Riding the Adirondacks



As I got near Ticonderoga, 22/9N split and I went to the left onto 9N. It was time to head to Hague and pick up good old rt. 8 which will take me back to where I started on Saturday morning. Between Ticonderoga and Hague I began paying closer attention to the west as I knew very soon I’d be heading back into the mountains to return to Cold Brook and head south to Utica. Almost all the mountain peaks were cloud covered by now so I knew this ride was going to be changing very soon.

In Hague, at the intersection of 9N and rt.8, I pulled into a tiny parking lot to gear up for the mountains again. This time it wasn’t going to be the double sweat shirt under the mesh jacket, rather it was rain gear. Looking at the beginning of rt. 8 told me that this road was going to have me in the clouds in no time so may as well buckle up now. As I turned up 8 I was amazed at how fast this climb really was. In no time at all I lost the sense of any lake shore riding and was suddenly back into the thick of the forest again. Not long after the forest feeling set in I hit the first wave of fog/rain.


What am I getting into!




As I journeyed towards Brant Lake I was thinking how I was being robbed of the scenery. Each time the road climbed a bit I’d be in fog missing whatever views were hidden from me. Even as I descended down to Brant Lake the water was blanketed with fog blocking views to the far shore line. But at the same time the fog and light rain brought positive things to the ride. There was calmness in the patches of fog and since in most areas the view of the road in front of me was fine, I was ok with all of this.

I stopped in Chestertown for gas since I really didn’t know what I’d find between there and my next goal of Speculator. Gas stations are something my yesteryear GPS can’t tell me anything about.


My yesteryear GPS!!!




Soon after Chestertown, I found myself slowly catching up to another bike. It was rare to synch up with someone on a bike on this trip. Speed and location never seemed to match up with bikes going in my direction and so I saw very little going my way. At a traffic light I caught up and noticed he was on a Kawasaki ZRX 1100. We both nodded to each other and I let him continue with the lead as the light turned green. At this point in time I knew I was not going to make the time I once thought. The rain was light but it was enough to slow everybody down and the miles clicked off slowly. I think it was somewhere after Wevertown that the rain began to get harder. I could see the ZRX rider hunching down in an effort to avoid the rain and soon he pulled over and I figured he was going to reach for the rain gear. He looked to be just on a day trip but did have a small pack on the back. He seemed like everything was under control so I kept going as the rain increased in intensity. Johnsburg, Sodom, Baker Mills, Oregon, Griffin, and any others I passed through was all just a blur to me as all my attention was on the road directly in front of me. The rain gradually picked up as I made my way into Speculator and it was completely pouring as I pulled into a store’s parking lot to re-group.


Catching a pic of the store after the rain let up.



One of the things on my “to get” list is a pair of water proof riding boots, it just hasn’t made it in the budget these days and so I stopped to do something about my soaked feet at this point. I don’t mind being wet, but since I was still in the mountains I was getting cold and I knew that had its limits. The store had an open side to it where you could shop outdoors but with a roof over your head. It was a variety store which included camping gear and so I browsed the shelves looking for answers to this boot problem. Finally I just asked the women who worked there if I could buy some of her plastic shopping bags. She looked at me and said “now I’m not going to charge you for these bags, how many do you need?” I figured she wouldn’t charge me but felt it polite to offer. I explained my situation and how I wanted to put them over a pair of dry socks for the rest of the trip. She said “I used to do that for my kids when they played in the snow!” I was offered a dressing room to do the operation and I didn’t know whether she was just trying to be nice or she wanted to hide this soaked rider from her customers. Either way the dressing room sounded good so off I went with a pair of plastic bags and dry socks from one of my side bags. By the time I got back on the bike ready for anything the rain had stopped! But I knew it would come back and so I felt this was time well worth spent.


Water proofing my socks!







Click Here To Keep Riding