Ben's USA Cycle Blog: Day 41: Speculator to Ticonderoga

Even though today was a short day of 72 miles we had to get up early to meet the other half of the group who had stayed at another hotel down the road. We had breakfast at a diner in Speculator and I had the best pancakes of the trip so far. We started the ride with a slow descent out of the Adirondacks in one group at 7:30, the weather was cloudy and quite cool, similar to yesterday. It was a really enjoyable start on a quite road surrounded by amazing coloured trees, several stops were made for photos. We crossed the Hudson river, looking a lot narrower than it does down the road in New York City. There was a section just before lunch that had lots of trucks passing us on fairly pot holed roads that wasn't quite so enjoyable. Lunch (being at 10:30 it was more a brunch) was on the banks of Brant Lake, I lovely spot to stop. There was only around 25 miles to pedal after eating including a longish climb which ensured the legs didn't have a complete day off. Strange to think that a ride like this would have constituted a pretty descent training ride but in the context of the trip it was walk in the park. There was a long, fast descent into the pretty town of Hague which I really enjoyed before rolling hills to tonight's destination in Ticonderoga (N.B. this is the US's second most Australian sounding place behind Walla Walla). We got to the hotel early and were greeted with donuts supplied by the staff. My impressions of New York state after 3 days riding: it kicks ass.

Ride Details