4
Ten of us left after breakfast at the IHOP in Bedford.
Dave
Rob
Terry
Rachel
Guy
Paul
Sean
Alex
Kenneth
Tim
We followed a route similar to last year to the Ticonderoga Ferry. It's a nice ride through the Green Mountains and then out into the rolling hills of western Vermont.
We had our traditional lunch at Burleigh's in Ticonderoga!
From there we hit T***** Road up and back, Hurricane Road, and on into Lake Placid. You really cant imagine the quality of the riding. So many of the roads are freshly paved and they follow stream and river beds in a perfectly natural and rhythmic way. The traffic was annoying at times but mostly we got to ride the way we love to ride and it was awesome. All three days.
We stay at the Crowne Plaze in Lake Placid. There are lots of other places but somehow I ended up there years ago and haven't felt the need to change!
Dinner was at the Boathouse which is on the other side of the lake. They have a free shuttle which makes it appealing!
Saturday morning we woke to a beautiful Sunrise.
Rob led along some perfect roads Whiteface Mountain. We were there last year in the rain but the weather was perfect this day.
From there Rob took us on a loop that brought us back to Saranac Lake where we fueled up and then headed to Tupper Lake for lunch at a Barbecue place next to a Craft Brewery. Everyone seemed pleased with there meals!
Tupper Lake also has 'The Wild Center' which is a museum and a couple of nature walks...one of which is a pretty cool boardwalk that takes you to the top of the trees. It is designed to appeal to kids and adults and has a lot of informative stops throughout the walk. We sort of buzzed through but I look forward to taking my granddaughter there some day!
From there we headed to the Ski Jump Complex and made it in time to get to the top of the 120 meter ski jump.
Back to the Crown Plaza where we had a drink outside then took advantage of the pool and hot tub before reconvening to walk down town for dinner.
Rachel had pestered us for two days to return to the 'Smoke Signals' where we ate last time she was with us!
We had to wait about an 1hr and 15mins but most of us stuck it out. We walked about in a light drizzle and eventually were seated! It was worth the wait. I have the marbled brisket and it was fantastic! Next year we may try and make reservations earlier!
Sunday was cool and damp as we headed out but within an hour we were out of the drizzle in onto a mostly sunny day! We made our way to the ferry in Plattsburg that took us to Grand Isle Vermont.
We had planned to have lunch at the Randolph Depot where we ate last year but it was closed! Fortunately the Randolph Village Pizza was still opened and didn't disappoint!
The rest of the ride was just as good! I think it's safe to say that everyone enjoyed the trip and arrived back home safely and properly exhausted!
So...thanks go to everyone for riding well. I rode sweep quite a bit and it was a pleasure to watch the group sweeping through the esses in front of me, all perfectly spaced, and riding fast but without any drama or foolishness!
Thanks to Terry and Guy for sharing in the sweep duties! (Welcome Terry! It was awesome to see you getting comfortable on your new Multi!)
Thanks to Rachel for improving the scenery and contributing a lot of these pictures!
And finally, thanks to Rob for his route planning, leading and sweeping! Your help pulling this together is appreciated more than you can know...!!!
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