Today started with some mid pancakes at around 10:00 am. Then the trip leaders let the trekkers free to roam the city. People went off with the buddy system and had fun romping around. At around 3 pm all the kids had to meet up to find out what was going on. We were supposed to go for a hike but that got rained out. Then, we were all just hanging around the hostel until dinner time when we had to get bikes out of the room. We went to a very nice Italian place for some delectable food. We were all hanging out and doing rose bud thorn. Then we went to devour some delectable ice cream. We rode on down to the bus stop after Jaron, Ben, and Chloe got matching shirts. We loaded up our bikes and hopped on the bus back to NYC to enjoy our last day together.
After a much needed sleep-in from our near 90-mile day yesterday, we slowly made our way out of comfy hostel beds and started our morning in Montreal. Chloe and Katie got us French pastries from a bakery while we slept in, which we ate in the hostel common room and planned our day.
We biked about 8 miles through Montreal, admiring the city’s extensive bike infrastructure. We landed at the Montreal Biodome where we spent several hours exploring the many biospheres inside the science museum and got to see monkeys, penguins, sturgeon and capybaras! Afterwards, we biked to a trendy part of the city known for great thrift shops, and we all thrifted for a while and then walked around exploring that part of the city.
We came back together to eat Thai food at a delicious restaurant, and then biked back to our hostel. After putting our bikes upstairs, we all went off on foot exploring the Old City of Montreal and checking out art markets, shops and cafes in the cozy dim-lit cobblestone neighborhood.
Tomorrow is our last day in Montreal before we bus back to NYC at night. We are excited to see more of this cool city and explore NYC soon enough!
“WOW! WE MADE IT!! With almost 90 miles under our belts today we have finally rolled in to Montreal! We woke up at a nice ripe 6:00 AM this morning but didn’t start pedaling until close to 10:30 due to mechanical issues and really good waffles. We had some bumps along the way like bent racks, leaky milk containers, and self-ejecting cargo but nonetheless, we have arrived. We even saw a HUGE snapping turtle and a beautiful sunset on our way too! We are all a bit hungry and tired but nothing that a good burger and lovely hostel nestled into old Montreal can’t fix. Tomorrow we are going on some fun adventures and exploring the city (mostly on foot) and maybe even sleeping in a bit. Everyone absolutely killed it today and I am personally so proud of us all for pushing through all the challenges we met with a smile on our faces.
Today started off with us hanging out in our tents. It was very bad weather this morning and last night because of the storm Debbie. It was very rainy so we left the campground late morning at 11:30. Then we went to go get breakfast at some little mom and pop shop. We got some delicious crepes and quiche. We hung out there for a little bit then headed to the hotel for the rest of the night. We were all just hanging out in our rooms showering and taking naps till about 6:30 when Jaron decided to head out to get pizza and cake for his birthday. We had some amazing dinner dessert and then beds for our very long day tomorrow to Montreal,Canada. That is where we will end the biking for the rest of the trip and just hangout for the next 2 days till we head back to NYC for the end of the trip.
Our day started with delicious wood fired Vermont bagels that Chloe’s mom delivered to us at our campground. Then we set off to bike across the Lake Champlain Causeway on our way to Plattsburgh, NY.
We had one major obstacle to overcome though. There is a short gap in the causeway for boats to get through the lake, and normally a bike ferry will take bikers across this gap… however, we just so happened to need this ferry at a time when the ferry boat was closed for maintenance. There really wasn’t any practical alternative routes, so Katie and Chloe brainstormed and decided to trust in the bike adventure gods to save the day. And sure enough, they provided. Trekker Ben L. flagged down a couple out cruising on their private boat and asked for a ride. They were reluctant at first when they heard there were 11 bikers, but once they saw it was a bunch of teenagers and we were desperate, they agreed to shuttle us across the gap. They loaded our bikes on the stern of their boat and took four trips back and forth to gather more humans and bikes. We ended up making friends with the couple and expressed our gratitude for their kindness, which they encouraged us to pass forward to the next person!
We were all gleeful from the experience of complete strangers helping us out and for the challenge to be behind us, and we zipped on about 6 miles until we found ice cream! Or “cremees,” which is a Vermont type of custard ice cream that is extra thick. But before we made it to ice cream, we saw a little petting farm with sheep and goats and the girls stopped to hang out with the goats for a bit, feeding them grass and apples from a nearby apple tree. They couldn’t get enough of the apples! We pulled ourselves away from the cuteness and biked on, stopping at an outdoor ice cream place that had lots of yard games. We enjoyed kicking back and playing cornhole and even slipping in some afternoon grass naps!
We biked on to a grocery store for lunch items and groceries for our next few meals. The bike ride today was extremely flat and on a bike path most of the day. It was such a breeze, refreshingly scenic and all the stops along the way made the ride super enjoyable.
After a ferry ride from Gordon Landing to Cumberland Head, we biked the last few miles to our campsite where we immediately set up tents and a tarp to get ready for a rainy night. We cooked chicken tacos underneath the tarp and Leo made us a Chipotle-like taco bar and served us delicious tacos.
With a rainy and windy day ahead of us tomorrow, we decided it was best we shelter in a hotel in Plattsburgh for tomorrow. It also happens to be Trekker Jaron’s birthday tomorrow so we’re planning on taking the day off and doing some indoor activities in town to make the day special! Until then, goodnight!
Today started with a flat tire (Jaron). After that it was smooth sailing along a very scenic road for the first 10 miles. 3 kids went to the bike shop in Vergennes. It was a very cool little shop with very good prices. The group had to split up for some of these things. We met back up at a breakfast place. Then we hit the road again. It was about 10 miles till another flat (Jaron). Now Jaron is in the lead with 3 total flats.
We biked another 20 miles to Burlington with rolling hills the whole way and mountains in the distance. We went to a beach on Lake Champlain to eat lunch and swim. Then it was about a 20 minute ride along a waterfront bike trail to our campground.
Everyone set up camp really fast before we went swimming again at the beach. Since trip leader Chloe is a Vermont native she knew a great cliff jumping spot where everyone had lots of fun. After that we biked into town to get some delectable flatbread pizza with Chloe’s parents and that’s how we ended the night.
We got off to an early start this morning in order to make our ferry trip across Lake George. The ride was about 3 hours long and it was a very scenic experience. We passed many islands in the lake and learned about the natural and human history around Lake George. It was an up-close Adirondack experience!
Once we landed in Ticonderoga, we biked to Walmart for some camping needs and groceries. We ate delicious rotisserie chicken sandwiches with pesto in the parking lot. After a heart lunch, we embarked on our 29 mile journey to Button Bay. This was probably our most scenic day, with rolling hills, green fields, wildflowers everywhere and mountains all around. We had a mid-day ice cream stop where we filled up on delicious cones recommended to us by a local. There was a bit of a cool breeze today, making it perfect biking weather. We crossed into Vermont after crossing the Lake Champlain Bridge, which was super scenic. And then we spent the rest of the day biking with the lake to our side.
We also made many friends along the way, like a kind man who let us fill up waters at his house. And an adorable senior golden retriever named Popcorn. Also, all the boys have a thing about getting every big truck to honk and sports cars to rev past us, which I guess makes us friends with the drivers on the road we share.
We landed at Button Bay State Park for the night, where some of us hiked to a beautiful point to watch the sunset on the water. Some made a fire, while others put up tents, and a few went grocery shopping. We had probably our best meal yet, a homemade chicken and tofu curry with lots of veggies mixed in, all cooked over a fire. With bellies full, we were all pretty tired, but stayed up a little longer to clean up and debrief about our day. Tomorrow we are all excited to go to Burlington, where Chloe is from, and let her take us to her favorite swimming hole and ice cream joint! We’re planning on an early rise so we can get to Burlington with plenty of time to explore. So off to bed for now!
The day started with an early wake up and a light breakfast of bagels and fruit. We stopped at a Stewart’s Shop a few miles from the campsite and got donuts and chocolate milk and played some games. We rode 20 miles through a very nice and paved bikeway, which took us to the Lake George Battlefield Campground. We went for a nice swim and played frisbee at the Lake George beach before going downtown. We explored the town on foot before going to an Italian dinner of pizza, pasta and salad. It’s going to be a rainy night, but we are all tucked away in our tents and excited for our ferry ride across the lake tomorrow.
The day started at 10 am after some very good hotel breakfast. Yesterday’s rest day was well needed for the 55 miles we did today.
Today was the first day that the trekkers could lead the group to the destination. Today was a hard day to lead in the morning because of all the rain. Most of the day was spent on bike trails. The first part of the bike trail was nice and paved. Then for most of the rest of the first bike trail was gravel and others kind of messy dirt. The morning started pretty slow but still fun.
All the kids got very muddy but no injuries or bike problems. After all that we went to a gas station native to northern New York called Stewart’s. They have some delicious ice cream. Some of the kids started a tiny little fire. We continued to the grocery store where we had some very good and needed lunch. The workers were very kind and helpful.
At the grocery store we met some old guy named Fran who was native to the area. He decided to join us and lead us for a few miles through some safer and way more scenic bike trials. We rode with him till we got to another highway where he departed ways with us and we went on to the campsite. While there we all enjoyed some wonderful dirty rice chefed up by ya boy Jaron Schmelzer.
After some much needed food and a great meeting we all decided to go to sleep for an amazing day tomorrow.
We packed up camp, ate some oatmeal for breakfast, then set out on our way. We biked 15 miles to the Big Y grocery and got some lunch and dinner food. We ate some sandwiches and a got a few slice’s of pizza along with having some seltzered apple cider. Then we biked a couple miles to an antique store which has neat old things but was too expensive.Then we went to a thrift store and a Goodwill where we bought each other clothes to wear tomorrow. finally we stoped for some ice cream to celebrate our long trip! We biked the last couple miles to the campsite, set up, and made dinner. It started storming so we ate our food huddled under the roof of the bathroom. We went to bed soon after.
