American Bald Eagle (Honest)

I didn't fully feel like riding today, but the weather forecast for the next three days is pretty dismal -- cold and wet -- so I thought I had better take advantage of today's relatively warm and sunny climate.

My concession was to do a fairly routine training ride -- over the George Washington bridge and then North on the so-called River Road, which has four pretty steep climbs, until you reach the Alpine Police Station about 15 miles in (excellent bathroom and water bottle refilling station!). Then I typically return along NJ's Route 9W (very nice and wide shoulder), which is flatter and much easier.

Here's the route and related stats:


The ride was a little unusual in two respects. First, the normal bike path across the George Washington Bridge (on its South side) was closed. The Port Authority does this from time to time for reasons unknown to me -- but, as far as I know, Gov. Christie has nothing to do with it. The problem is that the path on the North side is littered with stairwells that you have to lug your bike up and down -- so you actually arrive on the NJ side with slightly tired legs!

The saving grace is that the view North from the bridge, without the intervening roadway, is pretty darn nice!

The second unusual aspect is that I actually saw an American Bald Eagle! Now I don't want you to think I used my own, ahem, "eagle" eyes to spot it. There were two photographers set up on the River Road (the road that goes along the Hudson on the NJ side, up the Palisades), with cameras with huge telephoto lenses, pointed up at the trees, so of course I stopped to see what was up. And, actually, I shouldn't say "of course," since at least a half-dozen riders went by during my pause without evidencing even a whiff of curiosity (let's give them the benefit of the doubt, though, maybe they had already seen it?).

But sure enough, visible even with my naked eye (although the photographers were also kind enough to let me look through their viewfinders), was an American Bald Eagle, tending to a nest with three chicks in it (I only saw one, but accepted the photographers' assurances that there were a total of three).

My photographic evidence is below. A tad fuzzy and indistinct, I admit, but better than Apple's recent attempt to capture Nessie up at Loch Ness! (the eagle is in the upper left quadrant of the photo).

Even without a Bald Eagle, riding the River Road is a scenic fest. Here's another two photos:

The Little Red Lighthouse is visible at the base of the Bridge!

Taking a pause on the largely untraveled River Road....

And, for what it's worth, since I'm writing the post a full week later (I'm going to have to be more disciplined in California!), it was pretty much rainy and miserable for the next three days, so heading out today, even for a "mere" 30 miles, was a good call!