LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk Spring 2019

LOCALadk Magazine

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Spring 2019 LOCALadk Magazine 39 LOCALadk mile network of fun and flowy trails. Relaxing at the summit, we pored over the BETA map, discussing route options for the riding that lay ahead of us in the coming days. Thanks to our sunrise start, we had the Saranac Lake trail systems checked off our map with the rest of the afternoon still ahead of us. We pedaled east out of town to visit Jeff's brother-in-law, Jay Annis, the owner of Spencer Boatworks. We toured the impressive operation along the Saranac River where they design and restore custom wooden boats. On the way back into town, I could hardly contain my ex- citement when I saw the Adirondack Carousel spinning. While Jeff and Courtney parked their bikes, I raced inside to buy tickets. With bike helmets still on, we each hopped on a car ved Adirondack animal and thoroughly enjoyed our ride. We learned that each unique car ved animal has a ladybug— the New York State insect—hidden somewhere on it. If you have not ridden the Adirondack Carousel, be sure to make a stop the next time you are in Saranac Lake and see if you can find all the ladybugs. After a late lunch of Little Italy pizza in Riverfront Park, we headed back to Stacey's house to repack gear onto our bikes. We rolled our fully loaded rigs onto Stacey's pontoon boat and hopped on board with her two lively dogs, Ruby and Til- ley, refreshing summer cocktails in hand. Blue skies and full sunshine made for a delightful boat tour of Lake Flower and Oseetah Lake. As we approached the south end of Oseetah, Stacey's impressive boat handling skills allowed her to ma- neuver us to a small opening in the trees. We had found the carr y trail that was to be the next leg of our adventure. We hauled our bikes over the boat rails, and from shore, waved goodbye to Stacey and her pups as she backed the boat out for her return home. Our objective was Pine Pond, a remote kettle pond less than half a mile from Oseetah. The carr y trail started out a bit muddy, but quickly turned to a pleasant trail. It had been many years since my last visit, and I was anxious to see if it was as peaceful a spot as I remembered. Indeed, it was. We set up tents at one of the designated campsites along the shore and headed for a refreshing sunset swim in the pond. Dinner and beer by the campfire, with the sound of loons nearby, capped off the perfect first day of our adventure. DAY 2— LAKE PLACID The pond was completely still when we awoke the next morning. After a quick breakfast, we packed up camp, load- ed up our bikes, and set off toward Lake Placid. The sev- en-mile Pine Pond Trail is an old woods road that runs along the northern boundar y of the High Peaks Wilderness and is ideal bikepacking terrain, traversing through amazing forest and skirting along the edge of Cold Brook. Finally hitting the pavement of Aver yville Road, we could feel the heat of the day just starting to set in. The first stop in Lake Placid was to our friend Mara Mariani's house, where we were again fortu- nate to unload our larger packs for the day. We pedaled to the Farmhouse Café for lunch and met up with our friend Bob Maswick, who had offered to give us a lo- cal's tour of Placid. We first headed out to Henr y's Woods for a quick ride and great viewpoints on the Plateau and Rocky Knob Trails. As we left Henr y's Woods, we gained another rider, as our Elizabethtown friend Josh Bennett joined us for the next two days of riding. Our route took us through John Brown's Farm and into the Olympic Ski Jump Complex. Although there were many miles of singletrack awaiting us, it was impossible to pass up the opportunity to stop for an incredible up-close view of the ski jumpers flying off the 90 -meter jump onto the synthetic landing hill, replicating their winter sport of ski jumping onto snow. We cruised down to River Road and connected with the Jackrabbit Trail, which leads up into the Craig Wood Trail Network and Scott's Cobble. These machine-built trails are fast and smooth, and we were glad to have the time to ride nearly all the trails in this network. A fast descent back down the Jackrabbit Trail took us to River Road where we head- ed into the Lussi and Loggers Loops for a sampling of the technical and rugged trails. We took advantage of the close proximity to town, heading into Lake Placid for a snack break after riding a few loops. We mulled over our options and decided to let Bob lead us up Mount Whitney Road to the Purple Trail, a long rugged trail that connects into the Lussi and Loggers Loops. We hit a few more favorites on the Lussi network where trail names are inspired by the 1980s movie Caddyshack, like Judge Smails and 1:00 to 1:15. Just before dark, we arrived at the Liquids & Solids patio for an incredible meal with friends. Soft ice cream cones from the Corner Store topped off our evening. As we pedaled back to Mara's house we made a plan to set up an easy camp in her basement. Inspired by the rid- ing from the day, Mara queued up Caddyshack on the T V; we were all fast asleep within minutes.

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