bike touring Adirondacks – Traipsing About

Smashing Fall Colors in New England – Bike Touring Video, Part 4

Welcome to the final installment (part 4 of 4) of the video series covering our 4,000 mile bike tour in the summer of 2014. If you missed previous episodes, here are parts one, two and three. This video details our travels from upstate New York to the Atlantic Ocean in Portland, Maine.

Everyone has an opinion about the timing for prime fall color viewing. “This coming weekend, for sure.” “Oh, you just missed them by six minutes. Bummer.” It seems like the changing leaves are a German train sticking to a tight timetable, not a process unfolding slowly in the woods. All aboard the Peak Foliage Express!

From the beginning, our bike tour goal was to hit New England in time to 1) avoid cycling in snow (Abominable Snowmen hate cyclists) and 2) smash into the explosion of colors for which the area is so famous. Somehow, it all worked out.

A perfect day along a river in the Adirondacks.

This was our favorite part of the tour. Crisp, cool weather coupled with scenic views that left our jaws hanging like a teenager at a strip club. It really is as good as they say. (Fall colors, people – stick with me here.)

We lucked out in other ways too. Warm Showers hosts graced us with their hospitality and we added a half dozen new friends to our lives. A guy in a coffee shop invited us back for lunch at his “camp”, which turned into a boat and plane adventure. A new buddy in Burlington is Chelsea’s new soul sister. A couple in Montpelier and their incredible adventures bike touring all over the world (four years total!) inspired us to push our limits.

New England was the perfect conclusion to a trip we’ll remember forever. The journey brought us closer together as a couple, further seared a love of adventure into our souls and inspired us for another bike tour sooner than later. Even if the fall colors are only 36 hours (pffft, we saw them into late October) and the locals can’t understand what all the fuss is about, we can’t wait to get back. I can’t recommend this area of the U.S. highly enough.

Here’s the link to the final video from our tour or just click play below. Turns out that video editing is a lot of work (I’d never done it before) and I’m glad to wrap this up. A few more photos below the video too. Enjoy, and onward!

Dakota

Ducks preen and watch a kayaker on Blue Mountain Lake.

I found this funny – a short bus hiding out in the Tug Hill Wilderness in the middle of nowhere New York.

A lovely evening in Burlington, VT.

Falling in Love with New York State

September 29, 2014/6 Comments/in Bike Touring, XC Bike Tour 2014 /by Dakota

Descending a long hill on the way to Lake Placid.

Ah, New York. What a great state. We absolutely will be back for more breathtaking outdoor fun. I suspect a month solely in the Adirondack Mountains would still feel fast and I’m positive we could spend an entire summer in the state no problemo.

Yesterday marked three months on the road and three weeks in the Empire State. I also realized we’ve spent half our cycling trip (46 days) in Montana and New York. Big states mixed with awesome scenery make for a wandering path and no hurry whatsoever. Our goal to slow down for our time in New England is panning out nicely!

A fallen leaf on the corner of an old, scratched dock.

Here are a few favorite shots from the last week pedaling through blazing red and orange trees with blue lakes twinkling in the fall sun. We’ve seen lots of day cyclists grinning away while ripping up and down the steep climbs. There are also huge numbers of canoes and kayaks on top of cars. I’d love to return to do some paddling or hit some mountain biking trails, which are apparently excellent. Then there’s hiking and running the Adirondack 46, all the peaks over 4,000’ that it seems everyone we talk to has on their bucket list.

Just a short post today before picture backlog sets in. Today is an exploring day in Burlington, Vermont after catching the ferry across Lake Champlain over from New York. The town has a great car-free walking area filled with smiling people, a gorgeous waterfront and bike path, mountain views and excellent food to boot. It feels like a sister city to Portland, Oregon. Next week we hit the coast and the end of our tour, which seems surreal at the moment. Barely 200 miles of pedaling remaining!

Happy Monday,

Dakota

Looking across the Atlantic with a view of Spain. Waiiiit a second, that’s just Lake Champlain looking at Vermont.

A kayaker on Blue Mountain Lake.

Chelsea crushes another hill with the fall colors cheering her on.

Fall colors reflected on a lake south of the town of Tupper Lake.

Two fisherman ply their skills in the early morning NE of Lake Placid.

Fall colors peak through bare tree trunks.

A nice view of Tupper Lake.

I made a friend! He doesn’t talk much, but he is a great listener.

Enjoying a lunch break on a lake.

Sunset looking across Lake Champlain after our ferry ride from New York to Vermont. As a new friend in NY joked, “what’s the best thing about Vermont? The view of New York!”

Seaplane View of Fall Colors in the Adirondacks

September 26, 2014/8 Comments/in Bike Touring, XC Bike Tour 2014 /by Dakota

Lake and fall colors reflected.

We hadn’t planned to spend the day boating and flying above lakes in the Adirondacks. It just worked out that way. Bike touring has a way of creating the unexpected though, and since we rarely book a place to stay, we’re always open for a random adventure. And of course those are always the most fun!

The day started out on schedule. Up early and on the road through Old Forge in upstate New York on a beautiful fall day. A quick stop to enjoy some hot tea at a coffee shop and we’d be on our way, though we lingered a few extra minutes in the sun watching the city wake up.

A few hundred feet over the lake.

Then Peter, an interesting gentleman in a suit jacket, struck up a conversation. Which turned into lunch at his boathouse, a ride in his old restored boat and a flight in his 1946 Piper Cub seaplane. We then toured the area with him followed by drinks at the country club and dinner in town, followed by trading stories in front of a fire and a night’s stay at his “camp,” as they call cabins in New England. (This can range from a one-room shack to a 15-room palace.)

Little diversions like this are the stuff of memories, even if we only made it five miles that day. The biking is fun and the scenery is great, but deep connections and the bond that develops with someone in just 24 hours is what it’s all about.

Dakota

P.S. Here’s a little video I took from the plane. Below are more pictures as well!