Summer of 2011 Tour
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This
summer vacation became a
combination of three vacations in one trip. We rode in the Saranac Lake
Tandem
Rally, a tour around Lake Champlain, and traveled to Western New York
State to
celebrate my Father-in-law’s 80th birthday.
Day 1 * SLTR Pictures
We
started by leaving after work
on June 16th and heading north, stopping at
the Oneonta Hampton
Inn as a rest point. On Friday we completed our travel and arrived at
Saranac
Lake where we had reservations at the Hotel Saranac (Hot Sara). There we checked in then
went out to find the
Tandem dealer that was organizing the Saranac Lake Tandem Rally (SLTR).
We
found Rich Shapiro’s house and bike shop and he came out to greet us. I
was
looking for a jacket in anticipation of the cold morning that we
thought we
would be facing. As
it turned out Rich
didn’t have a jacket for me and we didn’t need it because even though the mornings were
cold, the days would warm up quickly.
After
visiting Rich we went back
down town to have lunch at the Blue Moon Café. This was the go to
restaurant
for the weekend. On the way we ran into the Glassgows (Ross and Donna)
who are
tandem friends of ours from Maryland. We also ran into the O’Neals (Bob and
Kay) from
Georgia who had organized the next leg of our trip around Lake Champlain and
the
Petersons (Hank and Carolyn) from California who were also joining us at Lake Champlain.
After
lunch we started the first
ride of the trip. This was just 15 miles around the
Saranac Lake
area that took us into several neighborhoods and around some smaller lakes. We passed the Adirondack
Motel which
was a motel we stayed at on our honeymoon. After the ride we went to
the
Shapiro’s for a welcome party. We had a great time meeting everyone and having a
few drinks.
Day
2 * SLTR Pictures
On
Saturday we got up and went to
breakfast at the Blue Moon Café. The place was packed with cyclists and
the restaurant was short staffed. Many of the couples had
been
waiting for a long time but soon after our arrival the extra help
showed up and
the back log cleared. The ride started later in the morning and took us
by the
actual Saranac Lake. The lake in the town of Saranac Lake is Flower
Lake, the Saranac Lake was south of the town. The
ride was supposed to be close to 50 miles but a wrong turn cut us down
to about
37. After the ride we extended the ride to the Adirondack Motel. When
we were there 28 years I shot a few pictures of the
lake that
I wanted to try to recreate and compare. We met a couple staying at the
motel
who were from Montreal. They had bought a motorcycle in the Atlanta
area and were riding it back home.
After
our post ride shower we
walked around town then went to the dinner cookout at the Shapiro’s.
Rich and
Lindy were consummate hosts and prepared ribs as the main course.
Day 3 * SLTR Pictures
I got up on Sunday morning and went back to the Adirondack Motel on my own to get another set of pictures. I was not completely satisfied with the first set that I took Saturday afternoon. After I returned we got up and grabbed some scones from the Blue Moon and prepared for another ride. This one was an out and back by another of the seemingly endless supply of beautiful lakes in the area. On the way out to the lake we rode with a couple from Buffalo named Jan and Dean. On the way they got a flat and we helped then fix the flat and moved on. The lake was beautiful and so was the ride to get to it. There was a falls at one end of the lake. This was our turn around spot. We returned from the ride, packed up from the Hotel and went up to the Shapiros for one last get together before leaving. There we connected with Bob and Kay, Ron and Shari, and Hank and Carolyn to coordinate the next phase of our trip. At about 2:00 o’clock we drove down to the Essex ferry on Lake Champlain and found our way to the Comfort Inn and Suites in Burlington. Here we got settled in for the start of the Champlain ride. Kathie and I went shopping for sag wagon snacks and drinks. We took our car down to our-sister-in-law's house. We had sister-in-law Dawn and her daughter Ivy bring us back to Burlington where we had dinner at an Italian Restaurant . We returned to the motel where we got a good night's sleep.
Day
4 * Pictures
We
got up on Monday, had
breakfast and got ready for the first day of riding. Bob had make
arrangements
for a tour guide to get us out of town and on our way. Our tour-guide's
name was
Lou and he knew the ins and outs of the bike trail system that wound
through
Burlington. This was very important because the flood conditions on the
lake
had created quite a few detours on the trail.
Lou was a volunteer with an organization in Burlington
called Local
Motion. He told us that the cost for being guided was to stop and
listen to him
talk about points of interest as we traveled on the trail. He stopped
about six
times and gave us very interesting information about the area. He had some pride in living in the
Burlington
area and it showed. We pedaled our way to South Hero were we stopped for a picnic
lunch at a
fish hatchery. We continued through South Hero onto North Hero where
there were we ran into several yards with miniature castles built as ornaments . There were created
mostly by
one man who did this as a hobby. Our Destination Island for the day was
the
Isle of Mott. Here we were greeted by some more washed out roads but
soon
reached our lodging for the night. This was a B&B where the
rooms were in a motel like structure
separate from the house. The view off the porch looked out over the lake. We
took some
time after unpacking to have a few beers on the front stoop to take in
the views.
The restaurant portion of the establishment was quite elegant. Most of
the
customers came in via boat. The food was great.
Day
5 * Pictures
On
Tuesday we got up for
breakfast and packed and Kathie and I took the first SAG duty. We started out passing the
riders who stopped
a quarry to rummage for black lime stone that is common on the island.
We soon
got a call back to pick up a few of their finds. After picking up the
stones Bob
gave us a call finding the location of a fossil field on a
preserve up the
road. This is no ordinary fossil field. This the earliest reef fossils
in the
world. The reef exposed in this field are nearly half a billion years
old.
These were part of a reef formed where Africa is today, before there
was any
life on land.
Our next stop was also on Isle
of
Mott was the St. Anne Shrine. The original fort on the island was
dedicated to
St. Anne by the French settlers. The St. Anne’s parish successfully
partitioned
to have the shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary erected. The shrine is quite
beautiful
and the grounds were remarkable. On the hill above the shrine was
little
housings with different saints in each. We walked the grounds until
other
caught up with us then took the sag off the island and further north
until we
were a few mile south of the Canadian border.
Here
we stopped and waited for
the group the catch up with us then we left the sagging to Bob and Kay.
In a
few miles of riding we got to the border crossing.
Ron and Shari arrived just after Bob
drove through. The guard had walked up to talk to Bob so Ron and Shari
just
rode through. The guard got a bit upset at that but we got through
without and
further trouble.
We
continued or riding through
the Canadian country side until we reached St Jean’s where we stayed at
the
motel Auberge Harris This hotel was
owned and operated by a
sweet French Speaking Lady who had started this motel from a cottage 37 years
ago. She
catered to bicyclists and had a tent in a courtyard to store
bicycles.
We got
showered and dressed to go to dinner in the town of Chambly which is the
northern most point on the bike trail we were ridding. Dinner was great
and we
returned back for another nights rest.
Day 6 * Pictures
On
Wednesday
we left the motel Auberge Harris and worked our way south back into the
US.
After crossing the border we stopped at Rouses Point for lunch. Kathie
and I
took the SAG for the rest of the ride. We arrived at the Point au
Rouche Lodge.
We unpacked and got an introduction to the owners and the grounds. This
was a
beautiful lodge with an incredible common area. After unloading our
luggage
Kathie and I decided to back track the route to see if we could meet
the other
riders. As we got on the bike it started to sprinkle but we pushed on
and the ran never got bad. We finished the loop and returned the bike
to the
garage where
we were storing the bikes. To our surprise Shari and Ron’s bike was in
the garage.
They had
taken the short cut to get to the lodge because of the threat of rain.
That
night we hung out in the common area and ordered take out, played
the LRC
dice game and had a general good time.
Day 7 * Pictures
On the next
day as we were ready to start when a heavy rain went through the area. We regrouped and checked the weather radar. We
found a
gap in the rain and decided to go for it. Our first stop was on the grounds of the now
defunct
Plattsburgh Air Force Base. We stopped for pictures and saw some of the
museums
and municipal buildings that were now on the grounds. My brother Bob was stationed at this base in
the 60’s so I took pictures for him.
Soon we continued our trip and our next stop was at Stoneledge
Sculpture
Garden, which was a collection of metal sculptures on several acres of land along
the
road. We walked around the yard and started back out and ran into a
small ran
shower. We continued our ride to our next attraction which was Ausable
Chasm.
This was a significant canyon with rather impressive water falls that
created a
popular tourist attraction. We walked around the grounds and over the
bridge
then gathered at the sag to plan out the rest of our day. The next
section of
riding was rather hilly and Kathie and I had to walk a few hills. We
stopped at
a local bar and grill in Wellsboro. This was the end of bicycling for
the trip
as we took the last leg of the sagging for the day. We
drove the last miles to
Westport where we stayed at the All Tucked Inn. This was an old
Victorian home
converted into a B&B. We entered the house and no one was
there. We found a
black board with room assignments and the phone number of the
proprietor. We
called and she told us to make ourselves at home. Kathie and I unloaded
our
luggage. While unloading, Kathie mentioned that the house was a bit
spooky. I
laughed until I was in our room alone and the armoire door opened with
a creek
all by itself. That night some went out to a restaurant and some had
pizza from
a local store and we played a few rounds of the dice game before
calling it a
night.
Day 8 * Ray's Birthday Party
In the morning
we had breakfast at the house prepared by the daughter of the proprietor. Once the other couples started the ride Kathie
and I
drove to the Essex Ferry and crossed back into Vermont to pick up our car and
drop
off the SAG at the next nights stopping location. The Kathie and
started our
drive across NY state to join her family in celebrating Ray’s 80th
birthday.