In fact, the first few miles out of North Creek were gradually uphill, then just outside the hamlet of Minerva (weird town, I don’t recommend it) is one steeper climb of about a mile or so. After that, we were back into rolling terrain. The landscape up in this area was a bit different than what we had experienced on the previous days. It felt more like what I associate with alpine lake regions, where the foliage is a bit more sparse and you see more pine trees. It just feels more like being in the mountains. Anyway, the 28N was a nice road… very little traffic and a wide shoulder. 
Once we got to Newcomb, we stopped briefly at a lovely picnic area with nice vistas of pretty much all the surrounding mountains. Really nice spot, and one of the best public restrooms I’ve ever seen! At this point it occurred to me that if my cycling buddies wanted to continue forward and do the full loop back to North Creek (about 80 miles) they could do that and I could just cruise back on the 28N. I could tell J was dying to do the full loop, and indeed both R and J ended up riding the reverse “Teddy’s Trail” loop. I don’t think J would have been able to face our innkeeper the next morning if he hadn’t done the full 80 mile ride. For my part, I was more worried about bruising my cycling ass than my cycling pride, so I was more than happy to return back the way I came. 
But before parting ways for the day, we continued on into the “town” of Newcomb and stopped at a very strange general store run by, judging by appearances, some siblings or cousins who had married and bred. I don’t mean to sound like a city snob, and all the folks in our little North Creek hamlet were terrific, but the people at this store in Newcomb were weird. I don’t think any of us even considered eating at their “diner” but instead just grabbed some snacks and hit the road. Wow. Oh, we also passed what was billed as the “source of the Hudson River”, which was pretty cool. Heading back down the 28N to North Creek was actually a fair amount of work. I knew that once I hit the steep hill (now a descent) prior to Minerva, it would be pretty much downhill the whole way. But the 15 miles or so between Newcomb and Minerva were rolling terrain, with quite a few ascents. At this point, during the heat of the day, in my granny gear climbing up the hills, I started attracting some of my insect friends trying to tag along for the ride. I actually had two flies bite me through my cycling gloves, which is pretty fucking ballsy. Unfortunately for them, I carry repellant, and am mighty liberal with the deet. After a quick dousing, my flying friends stayed away for the rest of the ride. Woohoo!
Arriving back in North Creek around 4pm, I didn’t expect R and J to return before 6 at the earliest, so I figured it was a good opportunity to do some souvenir shopping. Heading over to the North Creek Deli and Marketplace, a little bluegrass band was set up out front playing Woody Guthrie songs to a small group of folks. Our innkeeper had told us about this group, and had mentioned that the lead singer was transitioning (check) and that they had an older gentleman playing spoons (check). There’s nothing like being in a tiny little town out in the middle of nowhere with a bluegrass band standing in front of an old general store singing This Land is Your Land. Actually, the only thing that would be more appropriate would be if they sang some Pete Seeger. Yeah.
Anyhoodle, my peeps ended up getting back from their full 80 mile loop by 5:30. That’s hard core. Mad props to those guys for kicking some serious cycling ass in the Adirondacks.
More later on the local flavor…
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