That was some warm weather that blew in today. We hit highs in the mid 70s, can you believe that? It felt like May, not March!  We actually had our first breakfast ride of the year. We’ve been able to walk downtown for most of the winter because it has been more mild, but the biggest reason was the lack of snow so the sidewalks were walkable most of the days.

It’s almost more than I can stand with the warm temps and nothing in the garden yet LOL. I’m getting so impatient. My mom had gotten me a subscription to Birds and Blooms as a Christmas gift, and the first issue of that arrived, which just gets the spring feeling going even more:

That article headline at the top about helping pollinators — that’s my goal for the gardens, essentially. I don’t use pesticides and try to choose plants that bees, butterflies and hummingbirds like (and me). I will have to get some Sluggo for slugs and snails, though, as they had a field day in my shade bed I’ve been working on.

We walked downtown this evening and the sky was spring gorgeous!

Isn’t it amazing how weather can affect your mood?

Of course, it feels like summer, but it sure doesn’t look like it. This was from yesterday’s ride:

Of course, last year at this time the path still had snow on it. Not this year!

My biking bud <3

Temps are going to cool back down to the 50s, but that’s still great for this time of year. Lots of biking to be done! I’ve already got 45 miles on the bike so far this year.

This weekend was just the best weather!  Saturday was a perfect fall day. Temps were in the upper 60s to about 70, sunny and just a little breeze.  We hadn’t had a cupcake ride in a long time, probably almost a month, so that was on the agenda.

We had a bit of a tail wind on the way down and fairly zoomed along.  

Leaves haven’t turned much yet other than a few rogue trees that wanted to get it over with early for whatever reason.

Pineapple snack!

 

We arrived in Saratoga at mile 19.  Check out my odometer!

I hit 2000 miles!  Truthfully, my mileage is 10 miles more than the odometer says because I had to recalibrate for my tires at the beginning of the sesaon and it reset everything.  But, it just didn’t feel right unless I saw it on the odometer.

Celebratory cupcake!

It’s pumpkin spice. Now that it is officially fall, I can embrace all that stuff, and this cupcake was extra worthy!  The caramel drizzle made it.  I brought along Rebel and just in case you want to see the frosting closer, here you go:

There was a block party going on right outside Park Side Eatery (home of the cupcakes) and we checked that out:

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Music playing:

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We didn’t dilly dally too long because we had a party to go to later.  The breeze that got us to Saratoga had died down pretty well, so we kept up good speed on the way home. Shadow selfie!

John got a phone call on the way home, so we stopped so he could take that and I took some more pictures!

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And home:

 

Ride stats:

Total miles: 41.5

Average speed:  13.3 mph

Top speed: 26.2 mph

Calories burned:  1245

 

This seemed like a really easy ride today. I think the cooler temperatures really helped with that, not to mention just being in good bike shape.

2000 miles isn’t really that difficult in the season. It just requires consistency in riding.  2000 miles is around 60,000- 70,000 calories or 17-20 pounds worth of calories. I’ve lost 13 this year, so all that biking has done some good and shows that I am able to lose during biking season 😀

We showered quick when we got home and headed back down to Saratoga by car this time for youngest niece’s birthday celebration!  We made mini pizzas:

And the usual cake.

Devon turned 12 and next year she will be an official teenager!

Saturday called for rain in the afternoon. We thought of risking biking to Saratoga for lunch, but we didn’t want to be pressured with thoughts of a rainy ride home. So, we did some large loops more locally and went for lunch.  We also did a little tourist stuff.

I brought along the Rebel for the photos.  This is along route 197.  There is a farm along the hill.

We went along  the Betar byway, which is only about a mile long, but really pretty.

It goes along the Hudson river.  You can see Glens Falls in the distance:

 

I want to come with my zoom lens and do some birding early in the morning some time.  We did see some geese:

 

We also saw the first signs of fall.

😯

South Glens Falls is home of Cooper’s Cave, which is the cave that James Fenimore Cooper visited and incorporated into his novel Last of the Mohicans. It is right by the hydro plant (which wasn’t there at the time Cooper visited).

The cave itself is protected and you can’t actually go into it, but you can view it from a fenced platform.

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We actually haven’t visited this little attraction in a few years.  We rode some more and headed out for lunch at Martha’s. Normally we do the ice cream here, but since our ride was early to avoid the rain, we had lunch at their new food area.

John had a veggie burger. I had chicken strips and we split the big basket of fries:

This was too much food, even after 24 miles of riding.  I had about 3 of the strips.  Turns out I don’t do as well riding with a greasy lunch as I do with the cupcake LOL!  You know I love Martha’s ice cream, but the food was fairly pedestrian.  It was super fresh, though, I will say that.

We were nervously watching the radar and figured we would probably be clear to get in another 10 miles or so before the rain came.  It would make a short day for people at Great Escape, too.

You can see how cloudy it was by this time in our ride.  The day started out sunny and beautiful and changed pretty quick.

I ended up getting a headache towards the end of the ride and had to stop to take some Motrin.  At least we were prepared! We carry a lot of stuff on rides because you never know what you will need.  

We made it home without getting rained on, too!

Almost 36 miles.  Not my best feeling ride, but we stayed dry 😀

Have you read Last of the Mohicans?

We got a break from the really hot weather for a day or two.  Saturday was just beautiful. Less humidity and low 80s.  Perfect for our bike ride.  We had a hankering for ice cream, so we did a circuitous road route to get to Martha’s since we live a lot closer to it now. 

 

And it begins:

 

Seriously – is anyone influenced by a bandit sign endorsing a candidate?  I am more likely to follow that garage sale sign…

It was bright and sunny, but a lot of our roads gave shade:

 

I actually brought along the new camera to take some shots – which made me nervous 🙂 . I am still getting used to it.  John portrait:

 

Snack portrait:

 

After 20 miles, we arrived at Martha’s:

 

Sundae with cheesecake flavor ice cream, hot fudge, raspberry sauce and cookie crumbles.  Ride worthy.  We headed out for another long road ride.  I had put on extra sunscreen for the rest of the ride.  This is out by our municipal airport:

 

It sort of feels like the middle of nowhere, but it is only 4 or so miles from home here. This is actually pretty close to where I found that bird last week.

 

The thought bubble over John’s head would be something like “Stopping for more pictures?? Sigh…“

Ride stats:

Miles: 31.1

Top speed: 32. 4 mph (yeah!)

Average speed 12.4 mph

Calories burned:  933

A shorter ride than usual on a Saturday, but a good ride.

So, I have been muddling around with the new Rebel!  It arrived along with 4 lenses and some other stuff.  It is going to take a long time to figure all of it out, but that’s the joy of a new toy, isn’t it?

I have been taking pictures around the house.

I even left unfluffed pillows and a glass there.  I probably should have neatened that up for the picture 😀

I have spent time on the patio taking a billion bird pictures at the feeder, too.  This is a downy woodpecker and a white breasted nuthatch eating together in harmony:

I finally realized I should have it set for multiple shots in a row for the birds since they move so much.  I haven’t tried that yet.

On a side note, this is a squirrel proof feeder. Those leaves close down over the holes when a squirrel gets on there.  Chipmunks are too light and the holes stay open, but at least they don’t eat as much as squirrels do.  The squirrels don’t climb on the feeder anymore since they realized it won’t yield them food.

And some macro experiments:

Anyway, this week’s pictures should be fun.

Have a great Labor Day!  I will be laboring – gotta pay for that camera!

Another nice weather day for riding on Saturday.   I found my Road ID.  This was something that was missing before we moved and then I just recently found it – a year later!!  It was tucked away in a bag and I found it when I was looking for something else.  

 

Our plan was for a cupcake ride to Saratoga.  It was good and sunny, so I slathered up with sunscreen and we headed out after lunch.

 

We stopped around mile 9 for a quick snack of some dried pineapple and to sit in the shade.

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We were heading along quickly.  John was in front and around mile 12 or so, we could hear a funny noise from his bike, which sounded like metal hitting his spokes and then you could hear a gush of air.  Flat!  John hit some slim piece of metal that sliced through the tire into the tube.

 

It almost looks like a razor blade stuck in there.  So, we got out the new tube and tools and John proceeded to change the tube. However, the tire wouldn’t seat back properly on the rim. This was  a problem he had last year with this tire and we aren’t sure if it is the rim or the tire. Whichever, it sort of settled in, but with such a big gash in the tire, he didn’t want to pump the tube up too far because it might extrude through and pop.  So, after deliberation, we decided to turn around and go home. It would have been almost 10 miles to Saratoga and then 20 more miles to get home. We figured it would be best to head home so he could change out the tire.  So, no cupcake this day.  🙁 

 

On the way back, we did decide to stop for Sweet Frog Yogurt.  This was around mile 22 or so?

John was a little grumpy at the flat spoiling the ride, but he cheered up with some froyo:

 

Ah yes, the sweaty bike look.  Oh well, it was pretty empty in there anyway, so we didn’t scare anyone away!  My hair is just long enough to put into a little hamster tail at the base of my neck.  I have been growing it out since around January.  I had an angled bob and it was shaved in the back.  

Peanut butter sauce on this!   The extra bonus is that we actually had a filled out loyalty card and so we got $5 off.

We went the rest of the way home and I was going to keep riding after dropping John off, but he decided he wanted to go back out again after changing the tire, so I waited. It was close to dinner and we figured we would go out and loop for a couple slices of pizza on the way back.

We went out by the municipal airport. There are a lot of industrial businesses along that road, including a granite place. 

 

The slabs are really quite pretty.  I like granite, but not sure I would want it as a counter surface. 

Dinner time!

 

Then it was just a couple miles back home.

 

We ended up with 37.5 miles, but it seemed like a much longer ride LOL!  Between the long stop with the tire issues and then another half hour at home changing the tire.  We still got in a decent ride, though.  Guess the cupcake will have to be next week 🙂

 

Temps were really hot this weekend! Now it feels like summer.  We headed down to Saratoga this Saturday.  We did try to stay in more shade on the way down as much as we could, but there was still a lot of sun.

Here is me pretending to take a selfie while riding.  I was actually stopped, but we can pretend 😀

We had to stop so John could fiddle with my derailleur as my gears weren’t meshing right. It’s a simple fix of tightening a screw, which is good.

Snack stop around 12 miles or so. John wanted to take my picture for a change.

 

I was trying to show off my date, but it just looks like I was trying to put it up my nose.  Klassy.  I was already pretty sweaty, too.

Arrival in Saratoga and waiting to cross route 50.

You can’t go on this road as a cyclist. Not totally sure why because it isn’t much different than the main road on the way down. Go figure. So we just cross over it and take the back way in to town.

I packed my lunch since I wanted a cupcake, but John bought his at a falafel place.  Here is my spread: PB and J sandwich, 1/2 pound of blueberries (!!) and Almond Thins.

 

It doesn’t look like much, but I had a protein bar just before we left and I wanted to save room and calories for my big cuppie! Not to mention I ate a bunch of John’s pita chips   

After we ate, we walked a little bit around the park.

 

Also by the natural mineral springs.

 

People bring all kinds of containers to fill up with the mineral water. I think it tastes terrible. It has a salty metallic taste.  Now, I love bathing in it, but I don’t like to drink it.

Time for cupcakes!  We went to Parkside Eatery, which has giant cupcakes that are really good. Mine was a lemon blueberry cupcake topped with lemon buttercream.

 

Yum!  We were talking about how much we enjoy biking season and part of it is the treats. I would never ride my indoor trainer for 3 hours in the winter to be able to eat a cupcake, but riding outside in the summer is one of my very favorite things!

We didn’t dawdle because it was hot out and only going to get hotter, so I lathered up with sunscreen again and we headed home.

This was after getting to the top of the hilly section and being glad that was done!

 

Refreshment:

 

I freeze the coconut water so that by the time we ride home it is slushy and wonderfully cold. The baggie is to keep condensation from mucking up things in my bag.

Corn as far as the eye can see!

 

It was good to get home. 

 

Ride stats:

Total miles: 42.4

Average speed: 12.8 mph

Top speed: 30.8 mph (wheee!!!)

Calories burned: 1470

I spent the rest of the day hydrating.  It was so hot!  Even though I put sunscreen on twice, I still got a little bit pink. 3 hours in the sun sweating and that is going to happen.  We decided that if the temps are going to be this hot next weekend, we will do a breakfast ride on Saturday instead of a cupcake ride so we can get out and back before it gets too hot.

Wet weather was looming for the weekend, but seemed like it would hold off until the afternoon, so John and I decided to bike to lunch for our Saturday ride.  We ended up going to Warrensburg, which is past Lake George and would be around a 30 mile trip total. 

 

The sun was peeking out in the morning, but it wasn’t all that hot out.  I was saying to John that some people view the beach as their nirvana, but this is the view I love to look at.

 

We stopped in Lake George for a quick snack.

 

It was really crowded. There were 2 different festivals going on, one a craft show and the other a food and wine festival.  The main street is terrible to bike on.  Not bike friendly at all.  In fact, the village isn’t bike friendly. There is a great path leading to the village, but once there not so good.

 

As soon as we got out of town, we pretty much had the road to ourselves. We haven’t been to Warrensburg in a few years and had forgotten what a climb it was to get there from Lake George. Relentless climbing and climbing.  Tough, but a great workout!  This road had a really nice wide shoulder and since it skirts under the Thruway without having an entrance, it doesn’t get too busy.

 

We took a little respite after it leveled off.  John was suspicious of me taking his picture for some reason 😀

 

There was a nice downhill ride into town and we were both pretty hungry by that time. It was a little over 15 miles to get there.  We stopped at Willows bistro.

 

I had a great sandwich called the Blue Spruce panini, which had cheddar, blue cheese and thinly sliced apple.

 

I need to recreate this at home. John had a spinach quiche.  It seemed strange to eat lunch and not be having a cupcake! 😀

We checked the weather radar and decided we could walk around town a little bit before riding back.  Not too much going on here, but a few shops.

 

ewww…..

I did buy a couple things. Of course they have to be small to fit in the bike bag!

 

Then we had to get back to climbing again. 🙂   That’s what happens when you head further into the Adirondacks, I guess…  After we got the first climb done, then we sailed down that big climb from on the way there.  Hit a top speed of 29.5 miles per hour!  That is fast (for us) and kinda scary.  No pictures of this section because we didn’t stop and I would never try to use the camera at those speeds.

Through Lake George and back on the path system. Yay!

 

The marsh has a lot of water lilies on it now.  When I get my uber camera, I am going to bike here and sit with a telephoto lens and watch the wildlife.

 

Home!

This ride was certainly a workout with the hills. Even my calves were feeling it by the time we got home, which never happens.  We were glad to be able to get a good ride in before rain came, too – bonus!

Good news on those escaped prisoners as well. Both captured this weekend, one alive, one not. They were terribly dangerous men and thankfully that is over. Kudos to law enforcement for being able to find them in the Adirondacks!

 

We had a super active weekend around here.  Seems like it is that way every weekend lately 😀

Saturday was long ride day, as per usual. We went down to Saratoga again.  I tested out a new sunscreen that I will be doing a review on this week:

It was a sunny day!  We decided to go early and have lunch down there.  We booked along and didn’t stop too much. Most of the ride is in the open sun, but there is a shady section where we go by a state park.

 

Quick stop for a rest and a date snack.

We got into Saratoga around mile 20 and hit up Comfort Kitchen.  We love this place.  The portions are large, so we split  an order of Mac and cheese with a slide of slaw and rosemary sea salt sweet potato chips.

 

I was loving the salt after a sweaty ride down.  Good thing we left early.  After lunch, we started walking around town and I thought I heard a band. Sure enough – we headed up the street and ran into a parade!

Saratoga is celebrating its Centennial this year, so this parade was part of that.  It was a long one!

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One of my favorite parts:

After the parade was done, we went for our dessert 😀   You know it!

This was a gingerbread cupcake with maple frosting.  Really good, but the service at this place new to us was not very friendly… and the coffee was weak. 2 strikes.

Then it was time to head home.  Full tummies and all.  We made really good time on the ride, too. We took just one break riding home, which was around 30 miles.

 

Sunny, sunny, sunny!

How nice is that shot?

Home, very sweaty!

 

Ride stats:

Total miles: 41.2

Average speed: 14 mph

Top speed: 27.1 mph

Calories burned:  1236

We are in pretty good bike form now. You can tell when the average speed for the same ride goes up.  40 mile rides are a good distance. Not so long that you get super tired, but long enough to get in a really good workoug. And cupcake 😀

It was a little chilly this weekend, but I wanted a ride. John was out of town, so I went solo on Saturday.  Some people don’t like riding alone, but I have no problem with it.  I took a rather circuitous route around. First stop was to bike out to a greenhouse and see if they carried any shrubs I am looking for.  I started out with road riding. Not my favorite, as you can see below.

 

When they redid this road last year, they ate up some of the bike lane to make a center turn lane. Boo.

I went out exactly 5 miles just for a nice even number and then backtracked to the greenhouse.  Ahhh I am aching for this much greenery!

 

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This place is a little expensive, but they have a lot of unusual stock. Unfortunately – they did not have what I am looking for, but biking out here saved me a wasted car trip to find out.  

These are cute, too.  I may live under a rock as far as pop culture is concerned, but even I know these are minions.

 

Made of hay bales.

Then it was off with more road riding back in the direction of our old house. 

 

Not a ton of water over the dam. The one good thing about this cold spring is that it didn’t create any runoff flooding.

I hooked around to the old feeder dam bike path, and it was nice getting off the roads.

 

Did I mention it was windy and cold? About 50 degrees and I ended up with a wind chapped face.

 

Then 15 miles in, I stopped in downtown Glens Falls at the new coffee shop for a latte.

 

The guy that roasts the coffee made my latte 😀

Even though I was only a mile from home, I wanted a longer ride, so I connected to the bike path again.

 

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If only all the riding could be path riding.  We are lucky to have this much, though.

 

The shoulders are fairly clean now in the streets since sweepers have made a pass in most areas.

 

Another 7 miles and I arrived home:

 

Another 22 miles in the books.  Think I am ready for a 30 mile ride.  We still have some conditioning to do before doing a Saratoga ride, but hopefully some time in May we can get down there (50 miles).