Finger Lakes Fun

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I have been planning a bike trip to the Finger Lakes ever since Laura had mentioned the idea and Jack had seconded it. We didn't go last year because I couldn't find the time but finally got critical mass for the trip this first weekend of June. Pete, Laura and Jack joined me and brought along Dorthy and a spare Jack(Moose). After some research and many emails exchanged we ended up renting a house just outside of Ithaca instead of going for a hotel. This would be both more comfortable and more economical for the 4 days we would be spending in Ithaca

We all arrived separately with in a few hours of each other. The house was as nice as the pictures promised. It has a kitchen/dining/living room area with views of Lake Cayuga, Cornell, and Ithaca falls. It is a place you could spend all day on the porch just looking at the view.

The Finger Lakes is a series of 11 lakes formed by glaciers a long time ago. Around the lakes are beautiful (or run down) small towns and farmland along with many streams, gorges, waterfalls and of course wineries. There is plenty to do here but we were here for the biking so on Saturday we headed out on this route provided by the Finger Lakes Bike Club to see a couple of the lakes (Cayuga and Seneca) and some of the farmlands (and hills) between them.

Before the trip everybody asked what the riding would be like to which I responded its kinda like a Sourlands ride. This is the answer I give for almost any hilly ride I do even thought it is not really true any of the time(and everybody knows it). I have no idea what a ride I haven't done will be like. I can look at the profile of the ride and google maps and form some opinion but until I do a ride I have no idea how easy or hard it will be. However the reason I say it will be like a Sourlands ride is that if you can ride in the Sourlands and do 2500-3000 ft of climbing you can probably do almost any ride.

I knew the ride I picked for Friday would be a little longer and hillier than our normal rides but it being the first day we were all fresh and this was a good way to get a look at the most popular lakes. The ride started from Trumansburg (not named after the president) and went down in two spots to Cayuga lake.

Of course each time we left the lake it was uphill at 10% or better for a quarter mile before another mile or two at 4-5%. This led to the usual complains and soon the hills were alive with the sounds of cursing(and these are my friends). You have to remember this is the insane bike posse here so as much as they complain they keep coming back for more.

After a brief break at Ovid (for some reason a lot of the towns have Greek names) we headed down to Seneca lake and stopped at Lodi point park for a few pictures before heading back up another long climb. As we rode along the hills above the lake we went past a lot of wineries and got some more vistas of Seneca probably one of the more scenic areas in the Finger Lakes.

It was then another climb and a couple miles of gravel as we headed back to the start. There were a few spectacular downhills that kept me going but I was really beat by the end of the ride.

Friday night I looked over some of the routes I had planned for the next few days and found something a little easier for Saturday. The Finger Lakes Bike Club has a lot of rides down a road called HoneyPot so it looked like a popular place to go. We started from a mall on the east side of Ithaca. At the parking lot we met a few local bikers who said the area we headed was very scenic area. We rode past a game farm and along a river before we started a long 5 miles 3% climb. Right before the climb we came across a strange little village of tiny houses called Boiceville. These Boiceville cottages are rentals built based on the Miss Rumphius book that the builder use to read to his children. It was very strange to see this kind of thing in the middle of no where. 

The climb was long but not too hard and by the time we got to top we had a view of the surrounding mountains and valleys which was worth the climb.

We also had a spectacular downhill that got us to the town of Candor where we stopped a a Dandy Gas for some food.

The way back was through a valley so there wasn't a lot of climbing although the head wind made it harder than it should had been.

Saturday night we went to a brewery with Pete's daughter who knew the chief. It was a small place and the food was simple but the beer was good and we enjoyed a sunset on the lake.

 

Sunday the rain started at 9am as predicted so there was no riding which was OK since I could use a break. Jack Dorthy and I went to a cider house that makes alcoholic ciders and shrubs while Laura and her Jack when to visit a few wineries.

The visit to the cider house was interesting and I found out that a shrub is not just a type of plant but also a type of drink made from concentrated apple mash and some spices like ginger. You mix it with club soda. It is apple vinegar. It tastes better than it sounds so I bought some and will see what kind of drinks I can make with it.

After the cider tasting the rain cleared enough for us to go hiking in Robert Treman park. It was a 5 mile hike with a few steep sections but we got to see some of the many falls in this area.

Monday was cloudy but there was no rain on the radar so we did a 21 mile ride before heading home. The only significant thing about the ride is that at the end Jack said that it wasn't as hilly as expected which is said so rarely on my rides that I had him repeat it in front of witnesses so it could be entered into the record.

We packed a lot of activities into the 4 days we were there much more than I can included in this post. Like all the stories Jack had about his misspent youth at his grandmothers place, the Ithaca festival, eating at a bowling alley. The Finger Lakes is definitely a great place for a bike vacation and I might come back again in the future as there are a lot of place to ride and things to do.  
 
I really enjoy getting together for these trip as I get to spend extended time with the insane bike posse who share a love of biking and exploration. We do all have different tastes and options about food, music, politics and many other things so being together for few days in closed spaces could cause some friction. However I think the secret to the fun we have together is that we all respect and care for each other so although we may disagree and playfully taunt the end result is always a fun time.