Finger Lakes – Day 4  (Saturday, June 15)

 

Today we awoke to a glorious blue sky, and forecast for temps in the mid to high 70s – finally a day without arm warmers and vests!

 

At breakfast there was some discussion about the Sunday forecast. It was looking like we were in for the chance of rain. Some of the team had already planned for Saturday to be their last riding day, others were now re-thinking their options.

 

While they were contemplating, Steve S, Don and Barb headed out (at 7:07) for the 12.5 ride up to the Taughannock Falls overlook.  They arrived well before the first of the JSTS cars, OR the FLCC club cyclists.

Seven JSTS vehicles with 17 team members arrived in quick succession. That made for a Team JSTS contingent of 20. Phil wasn’t feeling well, and decided to sleep in; Roger decided to get an early start for home and family commitments.

 

FLCC Saturday rides have a leader and a sweep. We signed in and took their phone numbers, in the event of an emergency. After an appropriate amount of ‘meeting and greeting’ between the 10 to 12 FLCC riders and 20 JSTS riders, as well as some photo opportunities, we headed up the access road.

 

 

We were expecting a challenging ride (3 steep climbs) and we got it! As it turns out many of us had ample opportunity to chat with the sweep!

 

At mile 9, we had our first mechanical. Ray changed his flat in no time, only to have the replacement tube also blow. After further inspection, it was determined that the tire would require a boot (supplied by Don). While we were dealing with the extended stop, Peter determined that his crank wouldn’t survive the anticipated stress of the steep hill climbs – the pedal was hanging on by a thread. And Andy determined that his quad muscle wouldn’t survive the anticipated stress of the steep hill climbs. Both informed the FLCC ride leader that they were leaving the ride. Also, while we were dealing with the extended stop, some of the FLCC riders determined that they might not survive a hill climb ride with riders from the flatlands!.... But, we did get back on the road, descended, and climbed, and climbed, and descended. At mile 25, the group stopped in Ovid for breakfast/lunch.

 

 

Back on the bikes after lunch, we descended, and descended to Lodi Point on Seneca Lake. We stopped to take some photos….

 

 

 

And then the climbing began. It started with a steep grade that topped out at 20%, at which point Steve S's bike fell over for no apparent reason.  We concluded that his bike was only made for climbs up to 19%.  Fortunately, the climb then moderated to (mostly) single digits for the next 3 miles. The (remaining) FLCC riders were waiting at the top for team JSTS to arrive. When asked if we had earned our ice cream just yet, the answer was ‘only one scoop’ – there were more significant hills ahead. The next 2 mile stretch was primarily downhill. Riders were making their way at speeds exceeding 25 mph, when a local couple needed to make a right turn down their street .

 

Cyclists Beware:

 

It was a very near miss, but after dusting ourselves off, everyone got back on their bikes and plowed on – to the next climb – 2 miles at grades topping out at 15%. Many of these climbs were reminiscent of the Vermont Gap climbs.

 

 

At mile 47 we were finally at the top of the ridge. The ice cream shop was at mile 59…. We each had earned 3 scoops!

 

After ice cream we only had 2 – 3 miles back to the cars. After extending our thanks to the FLCC rider(s), the 7 cars loaded up their bikes…. Some were headed directly home, others were making one more pit stop back at the hotel for a late check-out, and others were staying overnight.

 

Don and Barb, having pedaled their way up to the overlook in the morning, were now left to their own devices (primarily gps) to meander back to the hotel…. And it wasn’t all downhill – but it was a meander.

When they finally hit the peak, they welcomed the “Trucks use low gear” sign. On the 3 mile descent into Ithaca, they were treated to amazing views of the valley to the east and south, including Cornell University and Ithaca College. They made it back to the hotel at 5:35pm, an early day by all accounts, having racked up 91.3 miles. The consensus from the team was that they should go back out for the other 8.7 miles – but we all know that riding is not all about the numbers!

 

Day 4 Statistics:

Total Miles: 1292 mi

Total Elevation: 81988 ft