October 22, 2026 - Pittsfield, MA, to Albany, NY
End: Albany, NY
Miles: 46.6
Feet climbing per mile: 45
Record of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/421795179
The day began with a puzzle: how to reassemble the pen I bring with me that, with its rubber tip, also serves as a stylus for use on my phone. After several attempts I was not able to solve the puzzle, so I wrote a Facebook post asking for help. Some people said it wasn't worth spending any time on it and to throw it away. Tom Reingold, however, explained how to put the pen back together. So my pen did not suffer the fate of Humpty Dumpty.
Can you solve the puzzle?
It was another chilly morning, so I waited to depart until 10:20, at which time the temperature was 49 degrees. Once more, as on the two previous days, I wore shorts because I knew the temperature would rise throughout the day, even though I was violating Larry Wallach's rule:
Below sixty degrees, cover your knees!
In contrast to the rough roads with moderate traffic I encountered when entering Massachusetts the previous day, this day the Massachusetts roads were smooth with little traffic. The same conditions would continue after I re-entered New York. Once more the fall colors were intense.
At mile 8.8 I re-entered New York.
At mile 17.0 I needed to walk a short distance when the grade went up to 11.7%
At mile 22.9 I encountered a bridge over Kinderhook Creek, the first interesting bridge of this trip.
At mile 25.7 I discovered a convenience store, Flash Mart,...
...and stopped to enjoy another Monster zero sugar. Once more the five-cent deposit was refunded to me when I returned the empty can.
At mile 27.6 I saw a field with many evergreens, probably destined to eventually be used to celebrate a holiday that is not to be mentioned until after Beethoven's birthday (December 16th).
At mile 28.7 my attention was drawn to OK Social, which I later learned is a restaurant focused on scratch-made food, handcrafted cocktails, live music & private events. With its outdoor seating, I think it would be a fun place to hang out.
At mile 31.9 I saw a large flock of birds. Is there some purpose in their flying together the way they were?
At mile 32.2 I saw a small herd of cows. Usually at least one of the cows in a herd is curious about me, but this time the one cow that noticed me turned away.
The climbing for the day was over when I reached mile 34.6, but from there until the end of the ride I found myself with little energy. More about that later.
At mile 36.3 I saw the Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge (for trains) and the Castleton-on-Hudson Bridge (for motor vehicles, bikes not allowed).
As I rode through Castleton-On-Hudson I recalled riding there during October 12, 2022 - Hudson, NY, to Albany, NY, and Return. Note the flag showing the headwind I faced as I rode north for the final twelve miles of the ride. There were other times I faced a headwind this day.
I started to follow a detour at mile 45.8.
At mile 45.9 I ignored the NO OUTLET sign in order to shorten the detour.
At mile 46.0 I disobeyed the DO NOT ENTER sign and rode opposite the designated direction of traffic in order to get back to my route.
I arrived at the Albany-Rensselaer station at 3:45. I learned that the 4:15 train to Penn Station originates further north, so even if there were room on that train for my bike, boarding would not be as easy as boarding the 4:30 train which does originate at Albany-Rensselaer, so I decided to keep my reservation for the 4:30 train.
I recognized an AMTRAK employee and told her I remembered she helped me on my trip last month. She had me wait in the front of the boarding line but that was a mistake because it did not allow me to board before the crowd. Instead I should gone to the red cap area and asked for boarding assistance.
* * *
On this three-day trip I rode a total of 142 miles, average of 47.3 miles per day, and climbed an average of 60 feet per mile. Despite my serious back trouble earlier this year (on the page Health see the September 14th post and the one prior to that), I was comfortable in my back throughout the trip. I did experience a slight feeling of swelling in my right knee, but it was never painful and never interfered with my riding.
This was the first time during a bike trip I've been reimbursed the 5-cent deposit when I returned the empty can. That happened four times out of five.
At the beginning of Cross Country 2024 I was putting one teaspoon of electrolyte in each water bottle. On the ninth day of that trip I decided to cut back to 1/2 teaspoon per water bottle because I was having loose bowels. I continued with 1/2 teaspoon until some time before my three-day trip last month. I was experiencing leg cramps during the night even on days I wasn't riding, maybe because of my move toward a keto diet. When I increased the electrolyte to one teaspoon per bottle the leg cramps diminished.
Just as during my trip last month, I was again wearing a continuous glucose monitor throughout this trip. In contrast to last month's trip, during which I snacked on pretzels or crackers, on this trip I snacked only on cheddar or chocolate. As a result my glucose levels were much more even, with only one spike (from dinner the first night) and no crashes. Here is the daily record for this trip...
...and here is the daily record for my previous trip.
Since my trip last month I've been following a ketogenic diet (moderate protein, plenty of fat, minimal carbohydrates), but I was not fully in ketosis (using fat rather that glucose as the primary fuel source) during this trip. Although I didn't keep any records to which I can refer, my recollection is that every day of this trip I felt strong for about two and one half or three hours of riding (excluding stopped time), but after that felt exhausted. If I had been in ketosis I would have been able to finish all three days feeling strong. I expect that I'll soon be in ketosis and that if the weather cooperates in November and I'm able to take a trip I won't need any snacks during my rides.
Previous day: October 21, 2026 - Bennington, VT, to Pittsfield, MA
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