Hills and trucks
Saratoga Springs >> Crown Point | 141km | 1,125m | 5h38m
September 5, 2024 | 26ºC, clear skies
Early start: good decision!
With a long, hilly ride ahead and being nervous about the punctured tire, we decided to start today’s ride an hour earlier then the previous days. I checked my rear wheel first thing in the morning and everything seemed to be fine. Pretty confident and assuming that if the tire held tight over night, the problem would be solved, we left the motel into a foggy morning.
With confidence and in a good mood we enjoyed the scenic and smooth roads leading out of the city until after only 10 kilometers that dreaded rhythmic noise of sealant spraying out of the tire was back. I immediately stopped, turned the puncture to the bottom and waited until it would stop again, crossing my fingers that there was still enough sealant in the tire by now. This wasn’t gonna last for the rest of our trip. I wanted a new tire. Google Maps recommended the next one about 10 kilometers further along our route. Online it said that it would only open three hours later, but this was the only option.
Bikepacking lesson: bad turns good
Those 10 kilometers were a bit nerve-wracking, with the tire first leaking, then stopping to leak, then leaking again. But we made it to Schuylerville, where we found the Adirondack Ultra Cycling bike shop. It was 9:30am, it would open at noon, but there was a note at the door, asking customers to call outside opening hours if there was an emergency. Not really knowing what exactly an emergency is on a bike trip I decided to just send a text message, hoping for the best. It didn’t take long until I received a reply: “Yes, I can be there in about 15 minutes.” Followed by “You can wait in our backyard, if you want. We have a porta-potty and a couple of shade tents.”
What a plot twist! Our moods turned positive instantly, so happy that we had found this shop! John, a seasoned and experienced ultra cyclist himself, turned out to be one of the kindest bike mechanics I’ve ever met. Not only did he offer us snacks and technical advise, he also had so many great tips for the coming route north, as well as cycling stories to tell while he fixed my bike. Among others, he organizes an annual double-double ride – 400 miles (650km) roundtrip from Schuylerville to Montreal within one weekend.
We probably could have stayed there for much longer (and in fact, John is offering the lawn behind his bikeshop for Empire State Trail cyclists to camp on), but had quite some distance to cover. The bike was fixed – for the sake of easy handling I decided to go for a new tire (after almost 3000km a change was due anyways), with a tube.
When we left, John joined us for a couple kilometers down the canal, sharing more stories and tips (and probably making sure my rear wheel stayed inflated).
This whole episode was a great example of how situations that start with frustration end up in unforgettable experiences. Sure, no one asks for having mechanical issues or other mishaps, but if you do, more often than not it’ll turn into a memory you wouldn’t wanna miss in hindsight. It all just adds more contrast to your story.
Last gravel trails made way for traffic
Before today’s hilly section would start, we had some final gravel riding to do. Originally, I was looking forward to that part, but it turned out that some of those gravel roads were really rough and rocky, much to my wrists’ and bum’s disappointment. But was the alternative better?
The map led us unto highway US4 and NY22. We found that it is almost impossible to judge a route’s traffic by just looking at the map, since often enough larger roads can be quiet while smaller ones at times are super busy. Bigger roads sometimes seem safer due to wide shoulders, while farm roads may have less traffic, but also less space to share between bicycles and motorists.
It was in Fort Ann, at around 65 kilometers, when the official Empire State Trail defaulted to some busy highways. Most (not all!) of them had relatively wide shoulders; nonetheless, when a 30 ton truck passes you at 80km/h it’ll scare you every single time. We had a lot of those for a substantial part of today’s route.
For about 20 kilometers or so we had to push through those conditions. In Whitehall, we’d continue on highway NY22 which seemed to be much calmer, but facing two different challenges: the most climbing we’d had on this trip so far, in combination with long stretches of construction and corresponding waiting times due to one-way traffic coordinated by traffic lights or workers with stop signs. The landscape, on the other hand, was beautiful, cycling through the Adirondacks mountains, and made some of those 2-3km long climbs worth pedaling up.
Scenic end of a long day
Most of today’s climbing happened during the last third of the route. The sun was already setting when we were back on ‘normal’ roads, locating our AirBnB for tonight. We ended up in the middle of no-where, but one of the nicest places I’d found on that platform. Adam and his partner shared part of their spacious and super cozy house, where we had our own bed- and bathroom and three cats to play with. Definitely the right place to end an eventful day like this one.
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