Donna and I have noticed the "Ti RIDE" advertised in the Adirondack Sport and Fitness monthly newspaper for a couple of years now. The tour boats running out of the southern Lake George village have only one trip per year where they take a boat all the way up to the northern tip of the lake at Ticonderoga. On this occasion they allow cyclists to drop off a change of clothes and picnic lunches on the boat in the morning. You can then cycle up to Ticonderoga, meet the boat when it arrives at 11 to 11:30, then take the two-hour cruise back to the village of Lake George.
This year we planned well in advance and did the ride. It was not easy to get motivated to get up at 5 am on a Sunday morning after a hard work week, but we did. We packed the car with our bags of clothes and lunch and drove off with Alix in charge of the dogs until 5 pm. We got to the docks at Lake George before 7am and dropped our stuff in the bow of the Mohican and parked the car. There were many cyclists already underway. By the time we got on the road it was 7:30 or so.
Donna and I have done the 10-mile run, one-way 4th of July running race up Route 9N from Lake George Village to Bolton Landing several times. So, we know this stretch of road very well. The traffic was light on the Sunday morning. As soon as we passed the finish of the 10-mile mark and got past Bolton Landing, the road started to climb. This first hill was just a primer for the real tester - Tongue Mountain, which starts at mile 20.
Just before the climb we met and rode with a biker from Schenectady - Dave K. We had a chat and started to work on the climb. It was a good climb with some stretches pushing 15 percent, but on average 9-10 percent for two miles. I did not feel well as I started the harder effort, but Donna did great. We were all together for most of the climb, but separated out towards the top. The best part was the descent! With a wide road, little traffic and big sweeping turns I felt confident and wanted the rush. So, at the top I put it in the big ring and pumped to 30 MPH on the top and let 'er rip.
My intention was to not have to scrub any speed for the whole two-mile plunge. However, as I got through the first few turns and approached a tighter curve I looked down at my speedometer. It read 51 MPH so I felt compelled to shave off a just a little speed in order to not lean too hard or cheat too far into the other lane. It was a great ride, very similar to going down from the top of Neil's Gap into Helen, Georgia - that descent is 7 miles long! We stopped and talked at the bottom. Dave K rode up and took this picture as we looked out at the mountains across the lake.
Donna found a Monarch butterfly laying eggs on a milkweed here and she kept it in a lunch bag inside her jersey all the way to the end. We hooked up with another rider and I pulled us ahead of a good tailwind the rest of the way to the Baldwin docks in Ticonderoga. We were early arrivals and as we waited we jumped in off the docks and enjoyed the warm water of Lake George. In all about 60 riders were taking advantage of the cruise. All 60 bikes were carefully stowed away in the bow of the ship and we enjoyed at beautiful ride down one of the most scenic lakes in the world on a clear blue day.
Marty has only recently taken up mountain biking and I have enjoyed introducing him to the sport. He is quite skilled on the technical terrain for not having a lot of experience. He has gone with me all three years to the Kingdom Trails at our Sales Conference. The last time was on his new K2 bike and it was down to just the two of us. The year before we injured one of our suppliers who was a good road biker. Marty has a great set of trails near his home in Stowe that we rode together with Paul. So, I was anxious to show him what we had at Grafton.
We started on Spruce Bog, which is normally wet and sloppy, but was dry and not slippery. Once I saw he could handle that mess of roots and rocks, even under these ideal conditions, I knew he was in good shape. We then climbed to the Fire Tower, came down through Chet Bell and Little Johnnies and ended the 2:20 ride on Water Tower. It was fun to lead someone new through these trails. Next time I will take him to SMBA or Spier Falls.
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