We have been having the best biking weather this summer, which makes up for the poopy spring.  It’s funny, though, we don’t get projects around the house done since we save those for rainy weekends and we haven’t had a rainy weekend in a couple months! 😀 

Saturday we went garage saling via bicycle, which is good to keep you from buying whatever.  I have specific things I am looking for, one of which is a trunk. I want to use a trunk as a coffee table, but I have to find the perfect one.  I have been seeing a lot of them, and it was no exception on this day.

This one is a little big, though.  Too tall, but the look is right.  The search will continue.  John is really hoping that I don’t find one until after we move 😀

We rode about 15 miles and came home to eat some lunch before taking another ride.  We decided to head up to the lake.  The side of the path is covered with little wildflowers.  Wouldn’t you love a purple and yellow lawn?  I think that would be cool.

 

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I was feeling a little fatigued, which has been the status quo as of late.  I was concerned about hills today, but I ended up okay.

 

We reached the peak point and could see all these cars backed up forever.

 

This is near the outlet mall, which always gets a lot of traffic.  Traffic is not well managed in this particular area.  Good thing we were sailing over it!

It was pretty much a perfect biking day. In the upper 70s and little to no wind. 

 

We just walked around a bit at the lake. Not long.  It wasn’t actually super crowded at the lake, but that could be because it was opening weekend for the Saratoga race track.

Unlicensed Walter White sighting:

 

Lots of tacky/touristy stuff in Lake George.

We decided to take our ride snack back in Glens Falls at Spot!  So, it was time to start the climb.  Once you get into the Adirondacks, the path is cool and beautiful.

 

 

We stopped by the marsh so I could take pictures of water lilies.

This was around 42 miles for the day when we stopped for the snack (15 of which came before lunch).

 

Yummers!   Love those ride treats!   It was a quick ride home from there.  When we aren’t on the path, this is a lot of what we ride on.

 

Home!

 

Stats:

Total miles:  48.3 miles

Average speed:  12.5 mph

Top speed:  29 mph

Calories burned:  1463.  

This was a nice way to get in this many miles with a morning ride and an after lunch ride.  That way I wasn’t dragging at the end.  Then we had to get cleaned up and head out to the movies!

 

Quality time with my sis:

 

I have a big head LOL!  Planet of the Apes was an intense movie.  Really intense.   Very violent, too.  I think I liked it.  I was exhausted when it was finished.  I have seen 2 movies in the theater  in 2014, which is double the quota I went to in 2013.  I’m on a roll!  😀

What a gorgeous, gorgeous weekend!  I was glad to have my biking partner back for Saturday 😀

 

We did just kind of a loop around ride aiming for 40+ miles.

Most of it was road riding, but we did hit a small portion of a path called the Betar bikeway. It’s only a little over a mile long, but it runs along the river and is so pretty.  You can peek to Glens Falls:

 

It’s a nice paved path and lots of people on it on Saturday.  There is a group that meets there monthly to do bird watching and I keep thinking I will try it some time, but never have gotten around to it.

Of course, all the birdies needed to look out because this guy was walking around like he owned the place!

 

He was talkative and friendy. I always find the kittehs.

We headed south then to Schuylerville.  

This goes along the canal and we saw a boat headed. We actually were biking faster than this boat was going. Not sure if that is sad or not LOL! 

Along route 4 is a an osprey nest. They currently have babies and the mom was not thrilled about us. We weren’t very close, but she was pretty vocal.

When we got to Schuylerville, we stopped at Espresso Huis for our ride snack!

This was a Boston cream cuppie and really, really good! Of course, riding always makes everything taste better 😀

I also admired the pottery for sale by a local artist.

Biking = no buying, right?

Powered by cupcakes and coffee, it was time to head back.  We actually were a little tired on this ride. I think it was because we went about 30 miles before our snack and we didn’t take a lot of breaks.

Fluffy clouds!

About 3 miles from home, I got a cramp in my left thigh (the weak one). I have never had that happen while biking before. We had to stop and stretch so I could work it out.  Thank goodness it was close to home.  Only 1 last steeper hill to get up before we were done.

Look at that – the 46 miles I didn’t get to do on my birthday, just a couple weeks late 😀

Riding day!  John planned our route for us. I knew it would be in the 40s since we were going to Saratoga, but the actual amount depends on what way we go.  We did take a detour at the start because there is construction leaving town that we wanted to avoid, which ended up adding 4 miles onto the trip down.  Then we got onto River Road, called that because it follows the river 😀

I am getting good at taking pictures while pedaling!  I love going down this road because there is almost no traffic and kind of rural.  Okay, not kind of. It is rural.

We had a really good tailwind on the way down. It was really windy and I kept thinking about how coming back was going to suck LOL!

Around mile 13 was time for a snack!

Loves the dried pineapple when riding – or any time, really.  It was in the upper 60s and I couldn’t decide whether or not to take off my jacket as I would get warm and then the sun would go behind a cloud and with the wind it would feel colder. John shed his jacket, though.

 

Lots of farms on this route. You see horses, cows, sheep and llamas (or alpaca?):

 

I was getting pretty hungry by the time we got to Saratoga at mile 27! We had a big breakfast and the snack, but it was time to eat!  We hit up Comfort Kitchen, which is a place that sources local stuff and makes really good food.

 

I had a pulled pork sandwich with a side of sweet potato chips, which were flavored with orange and rosemary.  Yum!

 

Food tastes even better when you have worked for it! We then walked around Saratoga.  We stopped at NorthShire Bookstore and I was pointing out the cycling books to John.

 

I mentioned again how much I liked The Secret Race. Apparently one of the workers overhead me and asked if I would write a review of the book since they didn’t have one.  You know those little cards with a review on them that hang on the shelf? That’s it.  Anyone who shops here – you will be able to see my review, sloppy handwriting and all 😀

Good advice for all:

 

Time for cuppicakes!!! We stopped at Bettie’s. I had a Samoa cupcake, which was delicious!  John’s was key lime.

Not pictured was the chocolate cannoli we shared as well.  While those items are great, the coffee was terrible.  Mine was full of grounds, too.  Never getting coffee there again.

We also walked around Congress Park and saw baby ducks!

 

They are soooo cute!

 

I didn’t zoom in on these either.  Look at where these babies were:

 

Time to use that cupcake power to get home!  John had planned for us to go back the same route, but I wanted to take a more direct way since we would have been at about 55 miles if we went the same way – into the wind.  That is a really a bit big of a jump in mileage. We did head into the wind, which thankfully was less, but still pretty strong.  John and I switched front and back a lot for drafting purposes.

Around mile 40 and we took a break after a hill section.  I think we were getting a bit loopy and I tried to do a jazz hands pose while John took my picture.

 

All while trying to balance my bike on my thighs. Now that is talent!

One more rest at about mile 46 to stretch.  Kind tired at this point.

Final bit of the ride to go!

 

Done and done.  Longest ride of the year.

 

Ride Stats:

Total miles:  50.3

Average speed:  13.3 MPH

Top speed:  26.2 MPH

Saddle time:  3 hours 45 minutes

Calories burned 1540  (probably more with pedaling into the wind, but whatever).

This ride really felt good, I have to say. Both of us felt great.  Even my legs, while tired, could still have gone more.  Sit bones a little sore, but that is what happens when you increase the mileage by that much.  I felt Saturday’s ride more on Sunday morning when we did another 20 miles.  Monday is rest day 😀

Finally!  As John said to me – this ride was a long time coming!  Between too cold temps and too much snow, our first ride has been delayed far too long.  Anyway, yesterday I swapped out my trainer tire and got the bike ready to go for Sunday. Forecast was for sunny and 50, so good enough.  It was about 47 degrees when we left the house, so I was layered up.

 

And happy 😀

We didn’t have too much of a plan for the first ride of the year. It’s mostly for getting the sea legs back, so to speak.  My legs were saying “What is this pedaling with actual forward motion??”

We tried some of the paved parts of the path, knowing the unpaved would be too soggy.  It was okay, but then we hit patches of snow.

So we stuck mostly to the roads.  It was warm enough where John wanted to shed some layers.

 

After about 14 miles, we stopped at Cool Beans for a snack and actually sat outside!

 

The sun has also not been seen much lately and it felt so good.

 

Overall a good first ride.  We did 21 miles, which is pretty far for the first one. My legs feel good. My sit bones were a little tired, but in a couple weeks I should be ready for a 30 mile ride. 

 

 

Ride stats:

Total miles: 21.2

Top speed:  22.5 mph

Average speed:  11.9

Calories burned 612  (my cookie bar 😀  )

And it begins!!

 

 

This may be the last ride to Saratoga this year.  The temps were partly sunny and into the mid 50s, so good enough!  We thought it might rain in the afternoon, so we chose to go down for lunch. We took one of our old routes down that we hadn’t in a long time.  Pretty, isn’t it?  The road here is actually the official bike route to Saratoga.

We do take a detour to avoid crossing past the on/off ramp to the interstate. It’s much nicer and goes by Moreau state park.

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It was a nice day to be out! That would be 2 jackets I am wearing. I was like a sausage.

We stopped for a snack around mile 11.  I had some dried pineapple and John had candy corn, which is good ride fuel, actually.

We arrived hungry in Saratoga around mile 21.  More of the dancing shoes.

John wanted to eat at Comfort Kitchen, so we did.

 

I got the butternut squash mac and cheese, which was topped with herbed bread crumbs and smoked mozzarella.

Seriously – I think this is the best mac and cheese I have ever eaten. Ever. Even better than the lobster mac and cheese from Maine!  I *have* to recreate this at home.

We walked around a little bit more.  More shoes!

Taken from a Solid Gold dancer, I am sure.

John spotted the perfect sign in a store window:

I heart Pixie and it’s about espresso! I need this poster.

We stopped at Bettie’s for dessert and got Apple Crisp cupcakes, then got a cup of coffee to go with.

I have to say, I was really full after this.  I was going to save my cupcake and take it home, but then I ate it.  Good thing the first half hour of riding home was not hilly or lunch probably would have revisited.

We were worried about rain, but the sun came out and helped warm us up on the way home.  More of exciting route 9.  At least it got paved this year because it really needed it.

We took another detour to avoid the interstate exit on the way home. It’s very pretty on this road.

About 5 miles from home, we spotted something.

A little closer!

We followed this and the chase team almost to home.

Home safe and sound!

Ride Stats:

Total miles:  43.7

Average speed:  13.7 mph

Top speed: 27.3 mph

Calories burned:  1365 – hello mac and cheese

Now I now you all want the yearly number.  It sits at 2445.8.  That means only 54.2 miles to go!  Woo Hoo!

 

Late season riding. It really can be so nice.  We headed up to the lake as John hasn’t been there in a while. I am styling in my new long underwear!!

 

I start feeling like the Michelin Man later in the season with all the layers

We made good time riding.  Quick stop for John to take off his jacket and I did a shadow shot:

Yay biking!

I noticed I was lagging a bit on the way up the hills.  It’s because I lowered my calories the last few days since I didn’t exercise much and I felt that deficit.  That’s why it is pointless to try to lose weight during biking season.

Arrival at Lake George!

It’s past peak foliage, but still pretty.  Lake George is decorated for fall, even though half the shops are now closed.

House of Frankenstein still open:

Say Cheese!!!

 

We walked through the Christmas ornament store and I saw this sign, which made me laugh.

 

 

 

The instruments are like 4 inches big – how would you play them??

 

Anyway, we did the usual 2 stops for snack.  Cafe Vero for lattes.  This is their specials board.

 

I cannot imagine how super sweet a nutella latte would be.  I stuck with my unflavored latte with its cute little heart.

And a peanut butter chocolate brownie from the LG Baking Company. John had a piece of carrot cake.

Man, was this rich!  Enjoyable, though. We sat in Shepard’s Park to eat.

 

It was sunny when we arrived, but just in the few minutes we were sitting outside, the wind picked up and clouds came in. Rain was in the forecast for later, but we were concerned it was going to come a lot earlier!  So, we headed home.

We took more of the path home closer to home instead of going on the roads.

 

 

I am actually not crazy about being on the paths when the leaves drop this much.  It hides stuff like rocks, branches and holes.

All home safe and sound!

 

 

Ride stats:

Total mileage: 32.1

Top speed: 27.5 mph

Average speed:  12.5 mph

Calories burned:  1138

 

 

Yearly mileage after a windy ride on Sunday = 2358.  Only 142 to go!  This week is unseasonably cold, so I don’t know how much riding I will be getting in.

Today’s pink item?  Late season Cleome!