Directions to the Shindagin Hollow meeting area:  http://www.shindagin.com/

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Although the weather is still quite favorable, the snow and colder temperatures will be upon us soon enough.  I’d like to pass along some information about cross country skiing this winter, as it’s a great way to stay in shape over the winter and help beat the winter blues!
**Mike Ludgate leads a group ski from his home near Hammond Hill 3 days a week (Tues, Thurs, Sunday).  The type of ski outings he leads are considered “back country” skiing, often on ungroomed trails, and it’s recommended to have the wider skis with metal edges, as the trails involve a lot of steep ascents, descents, and sometimes sharp cornering.  You can email him at michael.ludgate@gmail.com to get on his listserv or to ask him for more information.
**Glenn Swan also hosts cross country skiing (groomed trails for skate and touring skiing, and some back country trails) at his residence on Mt. Pleasant, and you can watch the FLCC listserv for announcements about days and times for that.
**And last, but not least, check out the Cayuga Nordic Ski Club website (http://cayuganordicski.org/new/) for other ski outings at nearby state forests.

~Brenda

Juan Salazar with club mirror

I’ve received the order of mirrors I put in to Chuck Harris; we should have enough for everyone who wants one now. As before, they’ll be $15 each; and, unless you make other arrangements, I’ll get them down to Cayuga Ski & Cyclery (624 W. State St., 277-6821) where you can pay and pick them up. To get one, call me at 607 592 0780 or email vptouring@flcycling.org.

There’s a bit more information about the mirrors at “Helmet Mirror” and some tips and pictures to help install it on your helmet at “Installing the Mirror.”

Brenda

The ride starts out with some moderate hills, and seems to get worse
as the day goes on. Either the hills get steeper and longer, or my
energy was just getting drained with each hill. I think nearly all of
these hills are part of one FLCC ride or another, so they were
familiar roads, just not ones that I typically ride all of in one day.
The first tough climb was on Legge, which seemed to have more grade
and be longer than the others to that point.

About half of the group called it a day after Besemer, heading back on
Rt 79. 11 of us continued on. We stopped at the top of King Rd, which
had much more traffic than I expected, to decide on a lunch
destination. The descent of Stone Quarry is one that deserves a big
waring also, since where an old railbed crosses, the road drops off
suddenly after. At the right speed, you might catch some air there,
and it is easily possible to exceed 50mph on this one but you surely
don’t want to. The intersection at the bottom also has traffic making
a very sharp right turn to get up the hill, so planning your speed
wisely here is extremely important.

After lunch at Wegmans, the long climb of Bostwick was next. I just
picked a pace and kept on pedaling at a fairly constant rate up
1000ft. Stopping at Applegate Rd was a good place to let others catch
up, before the descent begins. Everyone made it up, and then a few
went back down or onward home. The group was then down to 9.

After descending, the route to cross the bigger roads gets a little
tricky, and Sam lead us along the fastest way past this, which does
involve riding on what feels like a highway and merging through lanes,
but is probably the safest way around this mess. The reward for making
it this far is the climb up Blakesly Hill, which is another real leg
burner. I had to traverse on this road because to pedal fast enough to
stay upright on 38×28 gearing just wasn’t working otherwise. We
stopped at the top, and waited for others to catch up. One went back
to see if Harold was still coming, but didn’t see him on that stretch,
so we continued on.

I think a few more turned off when we reached 96/34, because I can
only remember 6 of us continuing on Tupper Rd. We barely saw the turn
for Beech since it looked like 4 wheeler trail, and Sam, Max and I
attempted that climb while Dani and two others on road bikes went
straight. Beech was a bad idea, because neither Max nor I were able to
pedal up the rocky road and still get enough traction. I think Sam on
his medium width wheels and a triple chainring was able to pedal the
whole way. For a ride that’s doable by road bikes otherwise, I think
this hill needs to go since it just wasn’t group ride material. Sam
had his rear wheel plastic dish thingy start to fall apart at the top,
and lost the ability to freewheel here. Max poked at it with various
tools, and after a few pieces fell out, it seemed good enough to
continue. We met up with Dani again at a house down the road (the
others had continued on), where she had struck up a conversation with
a nice old lady that was more than willing to let us refill our water.

The remaining 4 in the group continued up Brown, which was over
quicker than I expected, and from there it’s downhill more than 1000ft
to Ithaca. Dani turned off at the traffic circle to head home, and I
headed west on Buffalo having already climbed to EHP in the morning
and with a climb up Rt 96 still awaiting me. Sam and Max went up
Buffalo, the last B of the day. If the other 2 did finish the route,
than the final count of people riding 98%+ of the ride was 6.

At the end of the day, I was out for 11 hours, 9 of those moving, 108
miles, and 10,600ft elevation gain (potentially not accurate elevation
data).

Andy Goodell

Eighteen surly mountain goats started from East Hill at 8:00 yesterday, most intent on finishing the 100 miles of terrible hills.  Here’s who I remember, others can fill in as needed.

It was a pleasure to have non FLCC people, Dan Capps and Brian McDowell (whom I met through a fossil workshop).  Also there were Mark Shenstone, Andy Goddell, Sam Kolins, Nate (and his girlfriend), Dani, Ano, Harold Kliems,  Max Kraft, Chris, and Ruth Sherman.

It was a great day for a ride and I was surprised and pleased that everybody waited at the tops of the most terrible hills for everyone to catch up.  I’m sure that many present could have made mince meat out of this ride, so it was quite neighborly for them to wait for the rest of us.   Many peeled off during the ride, Ano at around 25 miles, then Ruth after Legge, Chris before Besemer, Nate and friend after Besemer, Marko after Bostwick.  Brian had to drive back to Rochester, so went up Boswick and back down.  That left around 10 of us to fight Blakeslee, but my legs were starting to feel the pain, so I figured that would be my last.

I’m convinced that Blakeslee is the most terrible of the terrible.  I crawled up it just fast enough to keep from falling over.  Next time it might help to bring a rope and crampons.  Most of the other mountain goat types quickly moved ahead out of sight, including Dan, who was riding an old commuter bike, shorts and no shirt (not sure if I saw a kickstand).  At the top, Dan and I bid farewell to the others, who I have no doubt finished the entire thing.

All told, I logged 85 miles and approximately 9,500 feet of climbing.  Took me 6 hours 23 minutes during which I averaged 13.3 miles per hour.  However, this does not begin to describe the fun.

Wayne

Email with any questions.

~Brenda

These mirrors are made from recycled materials — bits of mirror and stainless steel spokes. The mount will clip over the left front edge of your helmet and, once it’s on there, you can pick up the helmet by the mirror and it won’t budge. More info at Helmet Mirror

They’re $15 a piece, as before, and have the FLCC graphic on the back of the mirror.

Sunday morning broke wet and cool in Lansing. I checked the weather before I left the house, but knew that I’d get wet even before I saw the forecast for a 60% chance of rain. It was bad to the North and South, but scattered in the middle and set to clear by 1, so it looked like a great day to ride, and what a great day it was!  It looked to me like there were at least 25 – 30+ people, though, and many new faces.

The first group headed out at 9:15am, and it started to rain before we left Watkins Glen. But we decided not to put on rain jackets since we would just create internal rain (read: sweat) on the long uphill climb required to get anywhere far from the start. — There were 11 of us at this point. It was a long climb out of the Glen, so the cool weather and light rain were not unwelcome. Not too long after the climb, though, the rain really picked up, so a bunch of us stopped to put on our rain jackets, regrouping a little further along the road.

Just to make clear what I can, our group did end up being comprised of the what people have referred to as the “fast group.” However, there was nothing rushed or race like about group today. Rather, the ride was relaxed and steady, marked by numerous stops and overall one of the most enjoyable group rides that I have gone on in this area! Stewart did a great job making sure we knew where we could stop for rest-rooms and food, led us along a beautiful road through a state park and hugging the lake instead of continuing on the route from the cue sheet online.

We arrived at a beautiful rest stop at the South end of Keuka Lake, where there were some nice bathrooms in an old station next to the water. After a leisurely stop, it was a long climb back out of the valley and up onto the ridge. This is where the endless beauty of the finger lakes area never ceases to inspire me. For the rest of the day we rode past verdant vineyards loaded with grapes with continual lake views, not to mention trees loaded with apples and peaches, pastures with horses, alpacas and cows and immaculate Amish and Mennonite farms, along with horses and buggies. Add to that a tail wind and really good company, making the ride even more enjoyable!

Eventually we descended with great speed into the town of Branchport, located on the left tip of the Y chromosome that is Keuka Lake. There, we stopped at a diner-type place were we ordered food and took a break.

Here, Stewart deserves credit for the best off-route modification yet. He led us through Keuka State Park and onto a road that hugged the lake shore, which felt like summer camp, what with the summer houses, close trees, low speed limit and general lack of traffic. It also led us to the most wonderful of apple trees! After going along nice and flat for a long while, there was a long, deceptively steep climb. After cranking to the top, though, and as we waited to re-group, I found an apple tree on the side of the road. After jumping theatrically to get a few, I decided to climb it. The apples were perfect, and in a scrubby woods near the road with no homes, so after throwing down a bunch to everyone, I filled my trunk pack with 10 apples to take home, which inspired people to ask what I planned to do with them, to which I responded enthusiastically, apple pie!!!

I realize now that I am in the makings of writing a book, so lets just say the rest of the day went well, and despite two more flats (one for Stewart, another for Vanessa) we all made it back to Watkins Glen. Another noteworthy, in Penn Yan we passed the world’s largest pancake griddle, hanging on the side of an old mill. At 28 feet in diameter, it was used in 1987 to make the world’s largest pancake!

All said and done, we covered ~101 miles with an average speed of 15-16 mph, arriving back in Watkins Glen around 5:30pm and having spent around 6.5 hours in the saddle, so there was plenty of time spent stopped, eating food, enjoying the views, catching up and picking apples! Andy and Dany rode back to Ithaca, ending up with nearly 150 miles for the day.