My Bacchetta Giro 20I rode a recumbent for the first time about a year ago -- June 30 of last year to be exact. I had borrowed my friend Tommie's Rans Tailwind after attending the 2008 RARE (Rochester Area Recumbents Enthusiasts) R2K ride two days earlier. The ride, which I'd done on my road bike, was a great route, but the two nights camping at Hamlin Beach State Park west of Rochester with other R2K riders was a real blast. And recumbents seemed to be a lot of fun to ride. So I started riding the Tailwind, and did a 4 day tour from Ithaca up to Kingston on it with Tommie and the RARE crew in September.
After the tour I switched to Tommie's extra Bacchetta Giro 20, and I eventually bought it from him in April. I'd done 2 century rides on the Giro, so when I heard there'd be a century option for this year's R2K -- in honor of its 10th anniversary -- I decided to go for it as my June century ride.
At the start of the rideLate Friday afternoon I drove up to Hamlin Beach loaded with pasta salad, sesame noodles, brownies, Ithaca Beer and my Giro. (Tommie was still crewing for Denny Voorhees in the Race Across America, so he missed this year's R2K.) I got there and pitched my tent, said hi to everyone, grabbed some food (I got in a bit late), and hung out, catching up with friends and meeting some new folks.
Bright and early the next morning, we rolled out for a great breakfast cooked up by Michael, Dave and Cliff, the R2K organizers, then out to the main parking lot for the start of the ride. There were about 30 people taking part in this year's ride. The weather was perfect, sunny, temperature in the 70s, a bit of a breeze.
At Lake Ontario Beach Park (I'm wearing a Southern Tier Bike Club shirt)We pedalled eastward over pretty flat terrain, turning north for a detour from the usual route. The detour took us down Edgemere Drive, along the shore of Lake Ontario, with a beautiful view of the lake. We continued along to Lake Ontario Beach Park, where the Genesee River flows into the lake.
At that point, a group of us, including those of us doing the century ride, broke off to do a loop through Irondequoit, crossing over the bridge and riding through a very pleasant little town and neighborhood. Dave Larson led us through this loop, there were a few small rollers but overall this too was pretty flat.
Then it was back across the bridge and along the river, across the beautiful boardwalk, probably about a half mile long, that goes above the water at Turning Point Park, along wetlands, quiet and beautifully green. The route then follows a bike path, mostly through parkland, that eventually got us to downtown Rochester, across the pedestrian/bike bridge that crosses the Genesee River and gives a great view of the big falls.
At the DinosaurLunch at the famous Dinosaur Barbecue! I was definitely ready for some refueling, and got the "big ass" portion of barbecue pork plus cornbread, macaroni salad and cole slaw. After we'd finished, six of us, including Dave, took off to continue the ride, along the river, along the Erie Canal, back up to Edgemere Dr. We eventually caught up to others in the group, and joined them.
At one point I was riding along talking to Michael and suddenly realized I'd just run over a broken beer bottle, and immediately heard that whoosh sound of air rapidly leaving my tire. The glass had slashed the tire, so we stopped and Michael and a couple of other guys helped me change the tube. I used a dollar bill as a boot for the slashed tire, and we were good to go.
Falls in downtown RochesterJust after that we stopped at a convenience store, I went in with Jeff, who was riding a trike and doing his first century. When I got to the cooler I grabbed a pint of strawberry ice cream, Jeff grabbed his own pint, got some spoons, and we joined the other guys outside at the picnic bench in the shade. That ice cream tasted great, and was at just the right time, about mile 75, which is when I usually stop for ice cream on my century rides. We hung out there for about 20-30 minutes.
Five of us who were going to do the century then took off, turning off the regular route onto Church Rd to do the last loop of about 20 miles that would take us up over 100 miles. The roads were pretty flat, very slightly inclined up. We were riding into the sun, which was pretty bright, and into a mild headwind. Pat, Brendan, myself, Jeff (the trike guy) and Jeff's friend on an upright rode westward until Peter Smith Rd where we turned north, then turned east onto Lakeshore which we followed with a few zigs and zags until we got back to the park.
Post-ride dinnerThis ride is perfect for a recumbent - no coincidence there! It's very flat, though my altimeter wasn't working, I'd guess that at most it was about 1500 feet of climbing over a bit more than 100 miles, definitely the flattest century ride I've ever done! The route is also really scenic, along the lake and river and canal, lots of it is along bike paths, really nice!
After a quick shower I joined the others who'd already arrived, including a friend of Cliff's who had brought some home-brewed beer that really hit the spot. We sat around and talked and had some beers, then Michael, Dave and Cliff started up the grills.
We had a great dinner, then sat around a campfire at Cliff's camper for a while, talking, drinking beers and eating brownies. What a perfect day it was, great weather, great riding, great company. I slept really well that night.
The route (in red) relative to Finger Lakes
Route: Hamlin Beach - Rochester - Hamlin Beach
Total distance: 108.38 miles
Ride time: 08:03:53
Avg speed: 13.44 mph
Total climb: 1,300 ft
Low point: 236 ft, along Lake Ontario
High point: 568 ft, downtown Rochester
Avg climb: 11.99 feet/mile (!!)
Total distance: 108.38 miles
Ride time: 08:03:53
Avg speed: 13.44 mph
Total climb: 1,300 ft
Low point: 236 ft, along Lake Ontario
High point: 568 ft, downtown Rochester
Avg climb: 11.99 feet/mile (!!)
