Category Archives: Lake George

Snippet of Lake George

One thing about living in our area is that during the warmer months, there is sooooo much going on. You could do some sort of event pretty much every night if you wanted.

Each Wednesday night now through August is music at Lake George. These are free evening concerts held outside.

We took the trolley from near our house to the lake. That way we didn’t have to find parking and deal with the tourist traffic. It costs $1 each way, which is really a bargain I think. It also gives us a chance to see a route different than what we see on our bikes.

Here are shots of our gorgeous lake:

These are a new thing. You can rent this little tiki bar and take it out onto the lake.

The concert was Latin jazz this week.

It’s a nice venue. Very informal and you just sit wherever you find a spot or put your chair. I felt a little sorry for the band at the start because the sun was coming in at an angle right in their faces!

After listening to music, we walked around being a little touristy and checked out shops. I also admired the landscaping work done by the village. They do a good job.

All the rain we have had lately and things are just so lush.

Sunset on the lake and time to take the trolley back home!

We are very fortunate to have such beauty around us.

Jazz at the lake

Every year in September is the jazz festival. It’s for 2 days and 4 groups play each day. They do a great job with some stellar entertainment and it is free to attend! Very generous benefactors. We decided to see a couple of the groups and headed on up by bike. There was a lot of traffic headed to the outlet mall!

That snakes back aways and the light is behind me here. Good thing we can ride on over this. It was a beautiful day. Pretty windy, but the temps were nice.

The concerts are held outdoors if the weather cooperates.

Brubeck Brothers:

The crowds were great, too!

After that, it was time for a treat!

One of our favorite places to go in Lake George. Everything is so good there. I chose a black and white cookie, only the white was caramel!

Guess that makes it a Black and Tan. 😀 John had a napoleon, which I didn’t get a picture of, but really good (and messy).

We then bike down to my parents’ house to feed Boo while they were gone.

“Why you take my picture, lady?”

Then he got some loving:

Then a short 5 miles to home. Days are getting shorter! Eeek! Ended up with just about 29 miles on the day:

The other group we wanted to see didn’t play until after dark, so we couldn’t bike back to the lake. It was weird to go there via car LOL.

This last group was called the Divas and it was an all-women big band group.

Very, very good. It would be really nice if this wasn’t a thing and women jazz players made up half the groups out there as a norm. Someday.

It was really great to relax this weekend, which I actually did!

Lake riding!

It was a good weather weekend here. Saturday was a little too hot and humid for biking, but that gave me a chance to be in the garden and really clean it up as it was starting to get neglected. Got the place ready for company that evening. First chance to show off our new finished water feature, too!

John requested a rum cake for his cake party. Specifically this one. I would say three words. Make this now. It’s really, really good! Of course, my cake didn’t come out of the pan as neatly as the picture on the King Arthur website, but at least it came out in 1 piece!

It’s really an easy recipe. You just need to make sure you have time to let it sit for a day to soak up the rum syrup. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a strong rum taste. Very moist and flavorful. However, I had a real problem with the fact that there is no frosting on this cake. No frosting! I kept asking John if he wanted a glaze or frosting or something and he said no. But, he knew I was struggling with the no frosting, so he said I could make something to offer anyone who wanted it with their piece. I made a rum glaze to apply to the cut pieces and I was happy.

The rum cake was a hit. It was a nice night, too. Our lights are going on the patio:

Sunday was a much better day for biking with lower humidity and temps. We did our usual Sunday breakfast ride of 17 miles and then decided to bike to the lake later for a treat.

Part of the path takes us by a marsh:

I could have used my zoom lens today, but it’s a bit bulky to get in my bike bag. I would have like a closer shot of the lily pads.

John is waiting patiently here for me to take pictures.

This is that section where they decided to make the path go through some telephone poles. It’s very strange.

The lake was gorgeous today. Just beautiful.

It was also about as crowded as we have seen it. Holy moly! Do you know how hard it is to get pictures without people in them? Judicious picture taking and some waiting for a break between people 😀 .

There was a Save the Lake festival going on, which is probably why it was so crowded because locals would be out as well as tourists.

We stopped at Lake George Baking Company for our snacks. I had a black and white cookie!

Plus a big iced coffee. This shop is about a block off the main drag and they built a little deck off the back to sit at and what a gem that is. Nobody was there and it was shady.

This is going to be one of our go-to spots once tourist season is over. I had to get a closer shot of those petunias, too.

It’s just so pretty.

It was time to head home and get away from all the people!

We ended up with 36 miles for the day, which should help burn off some of that cookie and the rum cake. I hope 😀

Lake riding and blooms!

Saturday was a picture perfect day. It was in the upper 70s, sunny, low humidity with just a light breeze. Days like this are why we live in the Adirondacks! It doesn’t get any better.

We decided on a ride to the lake. First, we had to make a pit stop. We were pet sitting this weekend and had to make a stop in for kitty feeding. This meant going on our old paths that we don’t take anymore.

These are cinder paths and kind of bumpy. Some parts are in disrepair as well. When really heavy rains come, it washes away parts of the cinder and they only replace it periodically. It is nice and shady, though.

The pet sitters!

I made that picture smaller because it was kind of scary bigger LOL! Do I look afraid that John is about to get me?

Then it was off to the lake. There was road riding until we got back to the lake bike paths. We took a break around mile 13 ish or so for a snack. Thousands of miles have been shared between me and this bike.

Dried pineapple before we started the hill climbing.

There were a fair number of people out. It’s tourist season, so the paths get quite a bit of use.

It was great to be riding in the shaded areas. Even though it was in the upper 70s, you still get pretty hot riding in the direct sunlight.

The lake was picture perfect!

We stopped to grab an iced coffee and then to the Lake George Baking Company. So glad this place is not in downtown Glens Falls or I would be in serious trouble. I almost got a cookie because these were so durn cute.

However, I chose an apple pastry to have with my coffee.

Ride worthy. Yes, indeed.

Doesn’t the lake look inviting?

It’s actually pretty cold, though. I have to tip my hat to the groundskeepers of the village. They do such a great job with the landscaping and everything was in full bloom.

Yeah, I might have taken a bazillion flower pictures…

Time to hit the roads!

Then home.

Ride stats:

Total miles: 31.7

Average speed: 12.4 mph

Top speed: 30.7 mph

Calories burned: 1109

We did a bit shorter of a ride than normal for a Saturday. We were both a little tired and the lake ride is quite hilly. I only need about 530 miles more to hit my goal for the year!

Beauty in snow.

This weekend started some wallpaper removal in the bathroom. My sister wanted to help and she was free on Saturday evening, so work started in that room. Then at breakfast, I see this in the paper:

NO!!!

It’s now March, but it sure still looks like winter will be around for a while. Today was the last day of the Lake George Winter Carnival, so we stopped by to check out the snow sculptures and appreciate all this snow we have.

There were ice sculptures as well.

I made the mistake of sitting on this bench and it was soooo cold! LOL

Small children’s throne:

These were carved with a chainsaw.

The lake is completely frozen except right at the docks where the anchored boats churn the water to keep them from getting locked in.

Today was a truck racing day on the lake. It is so weird to see vehicles driving out into the middle of the lake.

More snow sculptures:

It says happy valentine’s day because the winter carnival is every weekend in February. It was too cold for me to go on the other weekends, though.

The snow king:

He had ice fish around him, not sure why.

An octopus eating a boat:

Or as John called him Snowptopus 😀

I wish I had the talent to do something like that. Even to put it in our front yard would be fun! Snow isn’t so bad when you have fun with it.

Lake Ride and Missing Link!

Another spectacular weather weekend. Seriously, this has been the best summer weather ever! Saturday was as perfect as a ride day can get – upper 70s, low humidity and no wind. Can’t beat that! We decided to head up to Lake George. I had a hankering for a morning pastry, so we ended up leaving mid morning after breakfast. It takes about an hour and 15 minutes or so to bike to the lake (16 miles).

Look how lush and green it is around here thanks to adequate rain:

It looks like June, not August, other than the goldenrod!

About 10 miles in, we stopped for a snack:

I do love dried pineapple when riding. Quick energy without taking up much stomach space and making you feel full.

The shaded part of the path was just wonderful! I could have stayed in there all day.

At mile 16, we arrived at that lake and what a pretty scene it was.

We hit up Lake George Baking company for our snack, along with an iced coffee. I had a maple cinnamon roll.

Yes indeedy! That was delicious! John had a couple donuts that were out of this world good. This company does it right. Probably a good thing it is 16 miles away – although from our new house, it will only be about 10! 😀

We sat for a long time and just soaked up the gorgeous weather.

We did have to head home, though. Lots of things to do around the house. Back on the wonderful path when I started to feel a clunk in my chain. I had a bad link it in, so we figured it was time to stop and look:

Not sure if you can see that pin sticking out, but it isn’t supposed to do that and the link was bent (which you can’t see in the photo). That meant it wouldn’t got back together right and would definitely break climbing the hills. When you are 12 miles from home, not a good feeling. Luckily for me, I had some extra links that I purchased knowing that I had a bad one.

John had the chain tool:

It snapped right into place and was an easy fix, actually. I really don’t like having to haul stuff around on long rides like spare tubes, links, tools and the like, but they have saved our asses more than once.

All better!

Happy Lori because I could keep going!

45 SPF sunscreen and I still get a ton of freckles 😀

The chain felt great and we continued on our way. This is the marsh:

A shot of my pensive husband:

Perfect, perfect riding day! YAY!!

Ride stats:

Total miles: 35 (I am calling it LOL ).

Average speed: 12.6 mph

Top speed: 27.9 mph

Calories burned: 1229

John was actually going to be gone on Saturday, but all I had to do was mention that I was going to the lake and a check of the weather and he changed his mind 😉

Solo lake ride!

My biking partner is out of town this weekend and I wanted to go to the lake, so it was solo riding for me!

When I told John that I was going, he said, “Please be careful.” Now, anyone who knows me IRL (and even on the blog) knows that I am about safety first. I might actually be a little too cautious sometimes. I trust no one when I am on my bike. Not even the squirrels darting about. So, I laughed and said back to John, “I am always careful.” His response? “I know, but it makes me feel better to say it to you.” <3

I ate an early lunch and checked over the bike, filled the tires, checked the chain and brakes and headed out. It was wonderfully sunny and warm – in the low 70s! I did have a lightweight jacket on at first because I wasn’t sure if it would be cooler at the lake (it usually is), plus the wooded part of the path can be cooler as well. Except I forgot there were barely any leaves on the trees and the wooded parts were pretty sunny! The first 6 miles or so were on city roads until I got into Glens Falls and got onto the bikeway.

I ditched my jacket at this crossover of a road from the path. I always feel like there should be donut and candy shops on this road, but there aren’t.

Starting to sweat!

A couple miles later, I realized I had better put on sunscreen. I probably was blinding anybody I went past since my pasty white arms have hardly seen the light of day since last fall. So I pulled over to put that on.

I’m a ghost in this. I didn’t see my own reflection until I downloaded this 😀

This is the marsh. It’s still pretty brown.

I was curious as to how my hill legs would be for the first lake ride of the year. I made it up all the climbs pretty easily and I am totally thrilled at how good my legs are already. I don’t know why that is or how to duplicate it next off season, but I’ll take it now! This is the wooded part of the path. No leaves!

This was cut through rock in some parts. Not sure why people feel the need for graffiti, but they do. There are a lot of flags painted on this rock for whatever reason.

I was happy to reach the lake at mile 16. It was particularly blue today.

All of the shops on Beach St. are closed right now. They only open up for tourist season. Not to mention the road is being repaved right now.

The main street has a fair number of open businesses. Those ones run by locals and not people from downstate who only come up for summer. There were not a lot of people around, but some. The stores were having sidewalk sales and 2 new stores opened that sell only purses – the same store with one location on each side of the street. Really? I own 1 purse (and I hardly ever use it), so that business won’t make it with my support. I stopped at the Lake George Baking Company for my treat and Cafe Vero for my latte to go with and sat in Shepard Park.

I love Cafe Vero. They roast their own coffee and the baristas are well trained. They always do latte art. It’s a bit pricey, but worth it.

My view while nomming:

I texted John to let him know what he was missing! 😈

Then it was time to say goodbye to the lake and head on up the mountain.

It’s a 2 mile climb for a while and so I didn’t stop to take any pictures. I did stop more on this trip in general just to enjoy, though. By myself – I can do whatever I want and stop whenever I want! After the 2 mile climb, you are greeted by Santa and Uncle Sam.

Ah yes. Lake George, the mix of natural beauty and the tacky.

I took part of the canal path on the way home. Some of this is being worked on, so we have to detour around it, but I got on part of it.

Closer look at these guys jetting away when I stopped. Can you see them in the pic above?

Before I knew it – I was home!

33 miles today that felt great. I am ready for Saratoga now. I have the mind rumblings to do a 100 mile day again. 😀

Ride stats:

Total miles: 33 miles

Average speed: 12 mph

Top speed: 25 mph (Wheeeeeee!!!)

Calories burned: 959

Have a great rest of the weekend and I will be back with an AIM post on Monday!

Biking for jazz

What a gorgeous fall weekend! Both days were nice, but Sunday was the nicest day. Lake George was having the jazz festival all weekend, so we wanted to ride up on Sunday. Now Sunday is also bagel day, which meant a double dip ride on the day. We had a rewards card earnings of a free bagel, so we went to Panera Bread to start the day. It was 41 degrees this morning! That is close to the cutoff for riding temperature – and it is only mid September!

My loverly bagel:

Panera Bread is 16 miles round trip. We went home for a bit and I packed up a lunch to bring to the jazz festival. I wanted pastries, so that meant packing a lunch. It had warmed up a bit into the 50s by the time we left. We took the paths all the way there today.

We stopped for a quick snack. This was around mile 11 or so (or 27 total miles).

So beautiful out today. I think I kept saying that, too. I had some dried pineapple.

Just starting to see some change in the sumacs now. Color will be changing pretty soon.

I love biking – yay!

We arrived at the lake ready for some music!

The first group:

The sax player also brought out a bass flute, which is pretty cool.

And did I mention how beautiful it was?

We ate lunch while listening.

My mother came up for a while to listen as well, so we met her on the other side of the stage for the second group. This one had a slide trumpet – which was interesting.

We had stopped at the Lake George Baking company for a few pastries to have in the afternoon. John got lattes:

It’s pretty!

My mom and I each had one of these sfogliatelle, which is a shell shaped pastry filled with an orange ricotta cheese mixture. I had to look up the name – they should make it easier for such a delicious pastry!

I might have also consumed a fantastic cannoli that I forgot to get a picture of. I love long ride days

Lots of boats docked right on the lake behind the stage and listened to music. How cool would that be??

You just can’t make up these gorgeous colors. We are lucky to have this jewel of a lake in the Adirondacks.

It was starting to get chilly and John and I were getting tired of sitting on the ground LOL! One thing about biking, you can’t bring your sitting chairs or even a blanket really. Time to head on out. I was a little stiff at first, but then loosened up and felt pretty awesome on the hills. Still in good bike shape right now for the season.

I took a picture of John’s computer today 😀

Ride stats:

Total miles: 47.3

Average speed: 12.4 mph

Top speed: 27 mph

Calories burned: 1410

What a great day! Fall is my favorite time of year. I really want another weekend day, though. I am not ready for Monday yet!

Bikes, boats and cars

Saturday ride day. It was a hot day. The hot and sticky weather has made a return for the last bit of August. We chose to go on an earlier ride and stop for lunch. We decided to head up to Lake George. This is what the first part of our ride looked like as we went road riding. Very sunny.

Nice wide shoulder and in good condition. We stopped at Decision Point around 10.5 miles for a little snack.

Just before the next few miles of climbing to the lake. I have to say I do not like this flavor of Larabar. It tasted bitter to me for some reason. I ate about 3/4 of it.

Onward to Lake George! We got there and found out there was a boat and car show going on. 15 miles in.

We decided to stop for lunch at Adirondack Sandwich Works.

They have a lot of yummy choices there, and not just sandwiches. John got a greek yogurt parfait that was really tasty.

(yes, the sticky bun coffeeshop was uber tempting… ). I had a grilled cheese plus some watermelon.

We are still doing no land meat week. (ends Sunday). This came with homemade kettle chips, which are good, but I didn’t feel like eating many of them. After lunch, we walked around the boat and car showcase.

This is a green boat. Electric and environmentally friendly!

Could you imagine sitting in these chairs on the lake sipping an icy cold beverage? I could!

There were some cool old cars, too.

I liked this car. Someone really did a lot to restore it.

Not even a speck of dirt on this grill.

Even the side wheel was super shiny. I took a picture of its sparkliness and ended up with an accidental self portrait!

It was a beautiful day at the lake, even though it was getting really hot.

We decided to do a shorter ride because of the heat and just headed home. We stayed on the paths mostly for the shade and didn’t stop at all for the 16 mile ride home. I also decided to attack all the hills since it was a shorter ride.

I owned them all! ROAR! I feel in really good bike shape right now.

We arrived home at 31 miles.

Ride stats:

Total miles: 31.6

Average speed: 12.8 mph

Top speed: 28.2 mph

Calories burned: 956

I am doing really well towards the goal of 400 miles this month. We rode another 22 mile Sunday morning and I have only 47 miles left to ride before Friday night. Barring any horrible weather or other issue, I should make it easily.

And just in case you were wondering – we did have a treat in the evening.

Maple soft serve. Yum!

Champagne brunch cruise!

Even though our 15th anniversary was on Wednesday, in the usual fashion of stretching out holiday/birthday/special occasion type things, we went on a champagne brunch cruise on Sunday. Sometimes it is nice living in a touristy area because there is always something going on.

Here are all the cruise boats waiting to go out:

Sunday was cool and gray, so really a nice day to be inside in a boat! We were on the Lac du Saint Sacrement. En francais everyone!

We were led right to a reserved table for 2 by the window.

Note we were still docked here LOL!

John and I cleaned up nicely for the day just for fun.

This is John’s pumpkin colored sweater, which I love.

We set sail:

The buffet had a lot of nice items on it. There were lunch type dishes, an omelet station, hot breakfast dishes and a fruit/pastry section.

My first plate. Lots of fruit! Plus some potatoes and a little bacon. I was somewhat protein lean today, but that was by choice.

Then came around the champagne!

Happy 15th anniversary!

The water was a little choppy, but we barely felt it.

I then got an odds and ends plate.

I ate about 1/3 of this bagel. I don’t care for untoasted bagels, so I didn’t want to eat the rest. And more fruit! I totally fruited out today

Then the server brought around some cheesecake for dessert:

I am not a huge fan of cheesecake, so I had a bite of John’s and went and got another muffin/cinnamon roll.

After we ate, we walked around the boat and looked at some of the memoribilia.

We went to the outside deck, having to pass through a bunch of smokers. They were all huddled outside… cough, cough.

It was really windy. Of course being on the boat is windy, but then it was also already windy. Silly us being at the front of the boat, too.

Lovebirds:

It really hurt to brush my hair later, I have to say.

There was a music group playing inside. Lounge music anyone?

The back of the boat was much nicer outside. Less wind!

Then we came in to watch the view from our table again. I had another mini muffin, too!

We passed by the Sagamore. A really expensive resort near Bolton Landing.

There was a wedding party taking pictures. The hotel is huge:

It was so peaceful riding home, too. Or fairly so on a busy boat. I loved just looking at the waves from the boat.

All too soon we were back at shore. It was a 2 hour cruise (are you singing??). Very enjoyable, too!

A lot of eating out and rich food this last week, I have to say. It will be good to get back to normal again.

Finding Radiance

Trying to live a fit life loving food, cycling, gardening and everything in between!

Category Archives: Lake George

Snippet of Lake George

Jazz at the lake

Lake riding!

Lake riding and blooms!

Beauty in snow.

Lake Ride and Missing Link!

Solo lake ride!

Biking for jazz

Bikes, boats and cars

Champagne brunch cruise!