Reynolds Real Estate News

12/19/2007


Salem, NY - Farm Team Cycling of Cambridge, NY and The Towns & Villages of the Battenkill Valley are proud to announce the 4th Annual Tour of the Battenkill cycling race on April 19, 2008 in Salem, NY. Already the largest Pro/Am race on the East Coast in 2007 with more than 1000 racers from 25 States and Canada, the 2008 edition is expected to draw nearly 1500 racers from throughout North America. Formerly known as the 'Battenkill-Roubaix' the race is a unique event on the North American cycling schedule. With direct passes through the small villages of Southern Washington County, NY, difficult climbs, and extended portions on dirt and gravel roads the race rivals many European races in scope and scenery. See www.battenkillroubaix.com for race details.

Most racers will compete on a single, 55 mile loop. Starting and finishing in the scenic Upstate New York Village of Salem, the race travels over local roads to the tiny hamlet of Eagleville and over the Eagleville Covered Bridge, through the Village of Cambridge, to the Town of Easton, through the Village of Greenwich, and finally back to Salem. Along the route, racers will be tested with now-famous dirt roads such as Juniper Swamp Road in the Town of Salem, Meeting House Road in Easton, and Ferguson Road in the Town of Greenwich, among others. A full race expo with food vendors, local crafts, and live entertainment will greet each racer at the finish line in Salem. The elite and professional men will compete on an 82 mile course, while the Juniors age 10-14 will race on a 13 mile course.

There will be 15 separate races for amateurs to professionals, youth to senior. Races will begin at 9 AM on West Broadway, Salem. Online registration will open on Friday, December 21 at 12 noon at www.bikereg.com. Most races are expected to fill to their respective limits very quickly. There is no mail-in registration.

Several events are being planned around the race, including a pancake breakfast, guest-speakers at local venues preceding the race, and.a bike-art competition and auction sponsored by the Towns & Villages of the Battenkill Valley (www.visitbattenkillvalley.com). Proceeds from the event will benefit Farm Team Cycling - a regional cycling club for youth, and the Public Libraries of Southern Washington County, NY.

For sponsorship & volunteer information, please contact Race Promoter Dieter Drake at promoter@battenkillroubaix.com.

Posted by Reynolds Real Estate Staff at 11:53 AM | Permalink

There are only three houses on McDougal Lake, and only two of them are lit up for the Holiday Season.
There is a house roughly in between these two, but it is primarily a summer house, and its people have their Christmas in Boston. And then there are houses on the way to the lake, houses on McDougal Lake Road that are lit, but only in the most traditional sort of of way.
There are no blinking lights or styrofoam snowmen to be seen anywhere in the vicinity of the lake, and not that many multi-colored lights either. There are mostly white lights and blue, Christmas wreaths and red ribbons, and the occasional split-rail fence wrapped in pine branches woven around the posts.
Imagine, then our surprise as we drove home one cold night from a Christmas Eve service and saw, across the lake, our house, apparently flanked by an unknown dwelling blinking out Christmas joy from all of its windows. The light fairly bounced off the frozen lake.
"Good Lord," said my wife. "Can that be Rick up here in weather like this?"
"If it is," said I, "he's freezing his tookus, because that's a cold house in October."
Minutes later, we pulled off our long driveway, which branches over to Rick's house. Smoke was indeed billowing from the chimney. The house was dark, except for the white lights blinking in the picture windows, but I walked to the door nonetheless.
I knocked. "Rick?" I asked, not sure of the answer.
Immediately, the door was opened by a man dressed like a lumberjack. It was Rick.
"Merry Christmas!" he called out. "Come on in!"
I signaled to my wife in the car, and we walked into a house that was only marginally warmer than the outdoors. "Rick," my wife asked, "what in the world are you doing up here? Is Daphne here with you?"
"No," he said cheerfully, "it's just me. It looks like this is our last Christmas on the lake, so I thought I'd come up and see what it looks like to begin with. Never spent Christmas here before, and we're selling the house in the spring."
My wife and I tried to absorb both of these concepts at once, but could only look at him and wonder if he would survive the experience. "Don't worry about me," he said, reading our faces, "I'm dressed for it."
We stayed and talked and reminisced and told how much we's miss each other. We drank brandies by the fire until my wife and I were certain we were about to freeze solid.
We offered him one of our guest rooms, but he was determined to stay in his house by the lake for his Christmas. It was magic, he said, and the magic would keep him warm.
The magic did. We saw him briefly late Christmas day before he headed back to Boston, still dressed like a lumberjack. He took his lights home, but with him took none of the magic of that particular lake, that particular Christmas.
It was somehow magical all the more, simply to realize what it meant to someone who wouldn't ever have it again.
And so, at this time, we send greetings and deep wishes from all of us at this special place. We send them in hopes of fine Holidays for all of you and just possibly, the most magical of New Years.

Posted by Reynolds Real Estate Staff at 10:53 AM | Permalink