Ontario, New York and Vermont

We took off on Saturday morning in perfect weather. After a short stop in Kingston, we crossed over at Ogdensburg, which is situated along the banks of the st. Lawrence river.

The entry on Wikipedia for Ogdensburg featured its psychiatric centre and two correctional facilities. Aside from finding a place to sleep for the night, we weren't expecting much. We had dinner at Buster's Sports Bar. The place looked derelict from the outside - it had no windows, and the parking lot was badly paved. Inside Buster's was a decent sized restaurant, with walls filled with sports memorabilia, and TV screens showing results of lottery draws and news (ironically no sports). In fact there was a vending machine selling instant scratch lotto tickets, and blank lottery cards on each table for the patrons. There was a draw every five minutes and the results were broadcaste on a large screen. Any way, it was clear we weren't in Toronto. Maybe that's why we had, what I think, was the best coconut cream pie ever. It takes a special kind of excess and disgusting to make a pie that good. Buster's mini burgers and flat bread were really delicious, and they were even better for a late night snack.

We spent the night at Ogdensburg's Grand View Hotel and woke up to the pattering of rain. The weatherman warned of showers throughout the day and across the region. I was worried. I just had a spill couple days ago in the wet, and was a little banged up. In fact, my left knee is still mostly purple and red. I didn't feel like I was ready to go out in the rain again even after many words of encouragements from Phil.

Luckily, the shower stopped after breakfast, and we make no delays to get on with our trip to Lake Placid. The trip started with easy country roads with little change in elevation and nice sweeping turns. But soon, we can see the contours of the Adirondacks, and the road started to take the form of rolling waves that carried us through twists and turns in the humid breath of the mountain that smelled of pine and cedar. We rode on these waves into the heart of the mountain. Every turn and climb revealed a different stunning view. Every turn and twist brought with it the promise of the unknown, as the road underneath us disappeared and appeared again. Many lakes, large and small, were scattered in the mountain. As we rode by these calm waters, I had the strange feeling of familiarity. The sky darkened and then cleared as the rain cloud parted way with us. And as the tires of my bike hugged the waves of the Adirondacks, my breathing and heartbeat took the same rhythm with it.

I would describe the Adirondacks as graceful.

We had a hearty lunch at Lake Placid's Cottage Cafe, and took stock. We decided to head to St. Johnsbury for the night. I was a little wistful that we were to part with the Adirondacks. But then were heading for Vermont, the green mountain state.

As we made the final decent off the Adirondacks, what was ahead of us were wide flat fields, hugged by distant mountains. The juxtaposition of the landscape was so awe-inspiring that it should be iconic. The road stretched ahead of us, the turns spanned out and coiled up again as we entered Vermont. On the last leg of our day's ridding, the rain cloud loomed ominously over us, weighing down heavily over the mountains. The air was cold. I was sore at some places, and numb at others. I tried not to think about it. I just wanted to ride, to make through each turn with a good rhythm – break, look, lean and roll.

We got to st. johnsbury at 6:50. We just missed the rain. But our extremely fortunate day was about to end there – Phil's bike broke down... although luckily right in front of a mechanics shop, whichwas one km away from a reasonably priced hotel with a good view. I guess somethings you just can't plan for.

Anyway, it looks like tomorrow is setting out to be a long and interesting day. We will see what happens.