Day 58: To Lake Placid
To Lake Placid
(72 miles and __ feet of climbing)
I awoke to the alarm clock this morning. We had slept in a guest cabin and there were not going to be any of the usual sounds to get us going in the morning so an alarm clock was needed. I didn’t want to get up because I’ve been dreading the thought of getting into the mountains again. I’ve gotten used to flat lands with only a few rolling hills to contend with. Now it was climbing again. The early reports were that there would be five climbs to get to the Town of Lake Placid.
John said that he had stayed at this same campus some years ago on a cross state ride. He was delighted to hear loons calling off in the distance.
After packing up the things we had brought into the cabin and consolidating them in our normal luggage it was time for breakfast. Just like last night, there was a little window in the cafeteria where we could get our food served to us. Our choices were oatmeal, eggs, pancakes, French toast and bacon plus juice and coffee. Again we were a bit on the late side for breakfast and the early riders were already departing.
This morning was a little harder to get going because there was the added checking out the new wheel parts that John had brought with him. He seemed satisfied that the rear hub he brought (135 mm) would fit without any need to spread the rear fork (the difference between a typical road bike’s 130 mm hub and a mountain bike135 mm hub is just over 3/16th of an inch). We will see what happens when it is all put back together again.
The road went out to Route 3 and we turned right to head in the direction of the Adirondacks. The trip went along pretty smoothly and there were some up-hills as well as some downhills to enjoy. Some of these were true rollers and with some effort on the downhill, and some effort on the uphill, you could crest the next hill without too much of a struggle. The shoulder was pretty wide and there were mostly only cars on the road. Occasionally there would be an RV, but not too often.
After a while, we had gone 20 miles and there was a CycleAmerica water stop. While we were there, a family with two kids that were under 6 (I guess) were asking what we were doing, so I stopped over to talk with them. They said that they saw lots of bike rides and that this spot seemed to be a favorite for water stops. They were impressed with our group for having cycled from Seattle in eight weeks. The kids waved bye-bye as we started to ride again. I was hoping that we had done at least one of the five climbs that we were told about. I wasn’t sure whether I had already done two of them … or … none of them yet.
The route continued to go up and down. Some of the downhills were really steep and fast. That was the good news … the bad news was that the uphills were also long and pretty steep. When I get back into the training mode this winter, I will think about using a “stair stepper” exercise machine to increase my stamina on the climbs since the mechanics and muscles used are pretty similar. I typically rode ahead of both John and Gail as he was working on offering suggestions on improved techniques for her biking. He had worked with both of us on technique and theory of serious pedaling and I had absorbed as much as I could (or as much as I would until experience showed my, once again, that he was right). Gail was still open to his positive criticism and comments.
Picnic was at a park in the town of Tupper Lake. As we had come into town I kept looking for the picnic stop. Because I was still on a loaner bike, I did not have an odometer and didn’t know how much further it was. By this time the traffic had picked up considerably and it was not too much fun to ride through the town’s main street because of the parked cars at the curb that could open their driver-side doors to our right and the constant traffic that moved quickly from behind on our left.
The picnic stop was at a lovely spot on the lake. It was cool and the wind and was pretty much a tail wind. There was a lot of watermelon and they had run out of regular bread so I had a ham a cheese sandwich on a tortilla and later I had a peanut butter and jelly on a tortilla. I don’t think I ever had a PB&J burrito before. In the field next to the road were a bunch of young men (and women?) doing some training exercises. John listened and determined that they were Marines-to-be and that they were getting ready for basic training … something like remedial coursework for Marines in school as far as I could see.
After picnic, it was back onto the road and out of town. And more traffic. Because it was early afternoon, there was more traffic, but the roads were still good to ride on. The forest was now all coniferous with some pine plantations and evergreens growing everywhere. I especially liked going by the lakes and rivers because it was so picturesque.
At Saranac Lake, we turned onto Route 86 and stopped at an ice cream stand for extra fuel. We weren’t the only CycleAmerica folks there and Peter from the UK was just finishing up. We sat in the back and the ducks were not only in the pond, they were walking up to us looking for handouts. Once we got going again, I got a rude surprise. As I was pedaling along, I heard some funny sounds and then I checked and I had a flat on the rear tire. I stopped and began to fix it. John and I found the two ’snakebite’ holes indicating that I hit a stone or pothole when I had low tire pressure. ‘Snakebites’ are usually a sign of another puncture, somewhere, that made the tire soft in the first place. We found the tine piece of glass and patched the associated hole. Then we were on the road again.
Route 86 was a pain to ride on. It had a narrow shoulder and lots of traffic. There were some uphills the cars were too close for my comfort level. I was relieved when I saw the arrows to turn off this road.
I was relieved even though the next thing I saw on the road was a steep uphill with a turn so it was not possible to see where the crest of the hill was. Fortunately, it wasn’t too big a hill and then it was quite level. The road continued for a while as we approached the town of Lake Placid. I saw a sign for a tourist Rail Road and took a detour to see what the train was all about (http://adirondackrr.com/ ). After arriving at the North Elba campground, I set up the tent and changed as we began to figure out a plan for the evening. There was a lot of activity at the fairgrounds as there was a lacrosse tournament this weekend.
We took one of the free shuttles into town and ate at a tiny Italian restaurant with a balcony that allowed us to look out over the lake. Pasta is still good … even on a Saturday night. We wandered around the downtown area doing some window shopping and then caught the trolley for the return trip. However, we picked it up in the same direction as we had gotten off of it and the circuitous route back to the fairgrounds took a long time. In the meantime, we accumulated another half dozen CycleAmerica riders.
Before heading to bed for the night we went away from the lights and saw the stars. There was still quite a bit of light pollution and it was hard to see stars along the horizon. We were pleasantly surprised to see a number of shooting stars due to the Perseid meteor shower. I saw a spectacular one that lasted across a quarter of the sky. Sunday night / Monday morning is supposed to be the best.