Day 30 - Long Lake, NY to Ticonderoga, NY 6-20-2011 62 miles

What a beautiful view we had from our hotel in Long Lake last night. We sat out on the screened patio and watched a sea plane take off on the lake and then we watched several sail boats as they sailed back and forth on the lake.

The alarm went off at 5:00AM this morning and we were on the road pedaling by 5:30.  We figured we had 16 miles to bicycle to Newcomb where we planned on having breakfast.  There was fog on the lake and up in the mountains and it was so pretty to see.  We immediately started to climb as we headed out of Long Lake and we knew we were going to be going up and down hills for the majority of the 62 miles to Ticonderoga, NY.  We had 16 miles to bike to Newcomb which is where we had planned to have breakfast.  Well, we were lucky to find a small grocery store once we got there but no restaurant. So we went up and down the few aisles that were there to try to find something to eat that would have a little bit of substance to it.  We purchased chocolate milk, V8, pastries, beef jerky, and a bag of chocolate chip cookies.  We had some trail mix and things like that on the bike already so after visiting with the owner and her dad (they had to come out and see what kind of bicycle we were riding) we continued on our way.

A few miles down the road we turned onto Blue Ridge Rd. which was very well paved and used quite a bit by logging trucks.  The views along this road were absolutely beautiful and although we had a lot of climbing we just had to enjoy the amazing and breathtaking scenery of the Adirondack Mountains.

We met O.B. Sander, his wife and daughter on the road today.  The three of them are pedaling from Bangor, Maine to Erie, PA.  They are from Tampa, Florida and this is there first long distance tour.  They want to bike across the United States but will do it in three week increments as they are still employed.  We had a very nice visit with them and wished them well and headed on our way again.  We were biking in very isolated areas a good share of the day today and went for miles in one spot without seeing a home or any sign of life.  After bicycling passed North Hudson our directions had us bicycle on River Rd. which was 1.3 miles of hard-packed dirt but it wasn't to bad biking on it and we bicycled along the beautiful Schroom River.

With all the climbing we did today we also had several incredibly beautiful long down hills that we both really enjoyed but it takes so long to get to the top and then you are quickly back down and climbing another hill. 

We arrived in Ticonderoga around 1:30AM and stopped at McDonald's for a soda before we checked into the Super 8.  Dean and Billie are a couple that we met when we were in St. George last winter and they are going to be meeting us tonight in Ticonderoga.  We plan on having dinner with them but need to get to bed early to meet the ferry at 7:00AM tomorrow and then start bicycling in Vermont. So we will say goodbye to the beautiful state of New York and continue on to Bar Harbor.  We have less than 400 miles to go to Bar Harbor, Maine and now are on the last of 11 Adventure Cycling maps.  It is hard to believe that we will have bicycled acrossed the entire United States bicyling in Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and only three more states to go which are Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

This was a sea plane taking off from Long Lake as we sat out on our screen porch at Sandy Point in Long Lake!

We watched several sail boats go back and forth on Long Lake from our hotel room's screened in porch.

Long Lake, NY

Beach down the bank from our hotel!

This is 5:30AM with fog on the water - taken in the backyard of our hotel room!

Long Lake, NY

Although it wasn't that foggy where we were biking as we would get to low swampy area's you would come up with these neat pictures!

As we look ahead we know that we are going to have to get over those mountains!

We love early morning - it is so peaceful and very little traffic and the birds are singing!

Amazing views where ever you look!

Another foggy area!

I love the reflection of the mountain on the water!

This was the view from the convenient store that we stopped at on our way to Ticonderoga!

Very desolate area but the road was really good - we hardly know how to bike on a road that doesn't have potholes!

Yup we are climbing!

Breathtaking!

Yes that odometer reads 48 miles per hour!

Bevan, O.B., and Linda Stander from Tampa, Florida - they bicycled from Bangor, Maine and are heading to Erie, Pennsylvania.  They want to go all the way to Anacortes, Washington and will do it in three week segments as they are still employed!

This is a picture that Bevan Stander took of John and I as we were standing on the side of the road visiting with her and her parents!

Taking a break!

Yes, we are having fun!

This was a hard packed gravel road that Adventure Cycling had us bike on for about 1.3 miles.

John enjoying some chocolate chip cookies in the shade!

We bicycled passed numerous lakes today!

Mountains, mountains, and more mountains!

On our way to Ticonderoga, NY - this is our last night in New York - tomorrow morning we will take the ferry to Vermont and continue pedaling all the way to Bar Harbor, Maine!