Biking - Mohawk River Bike Path and Beyond

Another nice day, possibly the last for a while, so I went for another ride. I considered US20 to Duanesburg, returning via NY7 for a 30-mile hilly day. I also considered NY5S to Amsterdam returning via NY5, for a flat 33-mile river loop from SCCC, several miles longer from home. Ultimately, I decided to ride from home, not use the car, and do a shorter river loop with some add-ons.

Biked down Crane Street to Broadway to Edison to Erie to Washington, and thence to SCCC and the bike path. Rode out tot he railway dead end in Rotterdam Junction, then back to 5S and the outer section of the bike path. Returned via 5S to 103, crossed the river to 5, and turned on Vley Road to make a stop at Adirondack Bicycle. Bill will order me a bell that should fit the Trek 520's larger handlebars. Asked him about my Shimano chain issue. Turns out there's a replacement pin available to be used when breaking the chain for cleaning. It's slightly bigger and fits snugly in the larger hole made in the outer plate when the old pin is removed. Failure to do this could eventually lead to the chain breaking at an inopportune moment, as the smaller original pin slips out of the new larger hole. Will need to inspect the chain carefully, and see what I turn up.

Cut back via side streets through Scotia to NY5, and returned through Schenectady up State Street to Brandywine, without incident. During the time I was out, a stiff easterly breeze had come up, making the return home on NY5 a bit more challenging. But I covered 26.8 miles in 2 hours flat, so not a bad ride.