Day 35--Little Falls to Schenectady, NY

Sunday, May 20, 2012

We left Little Falls at about 9:30 a.m. today, intent on meeting Kaaren Caron and her friend Tami Flanders in Amsterdam, 40 miles away, before riding with them the 28 miles to Schenectady. We had to decide whether to ride the unpaved Erie Canal trail or NY-5. If we rode NY-5 we would have a stiff climb to get us up to it from the river. Jess is a trail hound, preferring the tranquility of the trail to the road, so ultimately the decision was quite easy. Trail.

Crossing the bridge above the Inn at the Stone Mill to get to the trailhead; that's the canal in the upper right

In days past, the area north along Route 5 and the Mohawk River was populated with mills and factories. The Inn at the Stone Mill was one of them. Before leaving the Inn, we said fond farewells to innkeepers David and Richard. They were primo hosts and have renovated the mill beautifully. The ground floor is an ice cream parlor and antiques store; the second a spa, and the third the Inn at the Stone Mill. David is thinking of making some of the fourth floor into living quarters. Thank you David and Richard for a fabulous and gracious stay!

Susan with innkeeper David





The Stone Mill to the left of the church steeple, from the trail



Leaving Little Falls . . . from the trail

The trail out of Little Falls is unpaved and beautiful, but really not great for a skinny-tired road bike. Deep sand and slick in places. I had to watch what I was doing. At one place we had to manhandle B.O.B. and B.O.B. Jangles over a guardrail and onto the road because the sand was so deep. We rode about 12 miles on the trail before calling it quits and taking to NY-5, which had great wide shoulder for much of it but was rolling and pretty busy, particularly through Fonda and the other small towns along it.

Jess on the trail; sun isn't right but this was a beautiful section

We'd been in phone contact with Kaaren. She and Tami were to meet us at the intersection of NY-5 and 30 . . . or so we thought. So, we rode right through Amsterdam and came out empty on the east side of town. Called Kaaren. We were on the wrong side of town and the wrong side of the river! Actually they were to meet us at the intersection of NY-5S and 30A. They had ridden the trail right past Amsterdam and were now 8 miles west of the city wondering how they had missed seeing us. What a mixup.


NY-5, the railway, and the Mohawk River running through the Mohawk Valley into Schenectady; Oops! Tami and Kaaren were on the trail on the other side of the river!





Johnson House




By this time I was hitting exhaustion with the heat and hills. Jess and I backtracked and crossed the river on a high busy bridge and then found the trail. Jess scouted out a little restaurant and bar (see below) and we holed up there while waiting for Kaaren and Tami to find us. I was overheated, very irritable, and not hungry. Ate two shrimp and half of a Caprese cheese and tomato salad. Refilled my water bottles.



Kaaren Caron and Tami Flanders taking a break later in the day at Andy Schuyler's in Pattersonville, NY

When Kaaren and Tami arrived, we started off to cover the final 28 miles of our ride. The trail is paved or highway from Amsterdam to Albany so it was a beautiful ride along the river. On this side of the river we had a short stretch of NY-30A (New York State Bicycle Route 5) through Pattersonville.  (I had not ridden this southwest portion before. With America by Bicycle we bicycle NY-5 on the northeast side of the river, and cross the bridge at Lock 9 into Rotterdam Junction east of Pattersonville.) We three picked up the paved trail again close to Rotterdam Junction and rode it along the Mohawk to Schenectady. We saw lots of flood damage being cleaned up from last year's Hurricane Irene hit.

After meeting Tami and Kaaren in Amsterdam, we started toward Schenectady on the paved trail. It had a gap in it and we got on 30A for a bit and rode through Patersonville right past my paternal grandparents' home (see above). It was in ruin, but the home of my grandfather's brother (my "Uncle" Andy) next door was in pristine condition. And it was up for sale. No one was in it or the house next to it which was Andy's barn. We walked around on the property and took pix. The house, which is on one acre directly on the river, is 3200 sq ft, has four bedrooms, two full and one half bath, first floor laundry, fireplace, updated kitchen, hardwood floors, original woodwork (Andy's work), etc. All this for a mere $349,000! We're thinking of calling the realtor and looking at the inside tomorrow.

The barn, now converted to a beautiful house (or so we thought), on Uncle Andy Schuyler's property

Andy and Margaret Schuyler's house on the Mohawk River in Pattersonville, NY

Susan, Kaaren, and Tami at Andy's house on the river

The last 10 miles were a stretch for me, but soon we were in Schenectady. We rode through the old stockade area (see below) and directly up Union Street, past Union College and Ellis Hospital to Kaaren's house on Lexington, directly opposite my best h.s. friend Gayle Reber's old house, now painted red! Gads but the nostalgia.

Stockade photo from the Internet

Out to greet us were Kaaren's neighbors, Tom & Kim McKowen and their twin boys Thomas and William. The boys greeted us with a "Welcome to Schenectady Susan and Jess" sign.

William and Thomas with the welcome sign that art teacher Kaaren had made

It was 5:30 p.m. I was fading fast. Later I realized that I had ridden the whole, hot, 68 miles on two shrimp, two pieces of toast, a coffee Gu and a coffee drink. Shame on me for not eating and hydrating properly. I felt sick all evening, but was revived a bit with a great dinner of shrimp and pineapple shish-kabobs, veggie sushi, fruit, Tami's spring rolls, and . . . a special coconut creme and mango ice cream birthday pie with toasted coconut and three candles on top. Even though the cake lacked 67 candles and I could not blow out the trick candles, I was blown away.

Thank you Kaaren and Tami for all your thoughtfulness, for a great ride, and for out super welcome to Schenectady!.