Sacandanga in the Fall
Yesterday was a full day. A very hilly sixty miler in the day and birthday dinner celebration at night.
The Annual Sacandaga ride lead by Henry is one of my favorite casual group rides of the year. It takes place during brilliant fall foliage and is on some of my favorite roads around Sacandaga Lake. It’s about a 30 mile drive to the start from my house and the quickest way is to go over the great climb, Lake Desolation. 
It was relatively cold in the lower 50s–I couldn’t find my loose tights so rode with just the biking shorts on the bottom. Up top I had full cycling kit including base layer, jersey, jacket, neck gaitor and skull cap under the helmet. Toe tips and heatpacks in the shoes rounded out the ensemble just in case. I was comfortable for nearly the whole ride until the last half hour when the clouds rudely obscured the sun.
The usual suspects showed up with the added bonus of John on his shiny new Jamis frame. The crowd was a respectable 15 or so in size divided roughly into a tour group and quick ride group (42 and 60 miles respectively). The quick ride included two climbs the tour didn’t get, Hadley Hill Rd and Glasshouse Rd. Three significant climbs for the ride and countless rollers even along the top of the ridgeline made this a more difficult ride than many centuries I’ve ridden. Average heartrate: 163.
Somehow the seatpost minder moved, so I had the seatpost at the wrong height. Ten miles in I realized I was pedaling a low-rider and made a quick adjustment at brief stop on the corner by the convenience store at the north end of the Batchelorville Bridge. While humming along on South Shore Road with the only tail-wind of the day, John and I were surprised to see the group get stretched out so much even before we reached the long climb of West Mountain Rd.
The western climb up West Mountain road is gradual and easily digestible. The southeastern side, the side Heather and Co. climb on her Sweat ‘n series centuries, is significantly tougher. I climbed it once and ended up with a DNF my one and only time on a century many moons ago. The climbs, according the the webmhcc.org website are West Mountain Rd (4.5 miles 3%), Hadley Mountain Road (6 miles 3.5%) and Glass House Rd (1 mile 4.5%). Notice they got progressively steeper as the ride wore on? Nice.
I picked up a crapcam at WalMart this week to bring on rides. The quality is almost better than the horrible pictures my camera phone took. It toped off at 25 VGA photos. The photos in this post are from that camera. Gotta hack that CVS camera I got this spring.
Some facts about the Great Sacandaga Lake
The bridge is 3,100′ long and 42′ high. There are two sides to the issue of bridge height: those that want it higher, at 55′ for sailboats, and those that want it lower at 35′.- Construction of the Conklingville Dam started in the 1920s and was completed on March 27, 1930.
- Surface area of the lake: 42 square miles
- Shore line: 125 miles
- Water capacity: 37.75 billion cubic feet
- Conklingville Dam completed: 1930
- Total cost to build the dam: $12,000,000
Things I noticed
- Lots of orange and black fuzzy caterpillars.
- I was warmer than one would expect given the forecast and temperature. There’s a lot to be said for brilliant sun on a cool day.
- In spite of that, my left quad was giving me lip and threatening to crap in the last 15 miles. This was the first time I actually noticed visual signs of said pre-cramping on the top of my leg.
- Using the lanyard with the crapcam around my neck was ideal for quick access and quick picture taking. I remember seeing a rider on a brevet this spring with a cue sheet in a plastic sleeve on a lanyard around his neck. Good tip.
- The bonhomie is comforting at the end of the ride.
- The Adirondack Steak I had at the Dakota Restaurant in Latham that evening hit the spot!