Just some sunset photos from my trip to the Adirondacks. Hope you enjoy!

The first thing you’ll notice when cycling in the Adirondacks is that everything is big. Lakes are big, mountains are really big and even the roads are big (that is a good thing). Even the distances between towns is big. So when planning a route, you really have to pay attention to how much climbing you will have to endure. The image floating off to the right there is of me during my last ride this year. The mountain in the back is Whiteface which summits around 4500 feet. While I didn’t (and couldn’t) go to the top, as I went past it I had to climb roughly 1500 feet to a peak around 2500 feet. And that was just to get to the base of the toll road that takes you to the top!

That ride (yesterday) covered roughly 66 miles and nearly 5000 feet of climbing. No simple task for a guy who is more Texas Longhorn than mountain goat. I got it done in just over four hours, and learned a few things along the way.

1. Roads in the ADKs are wiide and have almost no tree cover. Result? My arms are burnt (a bit, I had a tan already). So wear sunscreen or arm "coolers"
2. While roads in the ADKs are wide, so are big trucks. Stay to the right as much as possible to avoid the wash.
3. Enjoy the flat and downhill sections of your ride. Breath them in and don’t fret the speed. The climbing is where you gain (or lose) massive time.
4. Bring lots of water. I never ran out because I had three bottles, but because towns are spaced out you could run into issues if you aren’t prepared.
5. Small cameras are the bee’s knees. The ADKs are beautiful and you’ll want to remember your ride, even if it makes for an embarrassingly funny story.

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Finally back from the Adirondacks, more specifically back from a house on Long Lake. Had a great time and got a ton of work done. I am looking forward to posting more pictures as I process them, including some shots of me water skiing! Also going to post my entry to Ziggy’s article contest in a day or two. Right now it is more than 30 pages long with code so watch out!