Lots and lots of riding this weekend.  We did 3 rides.  2 shorter ones on Saturday and a long one on Sunday.  Which to share?  I guess it will be Sunday’s ride.  We never got down to Saratoga.  I actually was going to meet up with Diane Carbonell Saturday night in Saratoga and we didn’t want to bike down there and back and then to drive  down again at night.  So, we did 2 shorter rides around home totaling 30 miles.However, Diane got held up at her event and we couldn’t get together.

We decided to plan our longer ride for Sunday and leave bright and early because of the impending heat!  High of 86 forecast, which is a bit warm for me to bike for a prolonged period of time.  It was 59 degrees when we left the house at 7:45 a.m.  We headed on over to Coffee Planet for breakfast.  This was 6 miles from home.

Bright and sunny today!  I had a oat bagel with honey walnut cream cheese:

I love my Sunday bagel here.  It is so good and fresh!  It’s very filling, too.  After breakfast, we slathered on the sunscreen and continued on our ride.  We should have sat longer because my tummy was full to be riding for that long!  We went on the roads with bike lanes on them today and headed south.  We got to route 197, which I really don’t like riding on.  There is a fairly wide shoulder designated as a bike lane, but it is not always in good repair and the traffic goes by at 55 (or faster – speeders!!!).  Anyway, it is a pretty view.  We stopped around mile 13 or so and looked around.  This is higher up before you head down hill to the river.  You can see forever.

Back downtown and we headed down route 4 towards Schuylerville.  This is a fairly fast and flat ride with only a couple hills (the worst being at the very end).  We stopped at the original burial site for Jane McCrea, who I talked about a few rides ago.

There is a headstone here as well, but it is not for Jane.

He died at the same time as Jane.  Jane was originally buried here, but then her remains were moved a couple of times and now reside at the cemetery in the village of Fort Edward.  I need to remind myself to get some pictures of that.  Anyway, Tobias still remains here.  Nobody knows much about him.  If I remember correctly, the owner of the property asked that this site be preserved when they made the road and to not move his remains.  Not sure if he is some sort or relative or what.

Onward again.  my legs were feeling pretty good today.  I did a lifting workout on Saturday, plus we did 30 miles, so I actually was surprised how good my legs felt.

We took a break around mile 24 for a a snack at our usual stopping point.

Sunny and sweaty!

My hero:

Yesterday, I received a package from the Zone company.  They have new bars that are have less ingredients made with dates and nuts.  They are pretty much like a Larabar, only they have soy protein in them.  So, I brought one along for my snack.

It was chewy, but pretty tasty.  I could taste the soy protein in it.  I don’t eat a lot of soy, so I really noticed it.  I do like the stats on the bar and it is nice to get a little protein in, but not too much.   I got a couple other flavors to try as well.

After that rest, we kept going.  One thing about my sunscreen is that it is a cream (good because I don’t sweat it off), but the combo of that plus sweat and every gnat and fly that hit me stuck to me – my arms and legs! Ewwww!  You know it is hot when your forearms sweat.  It was only about 11 a.m., too.

Another 5 miles and we got to Schuylerville.  This is a small town (like there is any other type of town around here) outside of Saratoga.  We stopped on the bridge and there is a smaller river that feeds into the PCB Hudson river.  Pretty falls.  Mile 29.

I think there may be some hydro power here as well.

I could have jumped right into that cool water. Then we turned around to go home.  We found a new coffee shop in Schuylerville, so we will have to come back and try that.

I was definitely feeling the sun.  Hot!  So glad we were out earlier.  One thing about this bike route, it is exposed to the sky the whole way.

Greasy or not, my sunscreen works really well.  We took one last break at mile  36 for refreshment.

I had frozen this last night so it was slushy and deliciously cold!  Yay!  I was ready to finish out the ride.  One last bit of hill at the end by our house.  This is the hill I talked about conquering at some point this year and the one I avoid at all costs.  We decided to take it today.  I did not think I was going to make it up.  I told myself it was okay to stop and I figured I would just stop when my chain fell off from going too slow as I was in my very last gear.     Well, it never fell off and I huffed and puffed my way to the top.  I think I was going about 4 miles an hour.  Just about at falling over pace LOL!  So happy to have made it up that hill, but I was breathing really hard.  Then we arrived home and my legs were total jello and shaky.

Ride stats:

Total miles: 42.4

Top speed: 24.3 mph (no real big down hills)

Average speed:  13.2 mph

Calories burned: 1258

Final Hill: 0, Lori: 1

Ride all completed by 12:30 and avoiding the worst of the heat.  I love a 40 mile ride.  It is just enough to be a really good workout, but not so much that I am wiped out for the day.

Now, nothing but chillaxin’ for the rest of the day and staying cool!