Hot ride...

Over the past week, I've been looking at alternative routes to get at least as far as Esperance without going up and over the hills to Duanesburg and then back down. No go on that one. And there's really no good way to ride along the Mohawk, and then cut up and over to US20 without the same significant amount of climbing that I've already seen with the other routes. Sooo, I think I've decided that, since US20 is a Federal highway, and a major one; and since it's likely that the overall grades, though long, are probably more moderate for that very reason; and since the overall distance that way is at least 8-10 miles shorter; and since the total elevation gain that way is within 100 feet of the alternate routes - I think I'm going to stick with the direct route via US 20, hills and all.

So, today, in near-90-degree heat, I rode out NY146 to Fuller Station Road to US20, then out US20 to Duanesburg. There's a 5-mile climb (from 9 to 14 miles) of 700 feet, but I was right about the grades - everything was well within my gearing, the shoulder was great, and it wasn't all that bad. Brief ice cream stop in Duanesburg, then back via NY7, pretty much one long winding downhill, and also very rideable. 26 miles in a shade over 2 hours, including the ice cream. The gears did all the work, and I just kept pedalling at a fairly low level of effort. Not a bad ride, and probably the way I'll start for Glimmerglass, and also return.