daily grind, be kind festival, surrender tree, bound by fate

September 11, 2022

This morning I recalculated the number of miles I have left and the number of days I have to ride them. Even arriving early in Montreal, which would give me a few days to explore the city, I only need to ride 45 miles a day.

In the mood for a croissant this morning, I looked at a number of bakeries but it’s Sunday so the pickings were slim… everything is closed.

I eventually found a coffee shop, The Daily Grind. I love the creative names of coffee shops (Brewed Awakenings, High Ground, Deja Brew). They're almost as good as hair salon names. I finished cleaning the apartment, loaded up the bike, and pedaled to The Daily Grind on the way out of town.

As soon as I walked in and saw the massive giant coffee cake muffin sitting in the display case, my eyes glazed over and my mind droned "must have muffin must have muffin must have..." I reflexively ordered it without even thinking, then refocused my eyes and saw the menu on the wall. It dawned on me that they have other food items as well. The rational half of my brain (erm, the rational tenth?) suggested something a little healthier so I decided to get an omelet to eat now and save the coffee cake muffin for later.

I went outside, sat at the small table, then ate both of them.

There were a lot of abandoned buildings near the river. Even with the graffiti and broken windows, these monoliths exude a sense of power and permanence.

There were a variety of bike paths along the river this morning, then road… just road. I wondered if this is how the rest of the trip is going to be now that I’m off the towpath. Fortunately, there would be more bike paths.

This beautiful old church is now abandoned and has a chain link fence around it.

I had a tailwind this morning (until I didn't), the first one since my very first day (half day, actually) more than a week ago.

In Waterford, there was some kind of festival, and “Be Kind” signs were planted in a lot of the yards and windows. It made me wonder exactly what kind of festival they were having, although the signs could be unrelated to the events.

My gut didn’t feel good today. Nothing ever happened (I’ll leave it at that), but it felt like it could at any time.

Arriving in Schuylerville, I stopped at Fort Hardy Park where there were some PortaPotties, thinking it might be a good idea to hang out there until deciding where to camp. It felt weird, stopping at 2:30 in the afternoon with so many hours of daylight remaining.

I ate my peanut butter/nutella/banana chips wrap at a picnic table, then lay down and read my Kindle for a while.

I felt a little bit at loose ends, not knowing what to do with myself after having stopped so early, so I started planning where to go for dinner, then walked around the park to find the best camping spot. I also wrote in my journal.

Walking around in the park, I noticed that the sign says this tree "commemorates" another tree that was here during the Revolutionary War. The original, an elm, was possibly a casualty of the losing battle against Dutch elm disease. I didn't realize an elm lives for 300 years.

Dining options were limited on a Sunday evening in a town of 1,367 people. The three places that were open all closed early: 5:00, 5:30 and “close.” If I were a business owner, I’d go with that last one. “I’m gonna work until I don’t feel like it, then close up shop.”

I selected Bound By Fate because the menu looked interesting, it had decent reviews, and there was outdoor seating. It would be an early dinner though, because they locked the doors at 5:00.

As I was riding toward the restaurant a guy yelled from across the street, “You’re in for some rain!” Even so, I never saw a drop. A bit later, having expected a downpour and never seeing one, I looked at the radar and saw that it was raining on three sides of Schuylerville, while the town itself remained dry.

Interestingly, in this small town, the stir fry noodles I ordered were the best I’ve ever eaten. I looked up the recipe and shouldn’t have been surprised to find their secret ingredient: they add caramelized sugar to the soy sauce, bean sprouts, scallions, cilantro, lime, and noodles.

I decided to camp on the Hudson river by the gazebo, and sat at the picnic table reading while my electronics charged at its outlet.

Although I’d only had six hours of sleep I wasn’t particularly tired. Later that evening, in my tent, I ate leftovers from dinner. They were still delicious.

In my tent this evening I started looking for an AirBnB in Montreal. I was shocked at the amount of the additional fees, and decided to get a hotel instead.

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distance: 38.4 miles

elevation: +753 feet

total time: 8:42:23

moving time: 3:19:37

maximum speed: 21.6 mph

average moving speed: 11.5 mph

calories: 1752

Today's ride: 38 miles (61 km)
Total: 409 miles (658 km)

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