FLCC Lake Como ride report

When the Big Horn Velo club from Elmira/Corning proposed a Saturday ride around Keuka Lake, I thought I might join in, even though I try not to drive to the start of any rides. But then Mary Ann proposed a local ride doing the Lake Como route and I decided that would be better for me. I’ve started this route twice before, but always cut it short due to time constraints, so I was glad to try this one again hoping to be able to finish this time.

The route goes from East Hill Plaza along the creek through Freeville to McLean before heading north past Lake Como and reaching Moravia for a lunch stop. A small group of five rode along through the mostly gently rolling terrain, and stopped at a pizza place in downtown Moravia.

Long Hill Rd. reminds us that the Finger Lakes are full of fun surprises, and we climbed up slowly and met at the top to continue along as a group. The farms at the top were as smelly as I remembered, and apparently it’s manure spreading season as well.

We followed Stewarts Corners Rd and Van Ostrand Rd which were both great for riding on. On a long straightaway, a pickup truck driver honked at us, which confused me because this was a passing zone on a wide and empty road. Sometimes drivers’ sense of ownership over the road goes a bit too far.

We all made it back to the Lab of O where we started, and split off from there to head home or into town. The group rode about 60 miles together according to my map, and my GPS said 76 miles by the time I got home.

Shindagin ~50 miles

Click to go to RideWithGPS route

With the FLCC Sunday ride starting in Truxton (east of Cortland), I wasn’t quite sure I would want to make the ride into a full day of riding about 130 miles. The weekend was looking rainy also, but on Friday night I figured I might as well go for it. I packed up a pair of panniers and strapped my tent to the front rack and left Ithaca in the early afternoon. I had a route on the GPS that would send me through many state forests, and I planned to camp out in Taylor Valley or somewhere nearby in a state forest, where camping is free.

The first forest I got to was Shindagin Hollow, and the dirt roads were good for riding on there. Coming down a hill on the southern end of the forest, a brace that holds the front rack level snapped. When I originally put this rack on, I had to bend the brace in a few places to make it fit, and more recently when I put a different type of brake on, I had to put more bends in the brace. It held for the past few months without a problem, but I had also not put much weight on the rack until this ride. The rack bolts onto the brakes on each side, so it was still attached, and I used a few bungee cords to hold it to the frame to keep it level. I moved the tent onto the back and kept riding.

It was not long after that I was climbing another dirt road and was feeling like something was definitely wrong with the bottom bracket. I had mentioned this to a local shop months back, and they spun the cranks and said it seemed fine. At that time it was just a minor annoyance, but one thing I should have learned after riding this far in the past few years is that any small problems will eventually turn into big ones later. Even though the shop thought it was fine at the time, I should have ordered parts in preparation for this problem.

When I finished climbing the hill, I took a look at the GPS and decided to bail on this overnight trip. The forecast was for rain Sunday anyway, so the chance of people coming up to Truxton was low, and I didn’t really feel like cycling alone in the rain for the rest of the weekend on a bike that was falling apart. I went south to Candor, trying not to crank too hard on the pedals in hopes of parts not seizing or collapsing requiring a car ride home (again, after the derailleur issues earlier this season).

I tried a few new places to ride that I keep seeing but have yet to ride on. One is between White Church and Coddington, on a snowmobile trail that intersects the Finger Lakes Trail. It was still swampy in a few places, and has lots of rollers to keep things interesting. The other was a dirt hill just north of Brooktondale that connects to Rt 79. I also tried to cross through a piece of Cornell Plantations property, but the road on the map isn’t a road, and it becomes dense swampy forest and doesn’t connect back onto a real road very easily.

The GPS was only on to/from Collegetown, so the miles are a bit low on the maps, but this was just shy of 50 miles for the day, with still a good amount of dirt and new roads to me.

05/10/11 TNR B1

It’s been a cold and rainy spring. I last went skiing when it snowed another 4 inches on Connecticut Hill in early April, and it seemed like every Tuesday since then had seen more rain or sleet, or was still pretty darn cold for going on evening bike rides. I did get out a few times, but not for very long.

There were a lot of people waiting at EHP for the first real TNR of the season. A vote declared that this would be a hilly route, and so we rode up Ringwood to the start. Not having any idea how I would compare to those that were actually training this year, I played it safe and stayed with the B group. The route was chosen: Ringwood and Snyder, which is about 19 miles.

The pace was easy for the first stretch, maybe with everyone remembering how to make pacelines work, although there wasn’t much movement rotating through the line. By Rt 79, I noticed that I was having a hard time on the flats compared to most others. My year round commute up the hills certainly helps for hills, but I just don’t have the speed on flat ground. I didn’t feel that great going up Ringwood though, either, but it’s early in the season.

I was able to stay with the front pack, even after lossing more ground on 79 after the first lap. We turned to Snyder, and this is where I knew I would get to see my winter hilly commuting miles in action. I set my pace to where I knew I could sustain it, and powered up the hill. About 8 others were on the same pace, but as the hill keeps climbing, we got down to 4 of us that pulled away.

I stayed behind the others, letting them set the pace up the final approach. When two were showing signs of running out of energy, I passed them and sneaked up behind the lead racer. I used my last bit of energy to pass him as quickly as possible, trying to make sure there was a gap in case he tried to sprint after me, and it was a success. I was so dead at the top of the climb that I laid on the grass to catch my breath. Several people mentioned that I should try racing with the A’s again, and I do plan on that next time, but this was definitely a difficult and tiring race for me!

I’m still working on trying to figure out Strava, but I have uploaded my GPS data for the ride at: http://app.strava.com/rides/548274. Check it out, and if you are riding these as well, you should make a free account and upload your data too.

FLCC Owasco – 85 miles

The FLCC Owasco ride is a good one for this point in the season since it offers several route options depending on how far you want to go. I left from my place on the west hill, and rode the 7 miles up to the Friendly’s by the mall where several other riders were meeting up. 9am came quickly, and we set off to Moravia, which takes less time than the allotted hour and a half. I’m too used to poor planning on my part trying to get to the start of rides on time, so I was glad that we didn’t have to rush off to Moravia.

Around 10:15am, the 8 or so of us starting from Ithaca/Lansing got to Moravia, refilled waterbottles from a convenient hose tucked next to the gas station, and chatted while another 5 or 8 riders rolled in, including a tandem. We set of promptly at 10:30am and in less than 5 miles, Owasco Lake was to the west in the valley. The terrain is rolling, though at this point in the year there always seems to be more uphills than down. I was in no rush, and took my time enjoying the view down to the lake. At the only stop along this long leg, two guys headed in the other direction stopped to ask about the route around the lake, so FLCC wasn’t the only crowd with this trip in mind.

Most of the group was out of sight by the time a few of us in the back were approaching the northern end, but as my third time around this lake now, I was pretty sure there was a gas station around the corner that I had used for refueling and shade before, and that’s where we found the rest of the group. I had been burning more carbohydrates than I expected, but a slice of pizza, bag of cheese, and lemonade fixed that. More than a few people seemed surprised I would eat pizza while riding, but it was a great way to refuel from riding 41 miles at that point, with about an equal distance left to get home.

The group split up just after going through the roundabout, since part of the group was taking a more direct route back to their cars in Moravia, while the rest were headed for Salmon Creek Rd to get back to Ithaca. Those headed to Ithaca ended up going through the roundabout a second time, this time picking the right road, only to realize that there was a small connector street we should have taken anyway.

We followed Silver Street for a few miles before crossing Rt 34 and making our way to Salmon Creek, which is one of the straighter and flatter roads in the area which is used for time trial training by some. After reaching the Ludlowville park, and successfully crossing one of the longer steel grate bridges that unfortunately still exists, the group split again as some continued directly into Ithaca and the rest headed for a gravel path that connects back to the mall and to Friendly’s. Since it was actually a bit sunny and warm (finally, after all that spring rain!) we got ice cream before heading home.

-Andy

3 State Forests

My plan was to meet up with those gathering at EHP at 9am to head to Virgil to watch part of the Hollenbeck’s Spring Classic, though I got there just a few minutes after a small group had departed. Not knowing which route they choose, I rode in the drops with good effort in the direction of Freese Rd / Lower Creek Rd assuming there was a good chance they went that way, but they were never within sight. I had a route planned out with a few roads a bit further out, so I continued on that route to Virgil. Between routes 13 and 215 was some great rolling hills, so I’m glad I went that way (See the link to the map).

I watched the Cat-1/2/3s go by on the first lap from the cider mill, and then headed up Van Donsel Rd to the finish line where most of the racers that were competing for one lap would soon be finishing. One group made the turn uphill and was quickly approaching, so I stood to the side and watched them power up the hill. I rode up after them, and got a laugh when a few people cheered me on (not sure if they realized I wasn’t racing…). This was just the warm up though before the adventure into the forests.

I continued up Van Donsel Rd, and then followed it across the forest before turning and taking Courtney Hill Rd back up. One thing I love about the forest roads is that the surface is never the same between roads. From smooth packed dirt, to flat and rocky, to gravel, and sometimes pools of mud, the variety keeps it interesting. If you like long descents and climbs, this is the spot to go. These two roads are my new favorites, especially coming back up the hill. When I got back to a main road, I saw two people riding the Virgil loop and tried to catch up but they turned off my route before I could get there. I think this must have been part of the FLCC ride of the Hollenbeck’s loop after the race.

I felt great after the 25 mile warm up into Virgil, but now just 20 miles later I felt drained. I paced myself up Owego Hill (another great dirt road) and found myself in the middle of nowhere. Through the western section of the Kennedy Forest, I aimed for a dirt trail, which I’ll say in short was not a place to be riding, so I cut through to another forest road to get to Harford on Rt38. I was on Creamery Rd for the second time, now on a better suited bike than the first time when an FLCC ride went in the other direction on this hill with nearly everyone on skinny tires. After a screaming decent on a paved but gritty road, I ended up in front of the Goodrich Hill wall, which might be the steepest road I’ve been on, apparently reaching an 18% grade. I recognized another Finger Lakes Trail crossing as I left the Potato Hill state forest.

Now in the northern short segments of Shindagin, I had to pace myself going up Leonard Rd, which took a good effort to climb since it was a bit washed out and larger gravel most of the way. I was feeling nearly dead after enough climbing, and took it easy from here home. I held on tight coming down Bald Hill into Brooktondale, and stuck to some better known roads to get home.

After riding enough paved roads in the past few years to reach my miles to the 5th digit, it’s been a great season for seeking out the dirt roads I had never seen before. I keep considering rides like D2R2, but after riding forest roads all day within cycling distance from home, I might just stick to those. There’s more than enough for keep me riding new routes every time. My road bike has only seen 9 miles on it so far this year, and it looks like it might stay that way with the rain expected this week. Total miles for the day was just under 80, mostly on dirt roads between Virgil and Brooktondale. You can see the route online here: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/391915.