Skaneateles and Otisco Lakes #BTFL11

Tricia and I took the adventure van on a short road trip overnighter to check off two more lakes for the Bike the Finger Lakes challenge, leaving only Cayuga to meet our goal .  Sure, we had to look up how to pronounce Skaneateles and Otisco, the most easterly of the Finger Lakes. And a few times we really wondered if we were lost on our way there. But we only got slightly wrong turned once.

Once again the Finger Lakes Cycling Club's guides were great. We started at a boat launch and rode along the lake with few if any cars. Our morning was slightly chilly, but the long climb kept us warm until the sun started doing its job, After a bit we were routed slightly away from the water and through classic Americana farmlands, including a hop farm. I'd love to know what beer their crop ends up being used for.

We also rode past numerous historical markers and more than one cemetary. Unlike California and it's 1800s markers, the ones here reference the Revolutionary War and events taking place before the USA was the USA.

After riding through rich people neighborhoods we stopped briefly in the almost too cute town of Skaneateles for a quick snack at the waterfront.

We had one last real climb that paid off with a long, screaming decent back to where we parked.

We drove to Cortland to spend the night, but before we retired we went out to see the Barbie movie in a very small but near empty theater.

The next morning we tackled Otisco Lake. I was surprised the route started so far from the small lake. The lake itself is only six miles long but our route had us riding 46.5 miles. Later I read that there was a shorter cutoff that included a really nasty climb on a closed road, so it appears the FLCC knows how to plan a route after all. Plus, it was beautiful, so there's that.

We had wide shoulders and low traffic the whole way, and the vehicles that did pass us left us a lot of room.

The last 6 or so miles is very flat, and we were blessed with a pretty substantial tail wind (or we were having a good day....) that helped us zoom back to our van. 

Stats: 

Skaneateles Lake  40.53 mi  2,690 ft climbing

Otisco Lake       47.09 mi  2,073 ft climbing

Route info: www.bikethefingerlakes.org

Seneca Lake loop #BTFL11

Tricia and I are on a mission to complete the Finger Lakes Cycling Club's "Bike the Finger Lakes 11" in which we circumnavigate all eleven Finger lakes. Seneca is one of the two larger lakes, about 30 miles long, and the loop being 83-ish miles around. With Seneca complete we have 7 of the 11 finished, with one large lake and a few smaller 40-milers left.

We're grateful for the cycling club's GPS maps on Ride With GPS. We'd have spent too much time on the highways and missed the wonderful low-traffic farmlands and other treats. We're also grateful for the perfect weather we had.

After we climbed out of Watkins Glen (No photos, it was too steep to do anything but try to stay upright) we rode along the vineyards that produce the area's grand Riesling. 

The Finger Lakes is a rural farming community that's home to many Amish and Mennonites. They use horses and buggies,  but also a lot of utility bicycles. This lad said he didn't mind me photographing him as he transported his flowers.

We've seen a lot of "Be Aware" signs on our area, but they've always been for motorcycles and buggies. This is the first to include bicycles and farm equipment. Way to go Farm Bureau!

We also saw more than a few birds of prey, and several nesting on utility poles. We didn't see any mink, weasels or groundhogs, though we have in the past. There were buzzards out as well, which always makes us wonder if they're just waiting for us to falter and become a meal for them.

Of course, we also see cattle and horses, and make the required animal sounds cyclists make when riding past.

The North end of the lake in Geneva has this large "I Love NY" installation, which is impossible for anyone with a camera, even a cell camera, to pass by and not photograph.

The last half of our ride, to our surprise, took us through the old gravel and crumbling pavement of 2,070-acre Sampson State Park. We'd thought we'd be on the highway, but instead we rode many miles through what once was the Sampson Naval Training Station during WWII and later during the Korean War, the Sampson Air Force Base. It was rougher than good pavement, but the absence of cars more than made up for it's surface quality.

We both were pretty worn out with 25 miles to go, so there aren't any more photos, just memories of fun, clouds, hills and that damn truck on 414 that came way way too close.

Executive summary: 83.38 miles, 3635 feet of climbing.

Hemlock Lake loop, Lake 6 of #BTFL11

Tricia and I cycled around Hemlock Lake as part of our quest to ride all 11 of the Finger Lakes, part of teh Finger Lakes Cycling Club's Bike the Finger Lakes Challenge. #BTFL. We've now ridden all the lake to the west of Watkins Glen where we live. We still have the two largest left, as well as some that are smaller, but farther away.

This ride, according to the club site, "boasts both one of the longest climbs and one of the steepest climbs in the Finger Lakes Region.Yet we survived and even had fun.

As beautiful as the ride was, it was somewhat odd to loop a lake, but never see it except at the start and finish. 

At least I managed to make some photos of my favorite model as well as lake at the start.

It's a treat to have so little auto traffic

There are flowers everywhere here. Zillions and zillions. 

Here's the ride start. If we hadn't climbed a few stairs we wouldn't have seen the lake at all

I'd never seen a sign like this before. I was tempted to follow the arrow, but who knows where we'd have ended up.

It is indeed a beautiful lake.

Continuing quest to cycle all Finger Lakes, Honeoye aand Canandaigua edition #BTFL11

We had to cancel our planned ride Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany. I tested positive for COVID the day before we were going to travel to the ride start. It was a mild case, I recovered quickly, and best of all didn't infect anyone else.

As a consolation we decided to ride a couple more of the Finger Lakes. It went beautifully. 

We tossed the bikes into our Adventure Van™ and headed to Canandaigua Lake for Tricia's birthday ride. Just joked she was "45 miles old today." as we finished 

We tent camped at a beautiful park and had it all to ourselves. Except for the zillions of fireflies that put on a great show into the evening.

The next morning we rode one of the shorter lakes, Honeoye Lake before returning home. 

Thanks to Finger Lakes Cycling Club for providing a wonderful resource for us. Their Bike the Finger Lakes 11 Challenge web page has suggested starting spots, suggestions for food, road info and RideWithGPS maps. We could even attempt this without them.