later the J.T. songs played out, so I switched to Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty" album, which can (must) only be played from beginning to end. As I rode, some light sprinkles would fall now and again. It wasn't bad. Then they started to come down harder. The heavy sprinkle was picking up speed and on the verge of becoming a light rain (when you grow up in the Midwest you can tell the difference), which prompted me to say aloud: "No, no, no, we don't need any of that!" Right then — I really am not making this up — the next song kicked off, "You Love the Thunder." Which quickly got to the chorus, and Jackson singing with conviction: "You love the thunder and you love the rain." To which I responded, again aloud: "No! I don't!" (Think I've been on the road too long?) Nothing else in the song can be applied to my journey, but that's how I entertain myself when nobody's around. Fortunately, the rest of the day's ride stayed in the light-sprinkle range. 

Meanwhile, the Erie Canalway Trail went through some changes. It was already following the Mohawk River since Little Falls (where I stayed on Sunday). Today, near the city of Schenectady, it merged with the paved Mohawk Hudson Bike Hike Trail, which runs 97-miles to Albany and beyond. Since it ran along the bluffs of the Mohawk River Valley, the trail was no longer flat, as it had been along the canal. (That's it in the picture above.) None of its hills were very long, but it had a few very steep grades that required my lowest gear. (I've noticed, after all these miles, that I've gotten better at sizing up a hill before I get to it and knowing which gear I'll need to shift into to climb most efficiently. If you can nail the right gear and keep your tempo, you can get to the top faster and get that hill behind you. And if you can do that consistently, it's amazing how much faster you can move along without expending much more energy than if you settle into slower grinds up the grades.)

I pretty much cruised along until I got to within about five miles of my hotel in Troy. I came upon a section of the trail that was being torn up for repairs, requiring a detour. Somewhere, I lost track of the detour and got several blocks away from the trail. I had turned off Google Maps while on the trail because I didn't need it. I was stubbornly trying to figure out how to get back to the trail without turning the app back on. When I noticed, however, that my own navigation had taken me a few blocks even farther from the trail, I gave in and sought directions. I'm lucky I did. Up to that point I hadn't checked just where my hotel was located. As it turned out, I was pretty close. If I had gotten back to the trail, it would have taken me farther away from my hotel, and I would have had to backtrack. It was fortuitous that the detour got me off the trail when it did.

The Mohawk River Valley's steep hills made getting to my hotel a little tricky. To get there, I had to climb a couple more sharp grades — the kind where stopping your pedaling is not an option because you'll risk a fall.

Once I got to my hotel room and got cleaned up, my dinner choice was pretty easy. A sports bar and restaurant with some decent entrees on its menu was located in the hotel, so I could just go there. At least that was the initial plan. I then decided to open the windows to my room, upon which the fragrance of a Popeye's Chicken a half-block away came wafting in. Even though I had just had a phone conversation with Susan about wanting to eat healthier, I couldn't resist. The hotel restaurant didn't stand a chance. I had a healthy walk to Popeye's and back. Its four-piece combo — with sides of red beans and rice,  and cole slaw — was perfect.

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I'm really looking forward to Wednesday. I'm headed to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and some last-minute things have come together that should make it a full, fun day there.

Steven Johnson, whom I worked with on latimes.com, contacted me today and said he would be dropping off his daughter, Abby, in Lenox, just south of Pittsfield, where she has a summer job at the Tanglewood music venue — the summer home of The Boston Pops. He didn't realize I was headed to within a few miles from where they will be. When I told him, we made a plan.

My ride tomorrow is only 35 miles, about three hours of riding. I plan to meet Steven and Abby at my hotel at 11:30 a.m. (I'll check in later). We'll visit as long as we can before they have to take care of some things and Steven heads to the airport in the afternoon to fly back to Los Angeles. After they depart, I hope to check in to my hotel around 1 p.m. so I can surprise some friends on a 1:30 Zoom call (if I didn't just give it away). After I finish on the call, my brother-in-law Jack Freudenheim will soon arrive to have dinner and visit. Jack and his wife, Judith, live about two hours away in Katonah, New York.  I'm honored he's taking the time to come see me.

Contact me: Thoughts or comments? Email me at richardridesusa@gmail.com.

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