71 miles 3,996 feet

It was cold enough in the morning that I put on my raincoat for the first time since Montana. Though my highest altitude for the day was 1,848 feet the coat felt warmer. The first hour was cool and beautiful. I stopped at a classic breakfast spot and spoke with the former owner sitting next to me for an hour. He had serious health problems but looks robust now. He says the local rural Adirondack economic state is good for most, but not all people. Major sources of income are wire braiding (making cable), timber, tourism, and agriculture. He is a retired IBEW electrician with lots of kids and they had scholarships through IBEW, which is a great benefit. He stressed good grades to his kids and he told me each of their current positions, which are all good ones. I hope the upcoming generation has the same success.

The biking today varied from busy highway, quieter smaller roads and concluded with a lakeside small road. The highway was busy with lots of fast cars and trucks but the shoulder was as wide as the traffic lane. The smaller road paralleled a river but there were cement mixers, 18 wheeler trucks and speeding cars on it so I was less comfortable on that road then on the major highway. The road along the lake was peaceful and the major hazard was deer. I saw small speckled fawns nibbling on flowers 5 feet from the road and I wondered when I passed which direction they would run. Same for adult deer, of which there were many. Fortunately they all ran into the forest and I avoided bike-deer collision. I also did not see any deer carcasses along the side of the road, so either cars do not hit them or they remove the carcass, unlike in other areas.

The climb today was higher than the western mountains, much of which was up-down-up, but it was warm and tiring. I was happy to end the day!