Rogue One

September 19, 2024

LIttle Falls NY to Amsterdam NY

The Inn at Stone Mill is a really cool place. It's an old warehouse converted into new use as an inn, cafe, pizza parlor, bike shop, etc. The innkeeper told us we had full access to all areas of the inn during after hours so we took advantage of exploration time. We made our way to the large conference room where breakfast was planned to be laid out but it didn't start until 7am. So I made some coffee in the meantime and enjoyed the historic nature of the building. Standard continental breakfast fare, but enough to get us on the road this morning.

Fog greets us as we make our way out of Little Falls and onto the Empire Trail

Fog awaited us departing the inn as we made our way towards Lock 17. The plan was to cross the highest lock on the Erie Canal and continue on the trail, but we were greeted with "Road Closed" signs on the way towards the lock. Like any self-respecting cycle adventurers, we pass by the closure signs because We have hope, and rebellions are built on hope. While we make it to the lock, it's shut down and there are workers about. So rather than press our luck we head back and cross over on the vehicular bridge.

Within about 15 minutes of starting the ride, we pass by the Herkimer Home, the abode of General Nicholas Herkimer. Famous for two Revolutionary War encounters, namely the defense of Fort Stanwix (which we passed by yesterday), and the Battle of Oriskany.

Herkimer Home. We arrived too early to walk through the house. Besides, we thought the inn we stayed at last night was way cooler!

Our journey routes us past older buildings, once supporting the canal or transportation trade, and now the demand for the building is far less than in its heyday

Mid-morning we arrive at Canojaharie NY. This small town has survived and the downtown is still active with populated shops, restaurants, and the Arkell museum. We stopped into the museum which supposedly has the world's largest collection of Beech-Nut merchandise. I'm old enough to remember Beech Nut gum and Beech Nut baby food so I wanted to stop in and see the history of the Beech Nut packaging plant right here in Canojaharie. My mom fed me Beech Nut when I was a baby but I don't remember tasting any beeches or any nuts.

Small town of Canojaharie NY - it must be doing well enough to support a gift and toy shop.

The Empire Trail gives you all of the New York experiences. In the section between Canojaharie and Fultonville you get the I-90 thruway experience as the trail uses real estate adjacent to the tollway. They call it the Death Star but they have no idea...there's a way to defeat it. And defeat it we do for traffic is light on a Thursday morning and Kath and I have each other to talk to.

Quite safe, if a bit loud, the trail routes adjacent to I-90 in the stretch between Canojaharie and Fultonville

By Fultonville we were ready for something to eat. No options along the trail so we find a McDonald's about a miles and a half away in Fultonville next to a truck stop. I plug in the navigation and my Apple Watch displays the route - I didn't know it did that. This should make it easy to get to the restaurant. And I fear nothing for all is as the Force wills it. We're ordering at the kiosk in McD's and I think to myself, "With all the times I've stopped here on bike tours, why haven't I ever signed up for the rewards?" So I sign up after we get our food and sit down.

We meet a cyclist (I think his name was Dan) along the route and ride with him a bit. He's doing some serious mileage on his tour and he's riding a Niner RLT9, which is the same bike I used 7 years ago. We ride with him to Schoharie Crossing, where we turn off the trail to visit the historic site and he continues on to capture miles.

Crossing the old roadway bridge in Schoharie - now only for cyclists on the Empire Trail. Oh, and probably pedestrians, too. And maybe in-line skaters. Hikers? Most likely. So let's just say non-motorized traffic, shall we?

We roll into the south side of Amsterdam fairly early in the afternoon. Making a right turn onto Bridge St, all the buildings are rectangular with flat roofs except for a Rogue One that is a castle at the top of the hill. This is our inn, the Amsterdam Castle. Treating my wife to the queen she is, we have reservations for tonight. But to get to the castle, it's a steep climb. I shift into the lowest gear and start the journey up. I am one with the force and the force is with me. I am one with the Force and the Force is with me. I barely make it to the entrance at the rear, but there I am, breathing hard and glad we get to walk to the check-in desk.

At the top of a steep climb sits the Amsterdam Castle, a former armory, then a basketball arena, and now an inn

Since it's still mid-afternoon, we decide to head out to the north side of Amsterdam, across the Mohawk River. We're in search of snacks for tomorrow morning since the inn has no breakfast and there's no breakfast options near the inn. We also inquire about dinner at the inn since it's rated highly but their chef has resigned and they have no dinner service. That's OK, I tell them, there was a restaurant a block away which I dined in during my 2017 tour, but they tell me that closed a few months ago. Strike two. So as I said, off on a pedestrian tour of Amsterdam.

Amsterdam has done a good job connecting both sides of the city separated by the Mohawk River with this pedestrian bridge

Once we get to the northern side of the bridge we're in a very nice park along the river but it's completely cutoff from the rest of the city by active rail lines. The only way to get across is to climb multiple flights of stairs to a pedestrian walkway that deposits you into a mall parking lot. The River Grill in the park was another dinner option but that's closed. Strike three on restaurants. We find the Dollar General for supplies and then on our way back, cut through the Amsterdam Riverfront center to return to the south side because there's a restaurant listed as Open.

The mall is deserted - it looks like something out of a post-apocalyptic scene. Background music plays from the PA system but the only two human beings in the mall are Kath and I. I half-expect zombies to come shuffling around the corner or try and buy something at a vending machine. We make our way up the escalator which doesn't work and is "temporarily stairs"

The only thing alive in this mall is the "mall soundtrack greatest hits" playing on the PA system.

We cross back over to the south side and head towards Lorenzo's Southside. Google had it listed as open but as we approach the establishment, no cars in the parking lot. We look at the sign in the door and it says open, but checking the door and looking at no lights on inside gives confirmation that it's closed. I begin to think dinner will be from a convenience store about 2 miles away, but then I remember seeing a man putting a placard out of another shop around the corner - that location has hope. Take hold of this moment, the Force is strong. We make our way there and indeed L'Ultimo is open!

And what a treat it way. It's a family-run place with about 10 tables and a new menu every day. Kath and I each selected an appetizer and then split a pasta entree. So much fun chatting with our server and eating fresh homemade Italian food. And of all the restaurant choices in Amsterday it was the Rogue One that was actually open.

We found dinner! Great place in Amsterdam with a new menu every day!

After dinner we retreated back to the castle. I walked around the empty great hall before climbing into bed for the night. Tomorrow is another day.

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Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 369 miles (594 km)

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