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By Andrejs  Shooting the breeze before the meeting The start of the 2012 bicycle touring season has been officially declared — at the FLCC Touring Group meeting tonight. Held at the West Side venue of Kelly’s Dockside Cafe, the meeting drew about 30 participants from the region including Syracuse, Binghamton, and Elmira. The gathering began with people just connecting and reconnecting with other bike touring enthusiasts. Kelly’s staff (special mention to our server, Kacey) had prepared a great array of appetizers, finger food, and snacks and several attendees also ordered dinner. Continue reading →
By Andrejs Sunday, January 22, 5:00 pm
Kellly’s Dockside Cafe (319 Old Taughannock Blvd.)
 Join us for a winter celebration of bicycle touring. We’ll reminisce about past trips, plan new trips, and share info and inspiration – over some good food and drink in our new venue this year, upstairs at Kelly’s Dockside on the island.
We’ll set up a projector and screen so that we can have a few slide presentations (keep them short so we can have more people’s trips represented) and we’ll also roll out some of the plans that are coming together for the 2012 touring season.
Whether you’re an experienced cycle tourist or just ride around the block, come share and/or extend your knowledge. If you have trip suggestions or requests, bring them to the meeting — the season is still being planned and many things are still possible!
And, click on the Facebook “Like” button at the top to let your touring (or touring-interested) friends know about the meeting.
- We’d like to know who/how many are coming and who’s going to present: RSVP
Getting to Kelly’s: From NY 13, take NY 89 north (that’s Buffalo St), across the railroad tracks and across the first bridge over water. Follow 89 by taking a right on Old Taughannock Blvd. Kelly’s is just a little ways from the corner on your right. It’s across the road from Island Fitness, the big building with all the glass. If you don’t see parking in the street right there, go a bit further and take a right just before the big bridge. There is a large parking area for public use there.
By Brenda Smith Cycle-CNY.com has been an information hub for mountain bikers in the Southern Tier of NY since 2005. Its existence has led to many friendships, many rides, and many trails. It has forged partnerships with NYS land managers and with the largest mountain bike advocacy group in the world, the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA).
Mountain bike riders are a diverse bunch, crossing all social, ethnic, and generational gaps. Brenda Smith, Steve Gelb, and I believe the time is ripe to introduce our community to mountain biking as a viable activity for sheer enjoyment, as a vehicle to long-term health, and as a conduit to better understand the fragile environment we cohabitate with other living things.
In mid-March 2012 Cycle-CNY will officially become the first IMBA Chapter in New York. If you haven’t read the forum chatter go here for that discussion, or go to IMBA.com for more information on their Chapter program. With our new IMBA partnership Cycle-CNY will become a non-profit incorporation, establish a revenue stream and have club insurance, positioning us to grow our impact on mountain biking in the Southern Tier of NY.
Communities that embrace the many virtues of mountain biking invariably benefit from that sponsorship. Brenda, Steve, and I reach out to you today in our initial attempt to recruit Cycle-CNY leaders. Cycle-CNY will be governed by a board-of-directors and have four elected officer roles. There are many more roles to fill and events to plan. There will be much hard work but also much fun in the journey.
Each person has to have a passion in life that transcends their everyday concerns. Few endeavors are of greater interest to Brenda, Steve, and I than the maintenance and expansion of mountain biking trails and activities in the Southern Tier. We are very enthusiastic at the prospect of closely working with others that share this passion.
Transforming positive emotions into concrete accomplishments is always the challenge. Few things are as gratifying as seeing a good idea come to fruition. When it is an idea shared by people you like and respect, a positive outcome is even more rewarding. We look forward to exchanging ideas with you and the other leaders recruited in this endeavor.
If you’re interested in serving Cycle-CNY in any capacity we’ll add you to our club leadership e-mail list. Please simply show your support by e-mailing Nate Hunter at natehunter@frontiernet.net. We’re interested in knowing what role you’d like to take and what activities you would specifically like to be involved with. Many thanks for your time and support!
Happy holidays!
Nathan Hunter
Brenda Smith
Steve Gelb
By agoodell Written by Bill Fischer:
5 intrepid but slightly chilly cyclists departed Elmira to endure the hills of Bradford County Pennsylvania Sunday morning. Paul and Wanda were kind enough to accompany yours truly as well as Stuart Wolsh and Daniella Floss from Ithaca. This yielded a pretty girl to balding man ratio of 2/3. I believe this may be the highest pretty girl to balding man ratio in the history of officially sanctioned BHV or FLCC events.
After finding the store in Columbia Crossroads closed, we continued pushing a steady 15 mph headwind all the way to the Southern terminus of the route in Leroy Pa. The store in Leroy was also closed but they have recently graced the citizenry of Leroy with an outdoor Pepsi machine. After scrounging through seat bags and pockets, we were finally able to come up with a couple 1 dollar bills which yielded Paul a 150 calorie Pepsi. This must have accounted for the blistering pace set by the tandem over the “rollers” of Southside Road.
After turning North, we endured the steep hills of Grange and Franklindale roads and then, with a tailwind, blasted down from the mountaintops to our traditional stop in Burlington, Pa. The Brick appeared as unfriendly as anticipated with some new signage welcoming bikers, hunters and drillers. After a brief caucus we decided that the bikers they were welcoming probably had 1,000 cc engines, none of us could shoot straight and any discussion of “drilling” would end badly. Eventually we cowardly decided to take refuge in the Dandy Mini-mart across the street. After several data inputs on their “automated” computer terminals (apparently this is easier than saying “hey, give me a 6″ roast beef sub”), we were all gorging on wraps, subs and breakfast sandwiches to recover some energy for the ensuing climb up Chapel Rd. Actually four of us gorged, Dani had a banana and a granola bar.
Eventually the last hill was ascended and Our Lady of Perpetual Help church came into view. We flew back down to Bentley Creek. Unfortunately that Pepsi from Leroy was still fueling the tandem and Stuart and I were holding on to the Paul and Wanda express with all the energy we had left. The tandem eventually showed us some mercy and pulled off the front at Maple Avenue. Unfortunately Dani (who was just starting to warm up) came to the front and we were left panting and trying to stick to her wheel the rest of the way back home.
By agoodell  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.
By Brenda Smith Yesterday, four adventurous souls from Ithaca trekked just south of Scranton, PA to ride at Moosic Mtn. This was one of Bill’s Adventure Series Rides that had been postponed from earlier in the summer. We met up with two riders from CNY D.I.R.T out of Syracuse at Moosic who were hosting the ride, so our group of four became six. Bill has told me time and again that Moosic will eat you alive, and either you will walk out of there in pieces, or you will walk out of there carrying your bike, broken into many pieces. Um… why was I doing this, again? Oh that’s right, that relentless streak of masochism that seems to run through my center of being and causes me to do crazy things.
 Nathan showing the rocks who's boss. Photo by Eugene Guana We set off on the first trail, named “Conglomerate.” It gets its name from the conglomerate rock that lines and litters the trails. And by litter, I mean more like someone set off a bomb and blew the top of the mountain to smithereens, and it all came raining back down on the remaining hillside in all sizes ranging from huge boulders to “baby heads.” We picked careful lines between the rocks, just barely fitting our tires between them. Every few seconds I would hear a loud “POP” or “PING” or other worrisome Continue reading →
By agoodell 
Originally scheduled earlier in the season, the annual Tour de Shunk ride was postponed due to several roads and bridges still out from flooding this year. This was only my second supported ride, since I usually like to stay local and just ride from home rather than drive to a ride. Chris Rusin talked me into it though, and along with Dany Floss, we carpooled to the bike shop at the start of the ride. As we pulled up, we saw Bill F and Blaine from the Big Horn Velo club. As we grabbed food and put our bikes together, we also saw Mary Ann and Kyra leaving maybe 20 minutes before we did. Of the slightly more than 100 riders, Ithaca and Elmira seemed well represented on this ride.
The route is mostly one very large loop around the Loyalstock State Forest, with an out and back section from the start/finish. The ride starts with several rollers, but early in the ride they seemed even if they were more uphill than down. After a turn, the real climbing starts, and about 4 miles later we had climbed 1,000ft. With a speedy decent on decently paved roads, we made our way to the first checkpoint after Shunk, PA. Each station would have homemade cookies, bananas, bags of various chocolates, and gatorade. Dany had climbed quickly, and was leaving the stop by the time Chris, Bill, Blaine, and I approached it, and we caught up to Mary Ann and Kyra at this point too.
Continue reading →
By Andrejs  Announcing the rules of the competition The 2011 CHC is accomplished, another successful edition in its venerable history. After being postponed from its accustomed date at the end of September, it was nevertheless attended by sixteen registered contestants and at least as many spectators and supporters. The Gimme! coffee was definitely welcome as the temperature never pushed past the mid-50s — holding something warm in the hands was as important as the shot of caffeine today. (Thanks, Gimme!) And the usual eats from Ithaca Bakery — Continue reading →
By Andrejs  Has anyone seen this red white and blue Trek 5200 USPS road bike in the past week to 10 days? (Click image for larger version.)
If you have seen anyone riding this bike in the past week, seen it locked to a bike rack, or have been approached to buy it on craigslist/ebay/etc, please let me know.
Thanks so much,
By Andrejs Delayed but as exciting as ever, the Cascadilla Hill Climb is scheduled for October 15, 2011. Registration will start at 9:00 am and the contests will begin at 10:00.
 As in previous years, we’ll have some great, eye-opening coffee contributed by gimme! coffee. They have been generous with many FLCC events and are especially welcome on the early-morning fall starts. Thanks, gimme! And, also by long tradition, the bewildering scoring system of the CHC will be operated by Glenn Swan. How does he do it?!?
This is not a race for cycling experts. Everyone can participate. Bring your kids, bring your mother. In past years we have had children, commuter bikes with trailers, unicyclists, and electric bikes.
Full particulars about this event are at Hill Climb. In brief, this is not the ordinary race but a fun occasion for people to play with bikes in one of the most beautiful settings in Ithaca. Riders are matched for their ability and ride up in pairs. Winners advance to ride against new opponents; losers get to try again until they’ve lost twice. So, everyone gets at least two rides up the hill; the ultimate winner will have done it five or six times.
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Regular Rides Sun -- see "Coming Up," above, for the weekly Sunday ride
-- Family rides
Mon-- Bike Polo, 6:00 pm at the Ithaca skate park across from Tops
-- MTB rides at Swan Cycles
Tue -- The Tuesday Night Ride (not FLCC)
Wed -- Fitness ride, 5:30, East Hill
-- Women's ride, 6:00, East Hill
Thu -- Slow ride, 5:30, West Hill
-- Relaxed Mountain Bike Rides, 5:30, check for location
-- Time Trial, Brooktondale or Mecklenburg
Fri -- Spirited MTB at Shindagin, 6:00 pm
Sat -- 1st & 3rd Saturdays, Mountain Mollies Women's MTB, 10:00 am
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