We had about 22 less miles today, so we started just a little later in the morning: 7:00am. Even though we biked on roads all day, the morning did provide quite a bit of shade. Some of the waterway views early on were also very beautiful. We saw several of the locks associated with the Champlain Canal. “It is a 60-mile canal that connects the south end of Lake Champlain to the Hudson River in New York. It was simultaneously constructed with the Erie Canal and is now part of the New York State Canal System and the Lakes to Locks Passage.”
I noticed a sign with the name Thaddeus Kosciuszko. The name was familiar so I looked it up at the end of the ride because I have a lot of Polish heritage. He was a Polish-Lithuanian military engineer, statesman, and military leader who became a national hero in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and the United States. “He fought in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's struggles against Russia and Prussia, and on the US side in the American Revolutionary War. As Supreme Commander of the Polish National Armed Forces, he led the 1794 Kościuszko Uprising.”
When we stopped for lunch today around mile 55, just as I was ready to get back on my bike, my right bike shoe felt a little “different.” In the next several steps, the whole bottom came off. Yikes. Lucky for me, we have a great mechanic on the ride and he super glued and duct taped my shoe so I could complete the ride. Disclaimer: I took old shoes on the trip instead of my three-month-old shoes. Lesson learned. Not only did the tour director/mechanic give me a temporary fix, he tracked down a pair of shoes in his home town and I’ll get them in two days. I could have gotten them sooner, but I saved some postage (and tomorrow is a rest day and we will not be riding).
I was able to capture several post office pictures today. Just past the Hudson Falls Post Office we passed a large statue. I’m not sure who it was for and if google comes through, I or fellow rider Tom, will figure it out. Update: “The monument located near City Park at the intersection of Bay and Glen Streets was constructed in 1868 by R.T. Baxter. It was built to honor the 644 Queensbury men who served in the Civil War from 1861-65, including the 95 who lost their lives.
Stats from the day:
Start city: Troy, NY
End city: Fair Haven, VT
Miles: 78
Total miles to date: 168
Pedaling time: 5:32
Avg. speed: 14.1
Feet climbed: 2,005
Wind: start: N 5mph; end E 8mph
Temperature extremes: 65 at ride start, 84 at ride finish
Along the Hudson River
A lock along the Champlain Canal.
Janet, Linda and Fred.
Applying super glue to the entire sole of my “broken” bike shoe.
The finished product with the duct tape also added.
On the sign outside this castle it reads: n Early British h Cannon. Placed on board vessels of B. Arnold’s Lake Champlain fleet. Booth were blown up in Whitehall Harbor by their crews July 6, 1777, to avoid capture by the British. Below the balconies, it reads: Company 1, Second Regiment, NC NY.
Janet is from Vermont. Her sister and friends greeted her warmly!
Dinner tonight at the Tap House.
Sunset on Lake Bomoseen as seen from the lodge on the lake.
Fort Edward Post Office
Hudson Falls Post Office
