October '22 Wrap Up

And what a great month it was!! So, this might be a long post, but it’s very “abbreviated”. October was THAT sweet. Starting at the top …

With the constant reminders from the dirt gang to get the twice-rained-out Dutch Hollow ride rescheduled on Oct 2nd, I was happy to see at least have Wayne P. along for the ride. An “original” dirt ganger from back in the early 90’s, Wayne is still hammering along and always good for a few miles in the rough stuff.
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Somewhere in Banjo Country

Next up was a second annual running of our Beechwood State Park overnighter. Same route, same campsite, mostly the same crew, and same great time around the campfire.
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Lunch Break

Literally “On the Edge”

Joe Prepares Dinner

What’s a campout without a campfire?

This could get to be a habit.  (OH ... it is!)

Mid-month, we managed to get in another Adventure Ride, but without rescheduling.  Just for kicks, I tried Yet Another bike for this annual suffer-fest, and I found that my “sorta-road-oriented” Rivendell was actually quite a nice ride on this route. But, I confess that over the years, the route of Lyons Hollow has suffered from rural exploitation, and surfaces are “improving” … in the eyes of county DOT’s, I assume. I won’t be shocked to see 75% of LH getting paved over within a few years. It’s already 50/50 dirt/pavement now, up from about 20% when Al Davis 1st suggested a “fun ride” he made up back in ’91!

At the top of the namesake road.

It’s STILL fun!

The following weekend, we had ANOTHER Adventure ride that did NOT get rained-out! My own sick creation, the “Dirty Vertical” name is entirely descriptive, and THIS ride tends to draw the sick as well as the curious. But it’s worth giving it a shot in the fall when the autumn colors explode on South Hill.
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Going Up!

Going Down!

Of course, I do a ton of riding solo and sometimes I just like to putter around aimlessly on a fat bike. Fat-Bike puttering sometimes ends up pounding my way around in local trails like Tryon Park and enjoying the quiet of the woods, punctuated by the sound of crushing leaves under the tires.
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Isn’t it pretty?

​Shifting gears from writing about “rides”, I’ll mention an “event” here that was certainly worth riding to: The 30th Anniversary of the Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway. Just in time to also celebrate the re-opening of the Ballantyne-to-Canawagus section after getting resurfaced this summer!

Wide and smooth … It’s still a tunnel of green … but not in October!

​The “Friends” held the party at Johnson Park in Scottsville, but also offered a tour of the historic section of Scottsville, as well as an info-gathering at the now fully cleared Lock Two.
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At Lock Two of the old Genesee Valley Canal

Back at the party, the celebration HAD to include a cake!
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So Proud!

What I didn’t mention to anyone at the party was that I was gonna be ON the trail for the next two days. The following morning, I packed up my bike, hit the trail and headed for Sonyea State Forest. The trail to Mount Morris provided no surprises (I’ve ridden it how many times?) and I picked up a meatball sub at the Leaning Tower to take to camp with me. But getting down into the gorge requires snaking around past the razor-wire fences of the correctional facility and finding your way down forest roads to find the single track trail and THEN hike-a-biking it down the final slope into the gorge was worth the effort.
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Dropping into the Gorge.

Once in gorge, there’s a single-track trail that leads to the sweetest campsites.

This is MySpace

​And of course, there’s plenty of loose fuel around to make The Perfect Campfire Next To The Creek.

Comfort on a Cool Evening

I did sleep “well” in terms of my RBD issue, but woke during the night, startled the first time, when I heard slabs of rock falling from the rock wall towering over me across the creek and crashing / splashing quite loudly. This happened at least 7 or 8 times while I was there. Glad I was on THIS side of the creek. When I DID wake up, I had a beautiful view of the sky on a perfectly clear night. And, THIS view when I awoke in the morning.
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Nice Tent

Part of the reason for the overnighter was to get another shot at using my new one-person tent that replaces my old ultralight. The ultralight died after almost a decade of hard use. The new one isn’t “ultralight” by any means. In fact, I NEED a more durable tent now, in hopes I don’t destroy it in the event of a nighttime “Dream Enactment Behavior”. For this night, clear, no wind, maybe a low of 50 degrees, I opted to go fly-free to skip condensation issues, but mostly just to stare at the sky.

It was perfect!

In the morning … ahem … in the LATE morning … I finally rolled out of my cozy warm bag around 9am,  broke camp and struggled back out of the gorge.
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Headed for the Exit

In Mount Morris, I stopped for a quick breakfast (egg salad Sammy and a coke) at a c-store and called Karen to let her know I was rolling, as she planned to ride out to meet me. I found her waiting for me at Wadsworth Junction and we rode to the cafe in Scottsville for lunch before the last stretch to home. Another nice day, and I racked up another 100 miles in 2 days.

And then there’s this final October weekend! And when the weather is nice, I KNOW we can expect someone to post club rides even after the “scheduled” ride season calendar has come to an end. Saturday, the Rides Chair posted a 40 miler starting from Scottsville (Geez … you’d think I must live there now). Starting at 11am, the temp was about 50 degrees but warmed up nicely. Great ride, and then I rode home … yeah, up the Greenway! Duh!!

Then Sunday, Kathy R. posts yet another nice 40 mile ride to Cheshire, and yes, after that ride, I rode home again … up the Auburn Trail! I had to. Why?

Because I checked my math last night, checked it again today, and knew what I had to do. I had to do today’s ride, no short cuts, and I HAD to ride home to get the last few miles I needed.

Today, end of October, I scored my 10,000 miles for the year.
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Not too shabby for an old guy?

​b