Saranac Lake

We are becoming so...mature! Yes, that's it - mature! Today was not an easy ride; jackets on, jackets off, clear lenses in, sun lenses in, clear lenses in. We rode for the first part of the day in fairly vigorous rain. We broke the day up by making stops (Bob is becoming addicted to Lipton's spiced chai teabags by the way) and between stops the sun actually came out. Backing up, we left the Magic Pines campground this morning after finishing the rest of Bob's roast beef sub to get us started. About 15 miles down the road, we stopped for breakfast in Keeseville, and continued toward Whiteface. We had asked a woman in a gas station about a good place to pick up breakfast, and she gave us directins to the place where she was headed. Then she commented, "And I'm a Steelers fan." She'd spotted the Pittsburgh flag on our trailer. She went on to explain that she'd gone to Duquesne in the '70s and then lived in Mt. Lebanon for a time. We continued or conversation at the restaurant, where we a couple who had lived in Beaver Falls for a time joined in. As we learned on our trek across the country, it's a small world. At our snack stop, we committed (or should I say we should be committed) to riding over the mountain instead of the 17-mile detour around. Now to be fair, the road doesn't go all the way to the top. There is a toll road that doesn't even allow bikes that does that last five mile winding steep trek to the top. But the four-mile ascent to the toll booth was quite the ride. Fortunately, we had a lot of company. People training for a triathlon to take place here in about a month were out on the road by the dozens today. Riding their 3 oz. racing bikes with 1-inch wide tires, they were bewildered and confused by the sight of two middle-aged touring cyclists pulling 100 lbs. of gear up the same mountain. They whizzed past us up the hills, but we smoked them on the down hills. Nonetheless, the four-mile ascent up to the Whiteface toll road was tough. We arrived in Saranac Lake glad we had a reservation at the Sara-Placid Motor Inn, which turned out to be splendid, and were happy to get cleaned up and settled for the night. After consulting with the owner of the motel, we decided on the Italian restaurant owned by Bosnians within walking distance. and we decided to spend an extra night here. It's a great motel, it's a beautiful town (once in another life, we considered living here), and our knees could use a rest. So, we might kayak tomorrow, or just relax and enjoy
the scenery while the storms finally pass through, and then continue on Monday. Ahhhhh!!!