Day 1 Mooers to Essex

Miles: 68
Actual ride time in saddle: 5 hr 30 minutes
Average speed: 12.2 Max speed 39 mph

Due to wireless problems at our B&B we weren't able to post this yesterday.
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Left at 8 am this morning. It had already rained by the time we hit the road, so all we got was some backsplash. Other than that, the weather was actually pretty nice.

We have to admit that since we are not exactly in our prime shape of our young lives, we seriously considered asking dad to take us part of the way. However, since the route from his house to Plattsburgh is relatively flat, we decided to go the whole 68 miles and we are glad we did. It was a scenic and peaceful ride with very little traffic. We rode along the Chazy river to where it merged into Lake Champlain. The lake to our left and farmland and orchards to our right was just spectacular and flat! It was a beautiful ride and we were able to cruise along even with 18 and 20 pounds of bags on our bikes and average 15 mph.

We stopped at Peru Dock Boat launch just south of Plattsburg, 39 miles into the ride about 11:40am. We had our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on our favorite marathon bread from Wegmans, and a Clif Energy drink. We sat at the lake and had a nice view of Valcour Island with light house.

After lunch things got tough. We had two big hills on our way to Ausable Chasm. It was worth the climb with the beautiful view. The sun was heating up and it was starting to get very humid, but we had no idea what was ahead of us!!!

First, we had to climb over a guardrail to cross a closed bridge to continue on our planned route. Don’t worry, we checked for safety first!! Once across we began a series of large climbs that really kicked our butts! We went through a lot of water to stay hydrated and had to make quite a few stops to attempt to cool down. Our route took us through the Adirondack park along Highlands Rd, which we soon realized was aptly named. It was a steady ascent between Rattlesnake and Lynch Mountains (both 1300 plus feet).

Then we started a series of steep winding downhills which at first were a blast, but then getting up to 39 mph on a bike with traffic behind you and uneven pavement and curves, it was down right scary. But on the bright side, (aside from surviving) it helped make up for the slow climbs.

Once we made it into Willsboro, and stopped to hydrate with multiple energy drinks we felt much better. Only 6.5 miles to go to our destination, we felt tired and sore, but were optimistic being so close. It was a relatively short ride into Essex. We arrived at the Essex Inn and after showering went over to the Essex Ice Cream Shop for the biggest dissapointment of the day – they were closed. We decided to go right over to the The Dock House restaurant and have dinner, since there really wasn’t anything else open in town. Actually there wasn't really much else in town.

Dinner was good, but I think we paid more for the view than the meal, but we ate it all. It was enjoyable eating outside as we watched the ferry come across from Vermont while discreetly icing our sore knees under the table.

Luck was on our side after dinner, we found the ice cream shop open. After telling her our woes of our first visit, the women said they closed for dinner. Only in a small town!!

Not exactly looking forward to Day 2 at the moment, but we don’t really have much choice. Tom said next time he picks the vacation.