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Bicycle Man - Finger Lakes Ride |
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BicycleMan - Abby’s 52 miles
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.
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!
NY bike route information:
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