tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27489008260763814152011-10-01T08:58:00.330-04:00Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.comBlogger371100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-19927597180958693912011-01-03T21:41:00.001-05:002011-01-03T21:42:52.289-05:00

I've moved the blog over to wordpress. The new URL is http://flbiker.wordpress.com/I've transferred all of my blogger posts over as well, will be cleaning up the results over time. THe blog is still titled Finger Lakes Biker. I've just posted my recap of 2010. Check it out!

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-24040801447242203402010-09-23T11:39:00.001-04:002010-09-27T12:00:42.560-04:00

Route: Tour de Shunk Century Ride (Franklindale, PA)Total distance: 105.01 milesRide time: 06:36:43Avg speed: 15.88 mphTotal climb: 6,143 ftLow point: 738 ft, at Proctor Rd near mile 50, alongHigh point: 2299 ft, Rt 154, Wheelerville MountainAvg climb: 58.5 ft/mile(Elevation Profile)Doug coming up a hillMy friends Denny and Jim did this ride last year, and it sounded great: 100 miles through the

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-37913449639100512442010-09-14T10:09:00.000-04:002010-09-27T11:38:34.353-04:00

Route: New York City Century Tour (Manhattan - Brooklyn - Queens - BronxTotal distance: 100.14 milesRide time: 07:27:43Avg speed: 13.42 mphTotal climb: 2,525 ftLow point: 0 feet (sea level), various places along routeHigh point: 322 ft, near Cloverdale Blvd, QueensAvg climb: 25.2 ft/mile(Elevation Profile)Cyclists heading west on W 110th betweenB'way and RiversideI did this century ride a couple

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-33506764570477615632010-08-21T12:27:00.007-04:002010-08-21T13:36:19.337-04:00

Route: Ithaca - Alpine - Breesport - Elmira Heights - Harris Hill - Elmira - Erin - Newfield - Ithaca (Ithaca Soaring route)Total distance: 103.01 milesRide time: 08:01:30Avg speed: 12.84 mphTotal climb: 7,834 ftLow point: 394 ft, IthacaHigh point: 1871 ft, Van Kirk Rd @Irish Hill Rd, south of NewfieldAvg climb: 76.1 ft/mileClimbing Rt 327It was a perfect day for a bike ride, sunny, temps in the

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-54055758299868213292010-07-29T23:07:00.002-04:002010-07-29T23:49:29.548-04:00

At the end of the ride, mile 105 on day 6, mile 510 of the tripI blogged about my 6 day ride from Ithaca down to the tip of Virginia's eastern shore at my touring blog.It was a great ride, including 3 days of 100+ miles, lots of hot and humid weather, great cycling rodes and trails, a few broken spokes, and fried chicken.Check it out.

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-15735282766225968902010-01-17T13:03:00.003-05:002010-01-17T13:32:26.683-05:00

On Rt 89 at Cayuga Lake CreameryFinally, a day with dry roads and sunshine! And on a Saturday! I decided not to do one of my quick century routes, rather I cobbled together some roads I liked, and added in a couple new ones to bring the ride up to 100 miles. I also included a few nice climbs. I hadn't really ridden regularly since November, so I knew this would be slow and I took it easy. It

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-61965023633551985682009-11-11T19:50:00.006-05:002009-11-11T20:19:00.539-05:00

On South Danby Rd south of IthacaMy goal for 2009 is 18 century rides. I didn't think I'd make it, since I didn't get in as many as I'd planned over the summer. But then it looked like the weather on Monday would be perfect, and since it was my birthday I thought I'd give myself a present of a century ride -- it would be #17, so with the December century ride I'd make my goal.I decided to ride a

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-36736429661920144692009-10-30T17:26:00.003-04:002009-11-01T16:24:05.665-05:00

Great ride today, beautiful gusty fall day, decided to do a climbing ride, the 65 mile version the Rochester Bike Club's century ride from Ithaca to Elmira and back. The short version of the ride that I did today has about 5000 ft of climbing (avg climb 75 ft/mile). Temp was in the lower 50s the whole day, winds were pretty consistently from south, 10-20 gusting up to 30 near the end of the

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-55068080199064814482009-07-29T21:11:00.006-04:002009-07-29T22:04:27.501-04:00

Taughannock Creek, looking towards the lake For my third July century I chose a route that was a big loop around Cayuga, Owasco and Skaneateles Lakes, and included a lot of roads I hadn't ridden before. The morning was beautiful, sunny, no rain predicted all day, a bit of a breeze.The first stretch, up Rt 89 to Cayuga Lake Creamery at Interlaken, is one I've ridden a lot, of course. I got to the

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-42146328092416844012009-07-27T22:05:00.007-04:002009-07-27T22:52:26.932-04:00

View Larger MapIthaca to Montour FallsLucas hadn't done a long ride since returning from Virginia, so he said he'd be up for something 50-60 miles. I plotted a course to bring us to Montour Falls, up to September Hill. This is where Lucas was born 15-1/3 years ago, at the birthing center next to the hospital. Then we'd come back to Ithaca via Odessa and Newfield, for a total ride of about 58

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-53073892040386874422009-07-24T20:48:00.004-04:002009-07-27T22:38:20.201-04:00

Wildflowers along Rt 34I'd done a century in the first week of July, but I was hoping to get in 18 centuries this year, so knew I had to do at least a couple more this month. I decided to do one on Wednesday July 22. The weather looked good, and I thought I'd be ready.For the route, I decided to retrace part of the route that Lucas and I took to Virginia. The first part of Pennsylvania's Bike

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-32809705032996435792009-07-24T20:37:00.002-04:002009-07-24T20:48:31.463-04:00

Lucas and me on the Rt 50 bridge at Ocean City,MarylandFrom Monday July 6 to Monday July 13, my 15-year old son Lucas and I rode our bikes from Spencer, NY (18 miles south of Ithaca) to the tip of the Virginia Eastern Shore, at Kiptopeke, the toll booths for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.I blogged the entire ride over at my touring blog, chipbiking.wordpress.com. All of the posts can be

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-45762876892548542192009-06-28T21:53:00.012-04:002009-06-29T15:50:54.187-04:00

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

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-10728263071734239572009-06-21T21:29:00.004-04:002009-06-21T21:41:24.310-04:00

In southern CaliforniaI just finished a 10 day tour from San Francisco to San Diego, June 9-18, I blogged about it at a wordpress blog site I set up (much easier to manage from away). You can read about the exploits at http://chipbiking.wordpress.com. Description of ride plus photos.For all the photos I took (there are over 300), you can go to my Picasa/Google site: California Ride June 2009Here

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-14054370867965641662009-02-12T23:03:00.004-05:002009-02-13T09:25:01.804-05:00

The routeFebruary can be a tough month for a century, but I lucked out this year.Last week I'd picked out Monday as a likely day; it was supposed to be sunny and not too cold. But in picking my route I also wanted to be sure that winds wouldn't be too bad.At first forecasts said that there'd be minimal wind, so I thought about riding my December century ride route, North up Rt 34 to Fleming, back

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-87735091801832698742009-01-19T15:19:00.010-05:002009-01-20T10:05:53.957-05:00

It's been real cold the last few weeks, and Cayuga Lake has frozen over going out more than a mile.  Driving along the lake a couple of days ago I saw ice skaters way out on the lake. The ice looked very smooth.So today I decided to go out and bike on the lake.I took my hybrid, which has 700x40c  (2.1 inch) Kenda Klondike tires, knobby with metal studs (see closeup photo).  I rode over to Stewart

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-7179623062276285382009-01-07T19:27:00.016-05:002009-01-10T14:05:50.100-05:00

The route (same route I rode on Aug. 20)January can be a tough month for a century ride in upstate New York. Last year I lucked out when we had a fluke 54 degree day the first week of the month. No such luck this year.I began scoping out advance weather forecasts at the end of December. I was looking for a day that either would be warm, or else one where the roads would be dry and the wind not

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-25786814419897460502009-01-02T12:10:00.033-05:002009-01-09T22:07:27.279-05:00

Keuka Lake, century and a half ride, July2008 was my first full season of cycling. It was a great year.I started serious riding in July 2007, and clocked 2,570 miles that year. I set my goals for 2008 at 5,000 miles and 250,000 feet of climbing, for an average climb of 50 ft/mile. I managed to beat my original mileage goal by over 50%, coming in at the end of 2008 with 7,648 miles. I passed my

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-50197999236989030272008-12-17T21:39:00.005-05:002008-12-18T17:06:54.404-05:00

The routeI did my first winter century ride of the season on Tuesday. December, January and February are the most challenging months for century rides because there are many fewer days that are good for all-day biking; plus, in December and January, the days are really short. In general when I'm planning a century ride, I check the weather reports for the next ten days, figure out which day is

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-58954848437294389302008-11-23T12:47:00.011-05:002008-11-23T16:51:10.712-05:00

Winter is taking its toll, and I've not been able to get out riding as much as I'd like. And when I do it's just not the same as those wonderful summer riding days. So when business brought me out to San Francisco, I decided to take an extra day and do some riding.I went onto Mapmyride.com and checked out some likely routes in Marin County, just north of San Francisco, and when I got to SF I

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-62574863970833741292008-10-15T18:52:00.018-04:002008-10-16T19:53:22.219-04:00

My Cayuta Lake loop: Cayuta Lake is the little lake in the lower left hand side of the photo. Connecticut Hill is the heavily forested area just east of Cayuta LakeI like flat, smooth roads just as much as the next cyclist. I love to get going real fast, boosting my average speed and distance, and just cruising.But sometimes I like to climb hills. I do the 530 feet climb on my commute to work in

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-60376297816982602782008-10-08T21:22:00.009-04:002008-10-08T21:47:37.986-04:00

Cayuga Lake from Rt 89 at Seneca/Tompkins Co. lineMonday after work I went out for a ride. It felt chilly, the wind felt cold and I felt tired. The season of warm rides in shorts and t-shirts is over. I was feeling a bit down.I checked the weather forecast for the next day: it was supposed to be a beautiful day. So I decided I'd do one of my favorite rides, what I call Between the Lakes. On

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-85042533504208258502008-10-05T20:00:00.005-04:002008-10-05T22:36:12.648-04:00

The route (including a few mileswhere we missed our turn)Last weekend I rode part of the STBC century ride with karcod. Unfortunately my seatpost broke so I only made it to mile 85, and since I'd done a century the day before, I wasn't in my best form. And it was pouring rain.So Karl suggested doing a ride this weekend, and I proposed a loop going north from Ithaca that includes some of my

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-90674766035566745962008-09-30T22:36:00.001-04:002008-09-30T22:47:29.925-04:00

This past weekend I planned to do two centuries.On Saturday, the Alfred Century ride, going from Almond to Olean and back, on the Bacchetta Giro 20 recumbent.On Sunday, the Southern Tier Bike Club century picnic ride, a series of loops out of Owego that add up to 100 miles, on my Felt Z80 road bike. Unfortunately I didn't manage to finish that because of bike problems.But first things first...

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-86212442339690602732008-09-22T20:15:00.004-04:002008-09-22T20:44:28.468-04:00

Morning commute up South hill: 530 feet of climbing over 1.2 milesFor at least the past ten years I've been commuting to work in the morning up South Hill. The first mile or so of my ride, through downtown, is pretty flat, maybe 20 feet of climbing over about 3/4 of a mile. But then the climb begins.The steepest part is at the start, heading up Aurora St and then turning onto Hudson. The

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-17141129749882504372008-09-08T19:40:00.008-04:002008-09-09T15:18:31.038-04:00

Headed down Broadway towards Times SquareOn Sunday I did what was probably my favorite and most interesting century ride yet: the annual New York City Century Tour.This is a 100 mile ride that takes you through Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. As their promo material rightly claims, you see the city in a way you've never seen it before.I lived in NYC for 9 years in the '80s and early '

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-85530515063849483392008-08-28T20:30:00.005-04:002008-08-28T23:08:49.107-04:00

So in July I managed to do three rides of 100 miles or more. The first and third were about 100 miles each; the second one was a 150 miles, a century and a half. This post will be about the first century ride, I'll post later on the other century and on the century and a half rides.The Rans Tailwind I rode (Tommie's new Bacchetta Giro in background) My buddy Tommie, who got me into road cycling

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-1154773873181665432008-08-21T17:55:00.012-04:002008-08-22T15:26:36.564-04:00

100 miles in under 6 hoursWhen I told my friend Denny my average speed for the 150 mile ride I did a month ago -- in particular the speed of the last 100 miles (15.8 mph), he said, "you'll be doing a century in under 6 hours soon!" And that got me thinking. My third century ride in July (not yet posted) I managed to do 100 miles in 6 hours, 6 minutes and 35 seconds! So I decided to to a modified

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-32430855604814646092008-08-15T22:27:00.001-04:002008-08-15T22:33:03.997-04:00

The route: "Crazy 8 Century" Every August the Tioga County Tourism Office sponsors a weekend of riding in Tioga County, in the southern tier of upstate New York. This event -- Bike Tioga -- was held last weekend. There are various ride options ranging from 25 miles up to a 106 mile century ride.I got up early last Saturday and made the 30 mile drive to Owego. It was still pretty foggy much of

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-10788200698732406632008-08-10T17:36:00.000-04:002008-08-10T18:40:04.893-04:00

Every summer, for a week in early August, my wife, kids and I pack up the car, strap on the canoe and bikes, and head up to eastern Ontario, where we rent a cabin (or as they call them up there, a "cottage") on a beautiful lake. It's rustic -- no electricity, plumbing or running water, but incredibly peaceful. We've been going up there for about 12 years now.Since the road from our cottage to

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-80960422412694682882008-07-29T20:28:00.001-04:002008-07-29T21:16:32.049-04:00

I'll blog about my 3 July century rides later, but now I want to write about a great ride I did with the Southern Tier Bike Club this past weekend.Keuka Lake is the really interesting-looking Finger Lake. Kind of like a tuning fork, it splits in the middle and has east and west branches (see photo at left).I'd done the Keuka Lake ride a couple of times -- in fact it was my first "long" ride --

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-69806919692085266612008-07-24T11:42:00.000-04:002008-07-24T18:35:43.701-04:00

Man has this been a rainy summer!It started out okay, but for the past month, it's been raining several times a day. The radar map above is typical, though the gap between rain storms is a bit more than usual.I biked all winter, so got used to biking in sub-optimal conditions. But those beautiful upstate NY sunny days we had earlier in the summer are such perfect biking weather, I got spoiled.

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-55088013247290877332008-07-12T21:09:00.001-04:002008-07-29T21:13:45.782-04:00

Better late than never... I'm a couple of centuries and a few interesting rides behind, so let me start to catch up.On June 13 I did my June century. It was a really beautiful ride, with climbing and flats, and lots of beautiful rural scenery, both farms and woods.I started out heading up to Dryden, which is a climb of almost 1000 feet total. I left Ithaca going up Devon Rd through Cayuga Heights

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-4849062508981495222008-06-02T18:42:00.000-04:002008-06-02T19:22:24.628-04:00

So it was just too nice, and thunderstorms were predicted for the weekend, so on Friday May 30 I decided to do another century.I decided to head south again, but via a different route. I went up out of Ithaca via Cornell's campus, to Varna, and from there along Rts 366 and 13 into Dryden. At Dryden I turned south onto Rt.38 and rode all the way to Owego. 38 goes through a kind of valley, though

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-19700201169267682582008-05-28T19:52:00.001-04:002008-05-29T10:29:57.284-04:00

Today I'd planned to do a trip around Owasco Lake, but got a late start and ran into strong headwinds, so I did a trip to Moravia and back instead.Moravia is a few miles south of Owasco Lake, in the Owasco inlet valley. Owasco is the next Finger Lake east of Cayuga, so getting there involves going up and then back down. The geography of this region was created by retreating glaciers, which dug

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-4584268448608765302008-05-24T10:43:00.000-04:002008-05-25T19:20:40.901-04:00

I've been doing a century a month since my first century ride in September 2007. The only month I've missed so far is December.For May, I planned a trip south, along a route that is relatively flat: total climb average was 31.02 ft/mile. It went from Ithaca to Spencer to Waverly to Elmira to Montour Falls. From Montour Falls I'd planned to go to Burdett, but I missed the turn, so I ended up

Finger Lakes Bikerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00200865022032969548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748900826076381415.post-59589779186021029502008-05-22T09:19:00.000-04:002008-05-25T20:55:22.981-04:00

If you've ever biked in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, you'll know what I'm talking about.For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of doing so, this blog will give you an idea of this excellent biking region.Why excellent?First, we're located in upstate New York, where pretty much all state highways -- at least all relatively new ones -- have wide, paved shoulders. I never

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