Northern Tier Day #8 Raquette Lake, NY to Pulaski, NY

Northern Tier Day #8

May 27, 2019

Raquette Lake, NY to Pulaski, NY 102 Miles

Ride Time 8:24

Tour Total 611 Miles

details at: https://cyclemeter.com/058ffe3224dd3702/Cycle-20190527-0727-51728

I slept well in Liz and Mark’s front yard. I was so tired last night that I couldn’t finish my daily report before I fell asleep. I heard from TransGang’s Scott. He’s going to be in Buffalo through this Thursday May, 30th. If I want to see him I’m gonna need to crank out some miles. I woke this morning in time to see the sunrise. I went out on the dock to get a good photo. Blue Mountain, which I rode over yesterday, was silhouetted in the distance. Last night Liz and Mark were showing me their sunrise photos from their phones.

I keep getting calls from ‘Unknown’ in Slovenia at 5am. I sleep with my ringer off but I hear the vibrator and see the caller number and location. There was dew all over my tent, as usual, so I laid it out on the dock to dry while I got ready. It was still wet when I rolled it up. My hosts had promised me breakfast, but I was ready to roll, and they still weren’t up yet. I left a nice little note of appreciation on their kitchen counter.

There was cool crisp air when I left, but the sun was warm. It was crystal clear out. There were some shite road conditions on State Route 28, and I had to really pay attention. As I already stated, compared to Vermont upstate New York is like Kentucky.

Last night Mark asked me whether I was a Yankees fan, and I knew I was in a trap. I thought he meant Mets versus Yankees so I said yes. Of course I got it wrong. They were big Red Sox fans and their favorite New York team was the Mets. I tried to weasel my way out of it by telling them that my son lived in Boston and that I knew all about the big Red Sox victory party last year. I also mentioned that I was a Brooklyn Cyclones fan, which is a Mets farm team.

I’ve been on the road for a week! I left Bar Harbor last Monday. It was foggy, cold, and rainy there. It already seems like a long time ago. Today is Memorial Day, which feels a little weird because there’s still another week left in May.

In order to make it to Buffalo on Thursday I’m going to have to really crank. The next town where there’s another Warm Showers host is Pulaski. Locals pronounce it Pull-Ask-Eye. I assume that it’s named for Casimir Pulaski the Polish soldier and father of the American cavalry. I wonder how many people from around here read the recent news regarding the discovery that Pulaski was a they.

I was riding up a valley and the sun was still low on the horizon. It was chilly in the shade, and my legs wanted their warmers, but I didn’t stop. I passed cottages and private beaches. The road was lined with flags. Old glory was in prominent display almost everywhere in the small town of Inlet.

Mark told me that on average it gets down to -30ºF here in January. The lakes freeze and locals drive their trucks out on the lake to ice fish. Before the thaw, they build their new docks on top of the ice. I got to hear all sorts of interesting stories about the lake last night; the people who come here, the parties, and the drowning.

I stopped at the Citgo for a Dunkin’ Donuts mocha iced coffee, an egg sandwich, orange juice, and incredible homemade sugar sprinkled donut. Inlet had plenty of cafes, places to eat, and grocery stores. I passed a solemn Memorial Day ceremony in the center of town.

I’m now riding on the Central Adirondack Byway. There's definitely wealth inequity here. I noticed at the Citgo that a lot of the locals were only buying $10 of gas at a time. Yet it’s obvious that some of these vacation homes and the people who visit here in the summer are wealthy. I passed a boat washing station with a table set up and people ready to hose down and scrub vacationers boats. There must be invasive species problems here.

About a mile out of Inlet I realized that I had made a mistake. I wasn’t supposed to continue on State Route 28. I should have taken South Shore Road on the south side of the lake. It was longer and twistier and most likely had less traffic than 28, so I returned to Inlet.

I was glad I went back to South Shore Road. It was a delight and I had it all to myself. 'Remember Inlet where mountains and memories meet'. There are a lot of wood carved bears in the Adirondacks. I stopped alongside the road to do a little social media and was enveloped by blackflies. I can’t stop or I’ll be devoured. All the communication stuff needs to happen while I’m rolling, which isn’t the safest.

I crossed over into Herkimer county. Charlotte and I have an interesting history involving the town of Herkimer, which is located 60 miles to the south. When we rode the Erie Canal towpath from Buffalo to Albany we stayed with a man who had an awful grudge against the people of Herkimer.

While rolling into Old Forge, I passed two deer grazing in someone’s front yard. Main Street in Old Forge was closed for Memorial Day. Townsfolk lined the street in lawn chairs. I could see flashing lights ahead. I found myself riding on an empty street with spectator’s gazes trained on me as I rode towards the police cars. As I approached I could hear marching band music. There were military officials and town dignitaries. Behind the marching band were at least twenty firetrucks and ambulatory vehicles, all with their lights on queued for the parade.

Back on 28 I was joined with plenty of motor vehicle traffic, rolling up and down the hills. If I kept moving I didn't get bitten by the blackflies. I couldn't stop. In McKeever I took a right on Moose River Road for some more small local pedaling on brand new asphalt. It didn't get any better than this! Numerous pick-up trucks were towing large campers. Dogs were riding shotgun with their snouts out the window.

I caught the tricky left onto Boonville Road. After a week on the road, I’ve sharpened my navigation skills. I crossed a singing bridge over the Black River. I smelled campfire smoke in the air. Moose River Road became Boonville Road and then outside of Boonville the name changed back to Moose River Road. I saw a small brown chipmunk run across the road in front of me, and decided to name him Chippy. I passed the old Black River Canal and saw a towpath, which is probably a nice ride.

I heard from Amanda who went to Green Mountain Bike Shop today and got her Panniers fixed. She went to Maple Soul restaurant last night and enjoyed it as much as I did. I told her about the no services stretch between North Hudson and Long Lake, and about the hill. She made it to Ticonderoga today.

I had a big brown dog come racing after me and I grabbed my pepper spray. He never left his lawn, though, and quickly retreated. A pick-up truck towing a camper honked at me and then two of them passed me. I still haven’t forgotten the overturned camper I saw last summer in Idaho. Slow down guys. What’s the hurry? I rode along the Black River Canal on the non-towpath side. I was greeted in Boonville with a blizzard of puffy seed pods. There was a large gathering of military officials at the Boonville Cemetery. Uniformed Men were commemorating their fallen comrades. The flag was at half mast.

I stopped at the Nice and Easy, across the street from the Black River Canal Museum. I had a Starbucks Frappuccino, a red Gatorade, and a lime muffin. After Boonville the terrain opened up becoming less forested with more green pastures and cattle.

I knew there was going to be a nasty hill after Boonville, and after the town of Ava I hit it. There was brand new asphalt pavement and braided cable guard rails to my right alongside a creek. I was traveling upstream, and there was very little traffic. Mark and Liz had warned me about the new paving work by, and Heath had taken a detoured route around the construction. It being Memorial Day, the road was wide open and empty for me.

West Layton has seen better days, and the center of town was shabby. The corn still hasn’t been planted here. I had a headwind on Osceola Road but at least there weren’t any black flies. I had my first full-on dog chase. Two golden retrievers chased me across their yard, but never entered the road. They were just having fun, and it was exhilarating.

Sam from the Trans gang send me a link about pool noodles being for pussies:

https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycling/comments/btds47/pool_noodles_are_for_pussies/

I had to make a stop and run into the woods and was well armed with my bug spray for the mission. Miraculously there weren’t any bugs. Perhaps I've left black fly territory. There was no cell phone service for much of the afternoon. I climbed back up into the forest. There was nothing around for miles; no town services, camps, nothing.

Coming into Osceola I picked up the Salmon River which I would follow all the way to Lake Ontario. I assumed that it would be all downhill to the Lake Ontario, but no. Osceola bid me farewell with a ginormous, steep hill

At the top of the hill I took a right on Redfield Road, County Highway 44 and wtf with the all the patches of gravel?! It scares the hell out of me to ride through loose gravel clipped in at a fast speed. They were in the process of putting in new drain pipes and culverts.

Coming into Redfield, I rode across a bridge over the Salmon River Reservoir. There was a kid fishing and I asked him if he had caught anything. “Not yet”, he replied.

After the day’s 80 mile mark my toes began to get sore. I stopped at the Redfield general store and had a chicken salad sandwich and two Gatorades. My stomach has been bothering me today.

I still hadn’t heard back from the Warm Showers person in Pulaski, so I called a hotel as a backup. Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday. There are large geese in the fields everywhere. I F-ed up in Redfield and had to backtrack. I thought I’d double checked the app as I left town. Oh well.

There are definitely a lot of economically disadvantaged people in Oswego County. I’ve noticed a lot of abandon homes. It’s mostly woodland here. I rode through Chateaugay State Forest, and got a glimpse of Lake Ontario from Orwell.

I’m staying at the Super 8 in Pulaski. I heard back from the Warm Showers host, and she was unavailable. Today was my first century of the tour. I aired out my camping equipment in the room and did laundry. I took a hot bath and realized that my calfs were sunburned.

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