Truxton – DeRuyter – 112mi

Last year I considered the Truxton-DeRuyter ride, but thought I would make it into a mini-tour by winding up through the state forests, camping overnight near Truxton, and riding the loop and back home the next day. When my front rack broke off in Shindagin, and rain started to fall, I turned around and bailed on that plan. I was glad to have another opportunity to make it to this route again.

Apparently with the full sun shining, and expected temperatures in the mid eighties, a few other groups formed that wanted a shorter or closer to home route instead. There was no chatter on the list though, so the actual advertised ride only had 3 takers, with no one starting in Truxton. Oops.

Being as warm as it was, I was sure to take enough stops to refill liquids. I actually kept up with drinking enough for once, which kept the riding in the hills possible. Shortly after Deruyter was the only major climb, the worst of which was about 400ft up in 1.7 miles, which is roughly the same as my typical commute home. I stopped at the top in the shade to wait for the others. On the way down the hill, I had a hornet fly into my unzipped jersey, which stung me three times before I was able to stop and get it out of there. I can’t remember being stung in a long time, but at least I had no reaction to it afterwards.

I was still sore from running the day before, so I decided to cut the route short. When it turns to go back up Taylor Valley to Truxton, I continued to Cincinnatus. Then I realized that was a poor decision, since the best route out of there was through some killer hills. I wished that I stayed with the group a bit longer until County Rt 159 to cut off the hills, but this instead turned into a great adventure.

Knickerbocker Road was a fun hill to climb passing by a golf course. I flew down the backside into East Freetown, never seeing anything that looked like a town. Freetown Cross Road leading to Freetown was rough pavement, but with no traffic it was easy to avoid the worst spots. The climbs continued out of Freetown as I approached Hoxie Gorge State Forest. Up and up I went as I was sipping on the water bottles hoping they would last. Then of course after a rather steep climb and coming partway down the back, there is a “Road Closed” sign. The options were to test my luck and ride on the newly graveled road hoping to be able to cross, or turn right to go more north, still through a state forest, and hope it comes out somewhere.

I took the gravel. It was rough on my 28/23mm tires, but I stayed near the tire tracks. Then the road splits, where the construction and closed road heads south away from my route, but ahead of me was smaller gravel and a big hill as far as I could see. I could see horse hoof marks and buggy wheel tracks leading up the hill, so how bad could it be? I struggled for traction on the smooth rear 23, but made it up into the forest. I would love to come back on the cross bike, as the decent was 2 miles long for a 500ft drop on a good dirt road. I took it carefully, but found it hard to either stay seated through the bumps or put all my weight on the pedals while standing.

That section ends with a sketchy path under the interstate, and comes out on state route 11. As soon as I pulled out, I see a cop car with lights on, and wondered what I had done. But they didn’t pull over, and instead a line of classic cars passed me. There must have been some car show they were off to. I was only on that road for a few miles, so on the slight downhill before my turn I sprinted to merge into the slow traffic and made my left turn without issue.

From there, it was back to the aerobars on 392 and 13 back home. I was trying to make up some time, but tired after the hills. I had a few quick stops near Greek Peak to get water from a spigot and stop in the shade. I made it back home after 112 miles in 8.5 hours after starting. It was a fun route, and I’m glad to have explored farther into the northeast than I had gone before.

Strava data: http://app.strava.com/rides/8967254

 

Slaterville 100

I first heard about the Slaterville 100 route a few years ago, I believe when it was first run as a food-drop 60 mile ride through some of the nearby state forest land east of Ithaca. The route was modified in 2010, and apparently about 20 riders on cross or mountain bikes started that day, some with hopes of making this a 100 mile ride by doing two laps, but with the rain and cold weather few finished the first lap before heading back. There was no mention that I could find in the emails this year about this route being advertised, so I asked around and got the most recent route information and a few other responses from people willing to take a stab at this route again.

The route is ~53 miles from Brookton’s Market, which is 63 miles from East Hill Plaza or 73 miles from my apartment. Chris Rusin joined in from EHP on his beautiful new steel frame road bike, but with narrow tires and time commitments, he branched off after a Shindagin. Jason must have seen us roll slowly past the market and hopped out quick enough catch us there. The climb up Bald Hill Rd was just as hard as usual, and I only realized at the top that Jason was on a single speed bike! We made our way through Shindagin, and ran into Jeremy Gardener who didn’t meet us in time for the start but instead waited at the base of Level Green Rd. It was nice to see Goodrich and Blackman Hill roads on the side this time, and not have to climb up those monsters, though we had plenty of climbing on this route otherwise.

Jason took 79 back to Brooktondale, and Jeremy and I would continue on through Robinson Hollow and some gnarly descents. The Jim Schug trail in Dryden had a few other people on bikes or walking, and only one ipod zombie. Then came the best parts of the ride. Beam Hill proved too much to climb from this side, so we hiked up to the top. I was on this road early this year and came down the unpaved side when there was still about a foot of snow, and the only reliable path to take was through the small stream on the side. While there was some snow high up in the forests, we at least had fairly solid ground to walk on this time. Possibly this northern half of the route would overall be more rideable in the other direction next time.

Through Hammond Hill were plenty of ponds in the road, but it appears that many others have biked/hiked/skied here and created trails that veer off to avoid that. This was some fun cross riding through here, where sometimes the best line is just to go through the mud with a little speed, otherwise you just get stuck and have to put a foot down in soaking slop. Fortunately I was able to keep my feet dry through here, since it had never really warmed up much above 40F. Another speedy descent into Shindagin and back up, and then we were headed back to the start. My knee started to feel sore by this point, and only got worse from here, leading to taking a day off the bike and riding the bus to work today.

My ride was 74 miles, with 6150ft climbing. Ride data is at: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/435016 and http://app.strava.com/rides/2158765.

Sunday ride report – Montezuma & Chimney Bluffs

The forecast was for a rainy afternoon, but after checking the radar in the morning, I decided to go for it anyway. It was just before 6am when I started so I attached a few blinkies to stay visible while riding on Rt 96. Dany and Chris were planning to meet at Stuart’s place, and I figured that if I was making good time, I would head that way as well (otherwise just heading more directly to Montezuma to shave off a few miles). I paced myself to get to Interlaken just a few minutes before 7am, which was a good warmup. Before the group rolled out, Chris pointed out the amazing red sun rising above a cloud. I wish I had pictures or the ability to describe this better in words, but instead I’ll just recommend getting out for a sunrise ride and you can see for yourself.

We took the ridge route north to the top of Cayuga Lake, which is a slight downhill for 20 miles making 20mph seem easy. We got to the official club start at the Montezuma park with 20 minutes to spare, and saw Rene, Mary Ann, Lisa, Jim, Rob, and a few others I hadn’t met before. Rene had dropped off Dany by car in Interlaken, and joined us as this point for a shorter ride. The skies were nearly empty of clouds at this point. The group split into two smaller groups shortly into the ride, but we all met up again at a convenience store water stop in Walcott. We were off again and rode to the edge of Lake Ontario near the Chimney Bluffs. Apparently there is a good view of the bluffs if you walk around the corner, but the thought of sandy shoes prevented that. After a 15 minute break, 5 of us left to continue the ride.

I counted four times when we felt a few raindrops, but fortunately it never turned into more than that despite a scary forecast in the morning. It did feel muggier as the day went on, and stopping only made that feel worse. Whoever decided that fast state highways should be bike routes obviously doesn’t enjoy rural roads, and fortunately we were able to quickly peel off Bike Route 5 and take a back road to Clyde. We had one stop in Clyde before crossing a one-lane bridge under construction and then taking a break at a convenience store. After riding through Tyre, Stuart seemed to know where we were again, so we went off the route on roads familiar to him. Rene turned left on Rt 89 to get back to his car, and four of us went right on Rt 89 back to the Cayuga Lake State Park for another water stop. It was empty when we first came through at 8am, but was packed with people swimming in the shallow water this time.

We stayed on Rt 89 for a while, somehow still pulling 18mph. Chris and I were slowing down on the hills but catching up on the flats (this being 120 miles into my ride now). Somewhere along this road I felt like I lost the ability to climb. I would try to get ahead before a climb, but once any small incline came up, I quickly fell into the 39×28 gear and pedaled slowly to the top of each roller. We turned at Center Rd and then Hall Rd, which changes names several times but ends where several of us started in Interlaken. 135 miles down, and now just Dany and I are left to ride back to Ithaca. She turned off at Perry City Rd to head to the lake and back home. Feeling just about out of energy and only a few miles from home, I decided to burn through the last of my energy to get home quickly. Two miles of TT on a stretch of Dubois Rd before crawling up the final incline to reach Rt 96 and I was done. Fortunately it’s just a quick roll home from there.

Total distance for the day was 156 miles in about 9 hours of riding plus 2 hours stopped.

Ride data:

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/381006

http://app.strava.com/rides/1506898

Keuka ride report: Six Lakes

Yet again the Sunday forecast was for rain during parts of the day. Like other potentially rainy Sundays recently, Mary Ann planned to do the route on Saturday instead (I would love to hear how that ride went, if people did go). Since there were others that were unable to ride a different day, at least 5 of us kept to the original schedule. Dany and Rene left on bikes from downtown around 7am, and I left from the west hill at 7:15am. Shortly before 9am we converged at the marina in Watkins Glen with Stuart and Chris who arrived by car. Another couple from Durango, CO stopped by on their way to Maine, but decided not to join in after hearing some forecast predictions. With light rain on us, we left at 8:58am, not looking to wait any longer to get warmed up leaving Watkins Glen.

Last year, Stuart took us on an unadvertised route which apparently follows along the infamous Five Lakes and a Steak route, and we took a very similar route this year as well. After weaving around Lamoka Lake and seeing Waneta Lake, we continued to Hammondsport going fairly slow on a usually thrilling decent. The rain had stopped after maybe less than an hour, but the roads were still wet so we took turns and descents cautiously. We grabbed quick snacks and the convenience store, and went to down to the lake where things were more pleasant. Leaving Hammondsport there are three options: the FLCC route on W Lake Rd (closest to Keuka Lake), last years route on Cty Rt 76 climbing up the hill, and the route we took this year going up and up some more past Bully Hill Vineyards. It’s apparently a 23% incline, which follows one of the Highlander routes, but has one of the best views of the Finger Lakes. Just past the vineyard is the viewpoint where even on this cloudy day we could clearly see both branches and the bluff of Keuka Lake.

We stayed a bit above the lake until Branchport, with a long descent into town and a quick stop for Chris to refuel on chocolate milk (supposedly a better drink than fancy endurance drinks according to a recent article). As we passed through Keuka Lake State Park, we came across several (Mennonite?) young men wearing very similar clothes: jeans, tucked in shirts, and white suspenders. We passed a much larger group with similar bikes and clothes playing baseball in a field in the rain. They must all use bikes, because next to the field was a pile of about 50 bikes. It’s great to know fun can be had even in the rain, as opposed to most American teenagers that would likely be playing video games today instead.

It was around this point last year shortly before Penn Yan that I started to have a hard time keeping up. With less than 80 miles into the ride, my legs were getting tired and I was running out of energy but somehow managed to stay with the group for the rest of the day. This year I felt much better, except for a tired neck despite trying to stay off the aerobars. Stuart suggested some neck exercises and a lighter helmet, if I want to keep pushing my limits with how far I’m riding. With the group’s final stop of the day in Penn Yan, we refueled at an intersection with food options on each corner. After the Cayuga ride with little services, it was a good change to have many potential places to stop on this ride. Just as we were ready to roll again, the rain started up.

On the way to Watkins Glen, Rene’s knee was causing trouble, and he decided not to ride back to Ithaca, and instead get a ride from Chris. We stayed on Rt 14 to take the easiest route home instead of trying the side roads we aimed for last year but missed due to confusion at the intersections. As soon as we were back at the marina, the sun came out (of course). Three headed back by car, and Dany and I headed for the Catherine Valley Trail. The trail is flat, but the hill it lead us to was not much better than Rt 7 as it ends at the same elevation with about the same distance to climb that in. We turned onto a chipseal road that I don’t remember, but eventually got to the smooth pavement around Cayuta Lake. We turned onto Rt 79 and Dany headed downtown while I headed more north to get home on the west hill, and see the 6th lake: Cayuga.

In just over 12 hours, I rode 158 miles. View the route on Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/1330239

Skaneateles – 114 miles

With the recent change in Sunday ride start times, I was out the door by 6am in hopes of reaching the start of the ride around Skaneateles by 9am. There were at least a few emails the day before from others looking to ride to the start, so they met at the Lab of Ornithology parking lot at 7am. Since nearly all group rides involve me crossing the city and riding through Cornell, I decided to try a different route this time which left me riding alone until after Moravia.

It was a rough start to a ride though. After rolling the bike outside, I noticed the rim was pushing on the brakes, and I made some quick spoke adjustments and flew down the hill into Ithaca. By this point I realized that my chain had been long overdue for a good cleaning, and was making some pretty awful noises. I stopped when I found a shirt discarded on the side of the road, and wiped the chain down. A mile later, I found a nearly empty bottle of 10W40, and lubed the chain. The third stop of this series was for a rag to wipe the excess oil off. Motor oil may not be the best option, but it actually worked quite well for this.

My route started by climbing Rt 34, and then continued mostly north along the farm roads I haven’t ridden on before. It was generally uphill the whole way, and I was getting concerned that I wasn’t going fast enough to reach the start of the group ride in time. Once I was just north of Moravia, I turned east on what turned into a very poor chipseal road on a slight downhill. Fortunately I didn’t slide out in any of the loose pebble sections, and reached the top of the infamous Long Hill Rd west of Moravia. From here it’s a great descent at 40+mph, although this time there was road work on a culvert, which left a small section of bumps and gravel that was difficult to slow down for.

I climbed Mt. Pleasant (which like others of the same name is steep and not so pleasant to climb) and took a break at the top now that I knew I had enough time to reach the group start. I heard a loud noise from down the road, which turned out to be Charles presumably happy to see another rider, followed by a small group of other riders that had started in or near Ithaca. The 6 of us rode together to the official start, and as people kept showing up by car, we eventually had a group of 18.

The route starts with about 7 miles of descending, and we were rolling along very fast with little effort. Fortunately we were not ridding in a tight pack through most of that area, as Mary Ann hit something in the road. I think her hands bumped off the bars, and she swerved to each direction fairly hard while laying on the handlebars and miraculously recovered. We were going about 35mph at this point, and everyone behind her was nearly sure she was about to fall. We were amazed and very glad that she got control of the bike before that happened though!

As we got closer to Skaneateles, we saw an amazing number of people biking in the other direction and I assumed it was just a nice day for riding bringing out a lot of cyclists. Max looped around to talk to one, and found out that there was a group of ~150 from Ontario that came to the Finger Lakes region this week. Our group stopped at the Patisserie in Skaneateles for food, and continued the mostly uphill route towards the southern end of the lake.

The night before, I had looked over my maps and decided I would try to brake off from the group ride for an 8 mile detour on a parallel road. No one else was interested in joining, but it was an adventure! The detour starts with a 1.3 mile 700ft decent with a sharp curve, before it turns into small gravel. Then there were 3 options for roads going in mostly the same direction, and the one I choose turned into more chipseal, following upstream along Grout Brook which was nice in the shade. The remainder of the detour was flat & paved, and I tried to go fast to catch up with the group by going 23-28mph on the aerobars.

It turns out that the group also left Mary Ann’s route, and crossed south of the lake and back to the group start. I headed southwest and eventually had enough cell reception to find out where the group was. I headed for Lake Como, and met up with the remaining 3 riders. We took the common roads back, along Upper and Lower Creek Rd., and we split up near Ludgate Farms. I took a new route that worked well through Cayuga Heights, and climbed Rt 96 to get home.

My day ended with 114 miles of riding, after being out for 9.5 hours. I have posted the route I took here: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/337581.