Biking - Rexford-Waterford Loop

It was an interesting day for a ride - temps in the upper 80s and a westerly wind gusting near 30mph. The thunderstorms forecast for midday were still very far off, so I decided to tackle another long ride, another river loop I've done several times before.




I rode this loop clockwise, starting near the left of the map, crossing the river on the Rexford Bridge, and riding down Riverview and other roads to Waterford at the far lower right. It's at the junction of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers, and is also the low point on the profile at 20 miles. So far so good. I found some shade at Peebles Island State Park and had lunch.

Then came the long climb back to the car, into the wind and with the afternoon heat. At least it was on the bike path almost all the way, so there was some shade and less wind. I took a break around mile 30 and sat in the shade for a few minutes, with energy levels lagging. The last couple of climbs from there were much more difficult than usual, since by now my legs were like lead. When I finished, I had gone just under 36 miles, with 1400+ feet of climbing, and had gone through 3 quarts of Gatorade. What was normally a nice easy river loop had worn me out completely.