The day starts off with work, it being Friday and all that’s what normally happens. But I super front-loaded the week so I could blow out early today. My parents came down at 10:30 to start their long dog sitting adventure, and we managed to have the car packed and hit the road just minutes past my stated aim of 11:00. After a quick stop to drop the boys off at their dad’s, we were trucking north towards Vermont.
The NY Thruway was a bit busier than normal but not terrible. The long highway drive was starting to add up after a bit, and lunch had come & gone, so we pulled off in Saratoga Springs to hit a Panera. Couple of salads and a muffin top later, we hit the road with our coffee & tea with just 90 minutes to go.
In short order we crossed into Vermont, which is a moment of note every year when we do this trip. This year was no different, and as usual we took a picture to commemorate that point in time. We really do love coming up here. We pretty much never have anything but a great time. We look forward to it every year, this year more than ever.
We got to the AirBnb around 4:15 and check-in was quick & easy. We met Kira the host by chance, and she was super friendly. They offered the shed for our bikes which is always helpful. We brought our stuff inside and made ourselves at home for a few minutes before the next step in the day.
We geared up to ride bikes, as today is day 2 of the 31 day Halter’s Challenge but more importantly day 1 of the 10 Day Kingdom Trails trip. Our place is only a few blocks from a park we’ve ridden in the past, so it worked out well. We hopped on the bikes and headed over.
D needed to try on her new helmet first. I think it looks great.
The park is called Pine Hill, and judging from Strava it’s the 4th time we have ridden here, though I have to admit I feel like we’ve been here more. We’ve done it with other people twice, and solo twice. It’s a relatively small park that’s easy enough to navigate. But I still haven’t figured out the perfect loop yet.
Today’s was pretty good though I opted not to launch this. I think in dry times it would be ok but it clearly rained a bit here today so things were wet.
Since the last time we were here, a new trail has been built called Milk Run. With the moist trails it was not running great but it looks like it will be solid in time. We hit it down then back up to keep going on the loop we were on. After that we hit Svelte Tiger.
At the end we took the obligatory Tin Man picture. I am sure previous iterations of this blog have a similar picture.
We ride back to the AirBnb and end up with just over an hour. The Strava link can be found here.
We shower up then hit the road to get some dinner. Kira had recommended Little Harry’s which is what we opted for. The place is a tad unassuming in terms of wow-factor when you walk in. We had been warned that is the case.
We got curry mussels as an appetizer and while maybe a tad salty, it was delicious. I got the cod and D got the duck. Mine was fine, her’s was better. The meal was very good, probably not amazing, probably a little mixed up in some regards. I might go back one day but we’re going to check something else out tomorrow night.
After dinner we drove the mile back to the AirBnb to relax for a few hours before calling it a night.
Day 1 of 10 mountain bike days in the books. Tomorrow we tackle a new trail system with the hopes that the rain stays away.
Traveling Normandy 