Golf, and an SWC Thursday night bike ride

Another beautiful day, too nice to waste by not doing something outside. After yesterday's brief sojourn on a pitch-and-putt golf course, and last week's improved driving range performance, I bit the bullet and headed out for a real 9 holes of golf. Hillcrest GC in Duanesburg is a wide open layout, with very little to threaten wayward shots. That's really the reason I play there, and not somewhere with narrower fairways, trees, water, and sand. I wasn't expecting any miracles, but mostly hit the ball pretty well, except when it came to within about 100 yards of the green. My short game cost me at least 6-8 strokes on the 9 holes, and inflated my score higher than it ever should have been. But I at least found out that I'm not so bad that can't keep playing there until I get that part right. Another summer activity to add to the list!

Tonight was the Schenectady Wintersports Club's weekly Thursday night beer and pizza ride. Our group did a 19-mile route up in the hills west of Rotterdam, with an extended series of climbs followed by a screaming downhill, where I maxed out at 36 mph.



And boy, did I have legs tonight! The uphills were nothing at 8-9%, and the last 5 flat miles I was pushing 18-20 mph. A couple of beers, some pizza, and socializing afterwards make these rides lots of fun.