Day 43 Piseco to Ticonderoga

Drying off on our way out of New York State

What no rain this morning? What does one wear? What is that blue in the sky? OK a little dramatic but it was a pleasant surprise not to start in the rain again. Some selected full on rain gear anyway. It is human nature to dress for yesterday’s conditions. I went lighter as I don’t like the feeling of cooking from within as even my good Gortex rain gear doesn’t breath as well as one needs when cycling vigorously.

One of the reasons it wasn’t raining was because of the pushed back start times to take advantage of the good weather window. I didn’t start until 0915 so after an 0700 breakfast, I was free to roam the grounds and enjoy the company of my fellow riders. The lodge and cabins are simple but well kept. The location on the lake is superb and the changing colors of the trees made for some good viewing while enjoying yet another cup of coffee.

I conversed with a passing through hiker who we shared our table with last evening. He and his wife are a story unto themselves having hiked and cycled all over the world. Indeed they have cycled around the world. Unfortunately his wife is recovering from some knee pain so he was here merely hiking 120 miles of the Adirondack trail.

Because of the late start and the good weather there was a lot of pressure from different riding groups to start ahead of their assigned times. Guides will never say no, but do warn that the support may not be there for some time. Nevertheless most of the C and B groups rode off early, some in the C group even leaving with the “early birds”. Our A group went off at the assigned time because well that’s what we do. I kind of like it that way as there is no resentment from the earlier groups if you happen to roll by before the finish or even by lunch. As we rolled out, we quickly separated as we each ride differently on the hilly terrain and there was less need to ride in a pace line given the calm conditions. I was relieved as I would much rather enjoy the scenery than the sight of a rear wheel in a pace line

There was a lot of scenery to enjoy too. It seemed that the further we travel northeast, the better the scenery. Also the small towns and lakes of Easter NY far outpace the ones we witnessed in our brief sojourn of Western PA. NE is a new area for me to explore and I was enjoying every minute. Even after the skies opened up at mile 40, there is a real beauty to the area, even when wet. Of course the beauty also depends upon how well ones foul weather gear functions! We did have one major climb but at an average grade of 3.5% for a couple of miles it was very manageable. Bigger climbs to come in the next two days so didn’t try for anything heroic in regards to speed.

We had drizzling rain off and on but the roads were draining well and traction remained good. My only “riding error” was pulling into a McDonalds just before arriving at the hotel. My stomach decided it needed a Quarter Pounder and it is pretty much running the show these days so I stopped. After checking into the hotel, I noticed that my phone had gone missing. Find My was able to track it back to aforementioned restaurant and so I visit ed McDonalds twice in one day. A very rare occurrence indeed. Thanks to guide Blake for the lift.

Tomorrow we cross into Vermont and ride through the Brandon Gap after a ride on the ferry. Hard to believe that only three more days of riding remain on this wonderful trip!