Signing off for now

We rode an easy 70 miles yesterday back to Ottawa/Gatineau, making our total for the circuit 650 miles.  Yesterday morning was our only rain of the trip, a shower lasting all of 15 minutes!  After that it was tail winds most of the way.  This morning is rainy and windy, and we are getting in our vehicles grateful for our incredible luck.
Good byes have been easy, as many of us will be meeting in St. Augustine in February, heading for San Diego.

Nice sunrise before the shower.

Hard to miss this trail marker.

After 35 miles of Ontario farmland, we rode this 13 mile deserted rail trail to the Ottawa suburbs.

We encountered two other bikers on the whole stretch.

Lunch spot at a marsh overlook on the trail.

Biking down stairs is tricky!

We rode the Rideau Canal bikeway all the way to downtown.

My friend Hope, when challenged to find a rhyme for Margaret,

wrote this limerick:

Her red blinking light is my target 

It helps me know how far I’ll get.

We’re just pedal power—alike

For us no electric bike.

And I’m usually following Margaret.

That’s all for now, folks.

Such fine riding

Sixty four miles today from Malone across the border to Morrisburg, Ontario.  It was cool and cloudy but no rain even threatened, and there was lots of variety on the route — the kind of ride you wish could go on and on.  That tomorrow is the last ride of the trip made today even more special.

These don’t photograph too well, but the treat of the day was freshly made, still hot, cinnamon donut holes, along with good coffee, at a diner that looked most unpromising from the outside.

This house in Bombay, NY goes all out for Halloween.  This isn’t the full display I saw, and the owner told us he is still working on it.  Be sure to read the fine print on the hearse.

Crossing the bridge into Cornwall, Ontario and looking back into New York.

We role along the Long Sault Parkway, a road and series of causeways connecting ten islands in the St. Lawrence.  It is right up there as one of the nicest stretches of riding I have ever done.

Great views everywhere you look.

Sharon and her electric bike on one of the causeways.

I’m pretty sure I saw more great blue herons today than I have ever seen in a single day, 

at least a dozen.

A nice welcome at our hotel.

Payback day

i just realized yesterday’s post didn’t publish last night, so I just got it out.

Today, Tuesday, we rode 54 miles from Lake Placid to Malone, NY.  After the heat and climbing on Sunday, we were rewarded today by cool weather, gentle uphills and long downhills as we rolled out of the Adirondacks, and even a bit of a tailwind.  We thought we might get some rain but lucked out there, too.  Hoping we were outriding the rain added to the general exhilaration of a fine day.

Gray skies in the morning,

At a pull off on the road, we met Steve the hotdog man.  His sign said “Don’t be a meanie, have a weenie.  10:30 am is a bit early for me to have a hotdog, but a couple of our group indulged.  The trailer hitch for his cart maintains the theme.

Malone was a big mill town in the 19th and early 20th century.  The roofless stone building is one of the first mills.

We didn’t see many people on bikes, but the Y is trying to change that.

Play day

After yesterday’s strenuous ride, most of us were very content to wander a bit around Lake Placid and then return to our very spacious house, where we prepared our third chili supper of the trip.  When she knows where we will have cooking facilities, Nancy asks for volunteer cooks.  We did not compare notes on our plans, and three of us came prepared to make chili.  Fortunately, each version was quite different; we didn’t vote our favorite, as we agreed they were all excellent.  Bikers will eat almost everything and call it excellent.

Mirror Lake, visible from most of downtown Lake Placid.

We visited the Olympic Park and Museum near our lodgings, site of the ice skating events at the 1932 and 1980 Olympics.  

The museum was very well done.  The hockey fans in the group watched most of a looping replay of the Miracle on Ice, and I joined them for the final period.  It was still exciting, especially as we had just seen the venue.

The luge was scary just to lie on, the bobsled seemed manageable, as long as I wasn’t the pusher.

I now know that a crowler is a 32 ounce can of beer.

Hot and hilly

We were expecting a lot of climbing on the 48 mile ride from Keeseville to Lake Placid.  We weren’t expecting temperatures in the 80’s as we attacked the six mile climb at noon, of course on the sunny side of the road.  I stopped and walked a couple of times, crossing the road to the shady side.  The cloud shadow part of the way was great, and the ice cream and cold water as we came into town better.  Even the e-bike riders were worn out today.

The road looked benign as we started.

Stare down at the roadside.

Time to smell the flowers in a well tended garden.  Do cars stop, or is this a special for bikers?

We are all staying in a huge house, with plenty of space to recuperate.

We can see the 1980 Olympics ski jump from our deck.

Back to summer and the U.S. of A.

On Friday we rode 65 miles from Montreal to Isle La Motte, VT.  I hadn’t done that many miles since last summer.  The day was hot, and there was a headwind and little shade for a good bit of the way.  Two of the electric bike riders rode in with no bars, which meant no power left in their batteries. I pretty much felt that way, too.  Fortunately, we stayed in a very welcoming old schoolhouse, which was a great place to recharge.

Today we rode about 45 miles, plus two ferry rides, to Keeseville, New York.  Most of the way, we were in sight of, or on, Lake Champlain, the weather was wonderful, and I had two treats.  And for the first time on this ide, I really felt that my legs were working the way they are supposed to.  So, all in all, the best day of the trip so far.

We crossed the Cartier Bridge over the St. Lawrence in heavy fog, with lots of fast moving commuter cyclists coming toward us.

The weather improved and warmed up.  The bridge is now abandoned and permanently in this position.

Scenes from our schoolhouse.

First treat of the day was a fresh donut from Hero’s Welcome.

Great scenery along the way.

Second treat, a maple creemee,found only in Vermont.

About half a mile from our motel, we crossed over Ausable Chasm and stopped to admire the waterfall.

A day in the big city

We are staying in a great hotel in the center of Montreal—it even had the great Montreal bagels at the breakfast bar, as well as excellent croissants.  What a dilemma.  I solved it by having two breakfasts, with time for laundry in between.

Montreal is a great walking city, with lots of street art.  Note the computer.

The colored windows of the building threw great shadows on the street.

The Fine Arts Museum had a fabulous 

exhibit showing the influence of non-European art on Picasso’s work.

Can you tell which sculpture is the Picasso?

L

Detail in the Anglican Cathedral 

A fine spinach, Brie, and apple crepe.

Real bike art!