Herb Terns’ bike leans against the guardrail near Bash Bish Brook. He didn’t camp there.
Every morning, I wake up a day older, and every morning, I’m curious what that day’s version of me is capable of.
On a recent spring morning, I pushed my bike, laden with camping gear, down the driveway of my Schenectady home. I wanted to see if I could ride to the extreme northwest corner of Connecticut and home in my 36-hour adventure window.
The rain came quickly and was my steady companion. My route was threads of the Empire State Trail and the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, braided with paved and gravel roads in Columbia County and western Massachusetts.
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With the trees leafless, the view of Cohoes from the bike path is one of my favorites. The city was spread out below like a Len Tantillo painting with Mount Rafinesque on the horizon.
The first 35 miles was a fool’s gold of easy bike paths through a gentle river valley but things got real when I........