Most of this story will be told in forthcoming GoPro footage. For now, here are the major plot points.
We have to finish drying the last bit of laundry this morning before we embark for Albany. We eat a delicious self-serve breakfast while we wait.
Rolling hilly roads lead us to the town of Hudson where we stop at the hip Kitty’s Cafe where Becca says “it looks like all of Brooklyn is in here.” It’s right next to an Amtrak stop, which is exciting.
We meet the Albany-Hudson Electric trail, which features our first sustained gravel bike paths of the journey. Progress is a little slower, and the sounds of crushed rocks under our tires (and nipping against our skin) accompany the scenic stretches of trail. There is little to no tree cover today, so the sun beats down on us mercilessly, and we make an effort to drink water every half-mile at minimum. We press on for some 15 miles before stopping to catch our breath at a picnic site full of campers who are also seeking refuge in the shade, playing board games while waiting to be picked up by their respective adults. “Where are we?” we wonder. The back of a counselor’s T-shirt reads, “Village of Kinderhook” so that settles that. A five-year-old boy asks Marty how old he is, and upon hearing the answer, assures Marty that his mom is “WAY older than that; she’s 35!”
Becca has declared the theme of the day to be QUEENS, so with some motivation from Beyoncé, Britney Spears, and the cast album of the Broadway Musical SIX, along with encouragement from Marty (who insists we can make it to Albany tonight), she takes an early lead, flying off into the sun, singing along at the top of her lungs as she pedals.
At Smile’s Soft Serve Ice Cream in Nassau, Becca calls to book a hotel room and patiently listens to a sales pitch for a timeshare for at least 20 minutes more, just to earn us 500 rewards points. An old man walking down the street ominously points to the sky and says “it’s getting darker.” We will soon discover he is not talking about the sun setting…
We know there is a chance of rain, but feel more prepared after having endured yesterday. The moment the sprinkles start, we stop to add the covers to our bags. Becca figures why bother with the raincoat, she is already sore and enjoying the cooling sensation after riding in the sun all day. We may have been ready for another moderate rain shower…but what we got was something much more “biblical.” Thick drops of rain fall in heavy sheets as we continue on the paved bike path. Within a minute Becca has inadvertently abandoned Marty, thinking he was a couple hundred feet behind her, when actually he has stopped riding and is unaware of whether to continue. Turns out contact lenses have the slight edge over glasses for seeing through this nonsense. Becca doubles back, and our 2 weary cyclists are reunited and ready to press on, albeit slowly and safely. Marty likens what he is seeing to driving through the rain with no windshield wipers. Becca wishes the water-repelling charm that Hermione uses on Harry’s glasses during rainy quidditch matches could work in real life. She keeps singing along to Britney Spears until her phone dies in the middle of a song called, aptly enough, “Till the World Ends.” It will all make sense with the GoPro footage.
At last we leave the AHET and East Greenbush, NY behind. The last 3 miles to Albany are on-road riding. Becca has done this part before, so the feeling of “home stretch” is palpable. The final cross of the Hudson River from Rensselaer into Albany involves walking bikes up a ramp, riding a protected bike lane on I-90, then walking the bikes down a walled-off yard-wide bit of street, since the proper bike descent is being renovated. It’s not the prettiest entry, but we make it. When it’s finally safe, we pull out our last device that still has any battery (Marty’s phone) and get GPS cycling directions to the hotel, which Becca listens to from her jacket pocket (still raining, after all) and then yells/signals back to Marty. She is now also wearing his rear light on her back to make it easier to see where to go. We make a feeble attempt to dry ourselves off, but luckily the hotel lobby is already full of “wet floor” signs, so we don’t feel like we’re fouling the place up excessively.
Once the bikes are safely stowed (not in our room this time!), we head out for vegan wings and a black bean burger at a pub around the corner. A local band plays some song called “Peanut Butter” that is obviously an inside joke among the regulars at this place. We love it when the band’s set ends at 9pm and the room quiets down considerably. Then it’s home to the Hampton Inn to watch some TV, and fall asleep knowing tomorrow is our first full day off!
