BicycleMan - Abby’s 52 miles through the Finger Lakes Region of Western NY
It was a clear June morning as we rolled our bikes out of the Bicycle Man
shop in Alfred Station and turned downhill, toward Grandma and Grandpa’s
cottage on Keuka Lake, one of New York’s Finger Lakes. Our older daughter,
Abby had been looking forward to this fifty two-mile ride since early
spring when a friend bet her a hat she couldn’t do it before her 9th
birthday. I was excited; it would be the first trip of this length towing
the trailer with my comfy RANS recumbent bike. Linda, my wife was looking
forward to having an uninterrupted day together. Rachel, our younger
daughter was looking forward to riding in the trailer, but even more to
seeing Grandma and Grandpa at their Keuka Lake cottage. She wouldn’t have
to wait that long, my mom would be meeting us in Bath for lunch and would
take Rachel (and the trailer!) the rest of the way in the car. We picked
the NY “Bike 17” rout because it offered safe cycling and scenery with out
too many challenging hills. It would take us to within a mile or two of
Keuka lake at Hammondsport, where we would stop at the village park for a
refreshing dip in beautiful Lake Keuka, the Y shaped finger lake. From
Hammondsport we would turn north and finish the ride with the lake on the
right and the wineries on the left. Linda breezed along on her bike, Abby
following on her own bike. Abby’s was a Dutch three-speed from the ‘60’s
she and I had carefully rebuilt into a lighter 6 speed. I was on my
recumbent bike towing Rachel in the trailer.
Taking the lightly traveled back roads parallel to State Rte 21 made it
easy with this group. When we did occasionally have to ride on Rte 21 we
were glad for the wide paved shoulders. A mile north of Almond we turned
left on Kanakadea Road (Steuben Co #66) and left most of the traffic
behind. We had several nice views of the Kanakadea Lake. I particularly
enjoyed the view from the sitting-up position on my RANS recumbent bike.
Here we encountered our first little hills and Abby did fine. We kept our
speed down on the big decent for Abby and out of respect for the RR tracks
at the bottom.
We waited for the light to cross Rte 36 and rode the one-mile on Seneca
street. We stayed alert and close together because it was the heaviest
traffic of the day. At Elsenheimers Chevrolet we turned left (east) on Big
Creek Road, County 66.) With ten miles and most of the traffic behind us
we could ride two abreast and enjoy conversation more. A few miles along
Big Creek the road began to climb. As it climbed, the day warmed and we
did too! By the time we had gone another 5 miles we were ready for a
break. We stopped at a wide spot in the road and had a rest and a snack.
Rachel was glad to get out of the trailer and stretch her legs. After a
break we were fresh and started off again. Another few miles brought us to
the hill into Howard, by far the biggest climb of the day with about 350
vertical feet in a mile and a half. Abby downshifted and climbed right up
it while Linda and I followed. Rachel declared from the trailer “I’m
tired.” By this time the day had warmed up and the climb was making us
hot. We squirted water from out water bottles on each other, it was cold
but felt wonderful! In the hamlet of Howard we stopped for another stop at
the cemetery. We rested, snacked and looked for old and unique head
stones. Back on the bikes we headed for the biggest downhill of the day.
We kept our speed down for Abby’s sake; she doesn’t like to go much over
20mph. For the next several miles we easily rolled down a pleasant valley
enjoying the lack of traffic to the intersection with Rte 415. From there
we had more traffic but excellent shoulders into Bath NY. The bumps at a
railroad crossing woke Rachel up. She cheerily greeted us as one bike
passed the other “Hi Mom!”
In Bath we met my mom at McDonald’s and had lunch. We were hot and the air
conditioning felt great, at first. After ten or fifteen minutes we were
cold! Rachel was glad to be out of the trailer. She and Abby had a ball
playing in the playground while we gobbled down our burgers. After lunch
my mom took Rachel (and the trailer!) in the car to our destination, the
cottage now twenty-one miles away. Refreshed from the break we rode
through Bath. There were a few traffic lights, and traffic can be a bit
heavy on weekends but it is only ~2 miles so we just went single file with
Abby between us. Soon we were turning north on Rte 54 and leaving town. In
another few miles we began to see vineyards reminding us we were now in
wine country. We took another small detour from Rte 54 on Fish Hatchery
Rd. It is a great ride under the trees winding down a gentle slope for
three or four miles. It is also a great way to avoid traffic and hills…
Back on Rte 54 we rode north past the Glen Curtis Museum a few miles
outside Hammondsport. Curtis owned a bicycle shop and built airplanes in
Hammondsport in the early 1900’s. The collection of antique airplanes and
bikes is worth a visit. In Hammondsport we rode down to the end of Lake
Keuka and dangled our feet in the water. Ahh!
From Hammondsport we rode up Rte 54a on the west side of the lake. Though
the road has poor shoulders in places the traffic wasn’t bad. With a view
of the lake, cottages and boats on our right we wound up the side of the
lake with just enough small hills to keep it interesting. Once we past the
Yacht Club we knew we were getting close and started looking for
landmarks. I saw a cottage I recognized and announced to Abby that we were
only a mile from the cottage. She came to life and took off~ Linda and I
let her go, content to keep her in sight. Grandma and Grandpa were
surprised to see Abby arrive first! Abby had completed her fifty-two mile
ride and won her hat!
NY bike route information:
NY “Bike 17” route information
www.dot.state.ny.us/br17/
NYS bike safety information
www.nysgtsc.state.ny.us/bike-ndx.htm
NY bicycle tour guide books
www.cyclotour.com/prod02.htm
Genesee Valley Greenway Trail
www.fogvg.org
Bicycle Man shop
www.bicycleman.com
Glen Curtis Museum
http://www.glennhcurtissmuseum.org/
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