Saturday was just the best day for riding! Upper 70s and sunny, not much humidity. It was a bit breezy, though – but I could deal with that 😀 Too bad John was away for the weekend and missed this.
I wanted to get 40 miles in, but I decided I didn’t want to go all the way to Saratoga by myself and face the track crowds. It is track season and this year marks the 150th anniversary of the Saratoga horse races and it is crowded, crowded! So, I chose to do 2 separate rides. The first one was to the farmer’s market. Here is the historical marker of the day.
I guess that you can figure out how far I was from home at this point 😉
The market had lots of pretty stuff, and an usually large amount of baked goods!
Flowers. I don’t need any of those.
Except I kind of wanted these.
I didn’t end up buying anything at the market, but it was a nice place to stop and look around. I continued my big loop around and got a 15 mile segment in.
The other ride I wanted was going to EspressoHuis in Schuylerville. I ate lunch at home and then decided to head down a little early since I knew there would be some sort of music playing as part of a summer series. More sunscreen and I was on my way!
Look at the beautiful skies!
I was singing Ella Fitzgerald most of the way down.
Blue skies
Smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies
Do I see
I stopped about halfway there for a bit of nourishment. Since there wasn’t much shade going this way, I wanted to make sure I didn’t feel the heat too much like a few weeks ago.
(I can see my arm in the reflection of my glasses!)
The bridge had reopened crossing the river, so I went over that. I don’t like this bridge as it is really narrow and then the surface is open metal mesh – which feels very, very strange biking on it.
At least I didn’t have to detour, though.
I arrived at EspressoHuis ready for a cuppicake! This is a peanut butter cupcake. It is a chocolate cupcake with some real peanut butter inside, topped with PB frosting. YUM!
There was a real treat for music, too. This was Hot Club Saratoga :
Now, I loves me some Django Reinhardt. LOVE!! (
Go listen now, if you haven’t heard). I also love Hot Club of Detroit and have been hoping I could see them in concert. So to find a band like that around here made me so happy! Now I will be a stalker.
I happily sat on the deck and listened to the rest of their set with my snack. What a wonderful surprise that was!
That got me grooving and bopping all the way home, too. 😀
More pretty water and sky:
It felt good riding today. Only wish John had been home to share that ride.
Ride Day Stats:
Total miles: 44
Average speed: 13 mph
Saddle time: 3 hours 20 minutes
Calories burned: 1493
And – after a breakfast ride on Sunday (meeting my mom for bagels!!!), my yearly mileage is here:
I am now counting down 3 digits instead of 4.
My mileage this year is almost exactly where it was a year ago, so I am going to have to be very dedicated to get to 2500 as last year I hit 2100, but I wasn’t shooting for a specific goal – that just happened to be what I biked.
Wow, what a gorgeous day. I don’t remember you showing us this body of water (river?) before. It is beautiful.
I love Farmer’s Markets. That would be hard for me to go and not buy anything. Especially the baked goods…
I’m so glad you got that special treat of music you really enjoy. I’m going to go and check it out. I’m not familiar with any of those names.
I’m glad you remembered to stay hydrated!
This is the Hudson – I do lots of pictures of it LOL. It’s long, though, so many different angles to be had.
You truly have some of the best bike rides of anyone I know!! I love that you ride to a destination and enjoy it a bit before hopping back on your bike!!
Thanks! We love to do rides like this. So much more fun than doing a formal race/ride.
What a beautiful place to ride your bike and enjoy nature! You are lucky Lori.
Wow, wow, wow what a beautiful ride on a beautiful day! Now I get the coconut water as your best pal 🙂
Tomorrow I’m going to walk the first trail with Bella and I need to remember to stop during the walk for coffee and pastry. You can’t buy cupcakes often here so I have to start a new tradition 🙂
You asked why there were no trees in the picture yesterday. Well because there aren’t trees in the areas surrounding my village. We have to drive 15 minutes to the nearest forest.
FABULOUS day for a bike ride! I am still staring at that pie picture. Even the crust looks out of this world. Holy cow. Now I’m craving apple pie. Ha Ha
Congrats on such a long solo bike ride too! Oh and on the overall mileage for the year!
Such a great day Lori! Yes, too bad John could not enjoy with you! What amazing pics f the scenery!!!
Gorgeous day for a ride. You live in a great area to hop on the bike and just go.
Way to go – racking up the miles.
What an awesome surprise, to find that band playing at your cupcake stop! Gotta love a double treat like that!
Wow…what a fantastic ride!!! Thank you for sharing the pics with us. And sorry John missed out. Have a great week Lori.
What a scenic place to ride!
That sounds like the perfect day! (even if John was out of town!) I am off to the gym to swim, I’ll be thinking about that peanut butter cupcake though! 😀
I know this is out of character for me, but forget the cupcakes, I want the cooler temps and a breeze! (This will change soon.:) )
What beautiful rides you had and the bonus of live music for your break! I was wondering if you wear the biking shoes that clip to the pedals. My son and hubby use them but they really scare me! I have just been wearing my Asic walking tennis shoes but they kind of get in my way sometimes. I don’t think I want the shoes that clip to the pedals. Hubby has taken a couple of bad falls when he couldn’t un-clip before coming to a complete stop.
I do have clip shoes. I have had them for a few years now. It was hard to get used to them at first. I did fall over a couple times because I forgot I was wearing them, but now the are totally habited. I definitely have better rides when I wear them. It keeps the pedal stroke even and I get something like 30% more power during a ride, which is awesome! Hills are easier because you get the pull and push from the pedals and not just the push.
Great information Lori! My son was just telling me about some stiff biking shoes that he thought would work well for me but they don’t clip so no worries about falling over! I still need to go see what is available and make up my mind on what to get.
ok I AM a misfit.
Im now wondering what other pie-sizes there are….