Wednesday, May 28, 2025

I Wanna Stay In A Castle

  With a group of 6 riders and one SUV, someone needs to move the SUV and shop for lunch supplies and today that was me. I took the morning shift. Stopped at the market and picked up the lunch essentials and scooted to the designated lunch stop (about 1/2 the way through the ride) and waited for the other five riders to arrive. The lunch stop was in Saints Johnsville at a marina (more of a boat landing) on the Erie Canal. The riders started to roll in close to noontime and we picnicked under some shady trees with a beautiful view of the canal.

Douglas was taking the afternoon shift of the driving and I headed off with Chris on to Amsterdam NY about 31 miles. The winds were light and the sky sunny with puffy clouds. The main attraction was the trail. Over the years, many train tracks have been abandoned and we're fortunate that many of them have been converted to trails for walking and cycling.

You can spot a rails to trails path because it will run in a fairly straight path and generally gentle grades. As a plus, the temperatures were in the low 70's and a mild breeze. I love the feel of the breeze flowing over your arms and legs as you move. Similar to the feeling of water as you swim. I'm sure that you have heard of runners high as the endorphins kick in and I'm sure that the endorphins were kicking in today. 

Today, we were scheduled to stop at Karen's ice cream, about 6 miles from the ride end. It's located on a quiet highway that is very popular as we just had to stop in. While other riders had ice cream, I opted for a chocolate malted. It was only 4 PM and dinner was a couple of hours away, so I ordered a large.

A big surprise occurred when we arrived at our hotel, the Amsterdam Castle. It's a very imposing structure located high on a hill looking every inch of a medieval European castle. Built in 1895 as a National Guard Armory and after extensive renovation, it's a hotel and private residence. Click on the link at the bottom of this blog to view the interior of the castle. The rooms are huge and filled with art of all types. 

Tomorrow morning we'll be heading out early at about 8 AM and planning on stopping in Schenectady for breakfast. The day will be a 70 mile plus day and we want to get a good head start.

If you would like to view the collection of our daily routes, you can click on the following link and follow us all the way to Manhattan:

https://ridewithgps.com/collections/3426853


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1 comment:

  1. Dennis QMay 29, 2025 at 3:01 PM

    Brian: I've read all your travel notes and seen the pictures. You're having a ball! So glad to hear about safe delivery of your bike and, apart from a few here's and there's, a satisfactory trip has ensued . Nothing like a new hip and repaired shoulder to get you going back to church, that is, the church of the open road!

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