The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

The Best of the New York Finger Lakes

May 27th to June 9th

Ride Director: Charles Feerick
Ride Co-Director: Joan Feerick
Report by: Dave Thomson

After reading about the Finger Lakes trip on BAC’s website, and finding the region on Google maps, my wife and I signed up for the trip.  As we had never participated in a BAC trip stateside, we were looking forward to cycling the area.  We met up with the rest of our group at the Hilton Garden Inn in Pittsford, NY on the outskirts of Rochester.  Our trip took us on mostly country roads up, down, and around several of the Finger Lakes, staying exclusively at towns either at the top or the bottom of the lakes.  Starting from Pittsford, we stayed in the towns of Geneva, Seneca Falls, Skaneateles, Ithaca, Watkins Glen, Penn Yan, Canandaigua, then back to Pittsford.  We found these towns mostly easy to navigate through despite some traffic.

One of the interesting things we discovered was descending from the surrounding terrain between the lakes down to the lakes.  Of course, that means the next morning one gets to climb out of the lake, sometimes right out of the hotel!  These lakes were carved out by glaciers, leaving deep north-south valleys which filled with water, hence the lakes.  Once down at a lake, there are many things to do and sites to see.  The ride leaders really did an over-the-top job of putting together a 10 page “Points of Interest” document which lists things by ride-day and mile marker so you don’t have to miss anything, but you better make a copy and carry it with you!

The daily routes are well thought out from town to town keeping one mostly off busy highways.  There is so much beautiful remote country side with rolling hills and farms. Always interesting to see the Mennonite farming with horse drawn implementation.  Riding along the lake shore roads was another highlight of this trip.  The route files worked well and make it a no-brainer for getting from beginning to the destination each day so you can concentrate on the attractions enroute.  This is wine country and there are plenty of tasting rooms as your ride the routes…breweries too!  Some of the most unique riding is along the Erie Canal, a lot of the surface is fine crushed limestone and doable with road tires.  It’s beautiful riding along the waters of the canal with its large trees on the sides and different kinds of watercraft going by.  It’s fascinating to watch boats navigate the lock system.  It’s really helps you understand how it all works.

Highlights also included an optional bike ride to Cornell University for an ice cream treat after a lunch stop at Genesee Brewery in Rochester. A beautiful evening dinner cruise around Skaneateles Lake. Pedaling by the Willard Asylum for the Chronic Insane founded in 1864 and closed in 1995. Stopping at the Women’s Right National Historic Park and reading about the Convention held in 1848 in Seneca Falls and visiting the National Women’s Hall of Fame. We walked to the “It’s a Wonderful Life Bridge” from the movie.  We took off early one morning and walked the Watkins Glenn State Park trail along the gorge to view the 19 water falls.

The ride leaders did a fabulous job of leading and organizing the entire ride from start to finish!  We had great group of riders of all abilities and backgrounds.  Socializing with everyone was one of the highlights for us.  I’ll also have to mention that the weather was amazing except for one smokey day caused by the Canadian wildfires.  Thanks for the memories!

Trip report created by:  Dave Thomson & Diane Cahalan