The bike club had scheduled the Mendon - Stonybrook Century for Saturday that I just couldn’t miss. With it starting just 13 miles from home, the Grand Idea was:

1. Ride TO the ride start.
2. Ride the Century.
3. Ride home.

And Bingo! 125 miles - A Double Metric! And I wasn’t even alone this time. A bunch of fast riders were doing it, and I rode with some of them in parts of the ride. Great day, great ride, no pictures. Here’s the route:
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​But TODAY! Sunday! Another club ride, but on a hotter day.

​My ride plan included a version of the route that made it even longer, so guess what? I rode alone. But I had a task. I wanted to check out the washout area at the fingernail end of the Keuka Lake Bluff. We should take bets on if, or when, the town or county will ever pay for repairs there, or if the road will become abandoned … for cyclists’ use only!
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​From there, it was back up to Branchport, up Italy Hill to Darby Corners and on to Bully Hill.

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​After Hammondsport, the main route goes up over the hill to Lamoka Lake, but I used a parallel to CR114, Fleet Road, that was 50/50 chipseal/gravel. Plus, an unexpected climb. Steepest pitch of the day too … in dirt.

Fleet reconnects with CR114 which passes by the two lakes (Lamoka and Waneta) and brings one to DeCamp Road.

​This stretch (DeCamp / Gravel Run Road) is a real joy. Gently rolling, a tailwind. And with a wonderful downhill cruise into Dundee. After a hydration stop, the next “Cool Road” is Chubb Hollow and more tailwind cruising, all the way down to the Keuka Outlet Trail.

​Getting back into Penn Yan via the Outlet Trail is supremely pleasant. In the shade, no car traffic, lotsa trail users, and it takes me right to the park where I parked the car.

Great Day. Great Weekend.

b

There was a group of bicycling couples in our local club who rode tandem bicycles. We called ourselves the “Greater Rochester Eating and Tandeming Society”. 
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​And not your ordinary Schwinn Bicycle-Built-For-Two with a basket of flowers up front. Oh no … THIS group of tandeming couples had to be ahead of their time (and possibly out of their minds) and rode Mountain Bike tandems. Yes, it’s a thing.
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​And this group of crazy tandem cyclists got together in some combination to go Party-In-The-Park (Allegany State Park, to be exact) every fall season. That party, affectionately known as “FART” (Fall Allegany Rally for Tandems) went on for 25 YEARS! It was a great run of rides, food, fun, laughter and togetherness among our Tribe. Alas, the 25 year party had run it’s course, and so too did the excitement of looking forward to next year’s fall, and seeing all these beautiful people.

​We may not be seeing the Allegany trails and night rides in the woods again anytime soon, but we DO still enjoy seeing each other and catching up when we can, and the opportunity presented itself this weekend when Mark and Lynn invited the local core of the G.R.E.A.T.S. to their lakeside cottage. I say “local” because over 25 years, our tribe of tandem mountain bikers grew to include plenty of out-of-state and Canadian members.

I took it as a special invite / opportunity. With the plan of gathering late afternoon at M&L’s place, which is 1/2 way to the Niagara River from my home, I figured I’d take advantage of the early afternoon and get in a ride … 52 miles to the cottage. Not exactly “no sweat”, but no problem.

​Even with Karen driving out, the decision would be how to get home. I’m not fond of one-way rides, driving at night, and I hate wasting a beautiful clear, windless night, so with lights on and leaving right at sundown, I hopped back on the bike at 8:25pm and headed south to Albion where I could pick up the canal trail and hot-foot it back to Rochester.

The back roads between the lakeshore and the canal trail were going dark fast before I got to Albion and in 11 miles to Albion, I think I saw ONE car. Albion, at 9:30pm, was dark too. Saturday night, and Main St. Albion has rolled up the sidewalks. No stopping for a coke here. (However, Brockport at 10:30pm was alive and kicking! I exercised extreme discipline and did not stop.)

On the trail, I disconnected the GPS to send full generator power to the light system, kicked it into high gear, and was on my way. Out of town, the canal trail is blacker than black. There’s no moon up, so the clear black sky is bright with stars and I can make out the Milky Way when I stop for a drink. I don’t try reaching for a water bottle while moving, on a narrow trail, next to the canal only 6 feet to my right ... in the dark. Paranoid? No. But when my fellow tour guide Paul told me about one of his Erie Canal Tour participants actually, really, honestly … RODE HIS BIKE INTO THE CANAL in BROAD DAYLIGHT! … I realized yeah, I guess that CAN happen. It could be hard to explain, so I’ll be safe and stop for a drink and enjoy the view of the sky, frequently. It's worth it. There's something really Spooky-Cool about riding in the dark, following your headlight beam, and watching things (including critters) come in and out of the light.

I made it home by 12:30am. I took 5:15 hours to get out there (slight headwinds, warmer, and took a lunch break) and only 4 hours (cooler, no wind, and only stopping for water in / water out) to get back.

So, I finally got in a really nice night ride this year, got to see old friends, and scored a century ride all in one shot.
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Beautiful Day.
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No, we haven’t been married THAT long (yet) but this anniversary did / does mean a lot.

It’s been 50 years since I took that 1st giant leap of teenage-fueled courage and adventure, hopped on my “ten-speed” bike, and rode off “just to visit friends” … 500 miles away! That I had to return home another 500 miles, putting me into “epic” level bicycle touring, was not something I had thought about as a way of life way back in ‘72. Until I did it again the following year as a much more matured 17 year-old recent high school graduate. The stage was set.

With no illusions of ever being as fast as that 16 and 17 year old was (1000 miles in 8 days each time), I’ve been psyched about a different kind of trip. Slower, more remote, still solo, yet bearing the tools of modern technology that propose (no promises) to ease the stress of finding needed resources at appropriate times. A smartphone has replaced a bag of dimes for phone calls. A smartphone has replaced paper maps. A smartphone has replaced the Kodak Pocket 110 Instamatic. And the smartphone has replaced the paper and pen journal. 

The Bike is equally as advanced when compared to it’s older brethren. It has generator power to run lights and USB device charging. It has a transmission gearbox rather than chainrings, cogs, derailleurs and chains, and with no chain, the bike can run a belt. And Big Tires.  This all spells durability.

Between a super-computer in my hand and a super-BIKE between my knees. I was ready to go.

Vermont’s back roads have been beckoning for years, but an interesting route popped up in the bikepacking circles a few years ago and it appeared that now would be a good time to try it myself. Being a point-to-point route, the adventure was complicated from the start with the need for a costly and time consuming transportation strategy and then would require additional persons to make it happen. OTOH … going solo dialed down the complexity issues. I could simply ride a loop out the door from home.

Hmmm …

A Solo tour … just like the first.
Potentially 1000+ miles … just like the first.
Out the door and back … just like the first.
And so it started.
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The first two and a half days were a repeat, with enhancements, of the 2020 trip out to Albany on the Erie Canalway Trail. Some sections of the trail have been improved since my last visit, and still, there are sections getting updated. I was a bit faster this time and made it past my last day one stop point, and scored a campsite at Green Lakes State Park.

It was a rough night. A foreshadowing of nights to follow. My neighbors in the site next to me had an issue at 3am when “Darrel” was supposed to get up and go to work. Darrel’s wife loudly proclaimed for all the campground to hear that Darrel would lose his job if he didn’t get up and go right now. This went on for at least an hour, and Darrel never got up. Eventually, I did.

Day 2 got me well past Little Falls (2020 stop) and out to Lock 15 in Fort Plain where one can camp for free on the lock property.
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​Nice. And that set me up next day for an early arrival in Troy NY at the end of the trail. Checked into a B&B for the night, I set about the errands (laundry, food, fluids, apple pie …) and messaged tomorrow’s bike shop owner about me incoming.
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​He gave me a great route tip which had me up over the mountain and at the shop before noon on day 4. All the biz attended to, I was underway for the start point of the VTXL, which was only about 5 miles from the bike shop.

The dirt begins.

​Very shortly after leaving town. I cross the Massachusetts / Vermont border … in the dirt … and the rest of the day (another 40 miles after town) is spent climbing and descending, on dirt and on pavement, till I reach the end of the day at a small private campground near the Battenkill River. Peter, the guy, shows me to a nice tent site, points out the showers, and asks only $25. Turns out, the best shower of the entire trip was right there. I didn’t see a tip jar anywhere.

That was a fun night. It was perfect weather when I set up the tent, so I left the rain fly off for better air circulation to avoid condensation. Alas, I feel sprinkles at 2am, so I’m UP and guying out the fly just in time.

Day Five began with a 12 mile, 2000’ dirt and gravel climb. Not content with that, the route turns down briefly, then climbs again up into an old overgrown and gated jeep track that’s likely only used by the forest service. This is all U.S. Green Mountain National Forest. Not a lot of people up here.

Over the mountain, it’s a long drop down to the rolling hills of central Vermont. Real food is found at the Winhall Market, but at eye-popping prices. I notice a pattern here. I finish the day at Horseshoe Acres Campground, off route by a mile, and downhill by 1000’. Excited to get a shower, but I find the $35 fee for a simple patch of grass does NOT include a working hot shower that I plugged two quarters into to no avail. I got my 50 cents back in the morning, but I started the day pretty grungy. And sleep deprived. The party with loudspeakers that ran till 10:00pm didn’t help.

Day 6 was yet another beautiful day in the woods. I’ve been blessed with warm, but dry weather, meaning road conditions were never “marginal” due to mud. Yes, marginal due to loose gravel and sometimes rocky, but dry and predictable.

Day 6 ended in Woodstock, and this out-of-stater was caught utterly unaware of what the little town of Woodstock represents. Finding food in the late afternoon of a Sunday in a tourist trap like Woodstock was a challenge, but no bigger a challenge than finding ANY kind of overnight lodging ANY where within cycling distance. I was caught captive to the reality of extreme pretentiousness and could only rest my head after coughing up over $200 … and enjoying a “senior discount”, so says the desk attendant at the hotel with the only room left in town. I’ve heard that before. But yeah, I DID get $100 off the room. Yeah … if I wasn’t an old retired senior citizen, I woulda been taken for a bigger ride.

​The grocery store across the street was the saving grace in that I could purchase “real food” for dinner and breakfast at only exorbitantly pricey rates that beat what a cooked and served meal would be. And, I celebrated with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, but NOT with my typical Cherry Garcia. Sold Out. Everywhere I looked. I find out later, it was Jerry’s birthday. No wonder.

​It was here in Woodstock, after a good meal, a hot shower, and a relaxing chat with Karen while overlooking the river at sunset, that I decided to turn back toward home. By now, I had completely blown past my budget to this point, but the riding alone was almost fun enough to consider throwing the budget out. But the other issue was not as easily written off.

In my earlier posts, I’ve written about my sleep disorder, REM Behavior Disorder (RBD). I had this great idea that biking is so good for me, maybe I could just take off on my bike for days and days of really hard riding, and maybe that alone would be enough to keep the “events” at bay. I decided to “flush” my system, no meds on the tour, and see what my baseline is.

It seems like my baseline is continued dream enactments, some rather disruptive. Fortunately, I haven’t destroyed any hotel property, my tent is still intact, and my right shoulder is feeling better after falling out of bed onto a tile floor. (Note to self: Sleeping on the ground is far safer than motel beds.)

Day 7, I had an early start out of Woodstock and had to go over the Green Mountains once again, this time over the top at Killington, which stood between me and the New York border.

​ I made it out of Vermont and to Glens Falls where I DID find a more reasonable motel with a laundry and a Subway shop next door.

Day 8 was “goal-driven”. The job today was to get back to the Erie Canal trail at Amsterdam, and cruise up to Fort Plain where I could get a free campsite and re-visit my camp buddy at Lock 15 again.

​Day 9 started with no firm plan, but by mid-afternoon, it was obvious I was in top-cog mode and was hammering through the miles toward Syracuse. I realized I could easily make Green Lakes State Park again and messaged Karen to let her know. A misunderstanding of text messages led to the phone call that resulted in Karen making plans to come meet me to camp at Green Lakes.

​We had talked about wanting to go visit there, and here was an opportunity. So, I scuttled my Alt. Plan 1 (ride on to Cayuga State Park) as well as Alt. Plan 2 (ride all night non-stop to home … with lights on, of course).

So, we had a nice time camping, swimming, and checking out the park. We hit the road home the following day and I had to face the inevitable arriving home: Unload the bike. That’s when you really feel it. When the bike is stripped down and cleaned up, you know the tour has ended.

This one, anyway.

Interested in the route, stats, and more? Visit my RWGPS Collection: 50th Anniversary Tour.

We often do fun rides on our own and we frequently do bike club rides with friends, but sometimes, ya just gotta bust out and do your thing. And I LOVE long rides.

Like today, for instance. At this solar high spot in our calendar, when we are maxed out on daylight hours pushing close to 15-16 hours, It’s a good opportunity to map out a big ride and still hopefully make it home before dark … or maybe dinner. So, with lights attached to my bike in case of “delays” like flat tires … I AM talking about the FrankenTrek … I hit the road at sunrise to help assure a timely return.

From where?
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Oh just a shot at 150 miles or so. A visit to the quiet agricultural plains to the west of the city on a day like today offers pleasant temps, moderate humidity, gentle headwinds heading west, but helpful tailwinds on the return, and on mostly flat to rolling terrain. The secret to a timely finish, for me anyway, is to stay in the saddle. Actual SPEED isn’t as much a factor as TIME. Every time you stop, the minutes add up.

I took only two food breaks (and a stop only to grab fluids in a third stop) and all total only spent an hour of the 10 3/4 hour ride on the side of the road eating. The first stop was in Batavia where the Tim Hortons was packed (I REALLY wanted a breakfast sandwich) so I stopped at a c-store and settled for two taquitos and a chocolate milk. Stop #2 was a Dollar General in Ridgeway on Route 104 where I scored a coke and a Nutty Buddy.

Did you know how much fat is in a package of Nutty Buddy? No wonder I was flying on the return!

The final stop was another c-store at Frisbee Hill Road where I grabbed a 50/50 lemonade/ice tea, drank half, and poured the rest in a now empty H20 bottle. I also paused to get a couple landmarks recorded.

I took a couple screen shots of the map and my progress to send to Karen to give her an idea of when I might be home.
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It was then I realized how great the day was going, particularly since I now had a slight tailwind … always welcome …and temps were cooler as I brushed closer to Lake Ontario. At the end, I pulled into the driveway HOURS sooner than neither I nor Karen expected. The reward for my “Welcome Summer” ride was a visit to one of our fave Mexican restaurants.

Great day. Should go for a ride tomorrow!

b

I had a task to perform this weekend. Even though June hasn’t presented me with “optimal conditions” quite the way late May did, I still managed to hit a decent milepost today, more than a week before the end of June: 5,000 miles.

(5,026 … but who’s counting?)

My task, originally conceived as a long day-ride to knock off the last 133 miles in one shot, got scuppered by a couple high wind days and thereby morphed into three short day rides.
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​If you're wondering if I have any "normal" bikes, the answer is ... "Why?"

Anyway ... ​I hadn’t made any mileage goals for the year, since I’ve learned that a million variables can impact the effort. I decided late in 2020 to go for 10,000 miles.  I hit 11,111. I started to shoot for 10K in 2021, but got stopped early at about 8500 miles in October due to surgery for TWO hernias. (Not related to cycling, certainly?) This year, no “goal”, but having hit 5K in just under six months … even before the big mile months of July and August … is just a confirmation that I could go even bigger if I wanted. But …

What better way to make a summer “special” than to plan a bike tour. Yes, of course, I have one in mind, and having satisfied my meta-goal for the year, I’m ready now to switch my mental gearing to tour prep mode. The body is ready. The route is known. The start date is penciled in. The push now is to dial-in the bike and gear setup for a non-standard route that will require some Extra Effort. Not on the level of the Baja or the Great Divide, but one that makes me Really Happy™ that I have the super-bike of adventure machines, the Co-Motion Pangea, that has served me well.

Adventure Awaits!

​b

On a lark, I took advantage of a nice weather day and got a late start for a lazy century ride. Nothing fancy, just the idea of spending the day enjoying the peace and quiet of car-free trails and a few miles of required back-roads to stitch them together into a loop. I figured this would take a bit longer than a “regular” (paved road) century, so with a late start, I advised Karen not to wait for me for dinner. As it turns out, I wasn’t that much slower anyway, but I DID get back late.
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​​On the road at 8:30am, I took the shortest route to East Rochester and hopped the trail connecting Legion Ayer Park to Fairport, over Irondequoit Creek and along the train tracks behind the BOCES facility.
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​Connecting to the Erie Canalway Trail at Perinton Park, I slid through downtown Fairport, past TK’s Pizza and the site of my old apartment on “State Street” (now renamed “Lift Bridge Lane”) and outta town on the trail toward Macedon. When I compare the mental images of the area from now to back when I lived there (’78-’81), one might not recognize the area at all. Thanks to TK’s, I have a reliable landmark. I still need to order one some evening … just to compare.

Out on the trail, alive with bikers and runners and dog walkers, I meet a couple turtles. I’m no expert on turtles, but I don’t think the first one I met was a snapper. It was digging a hole on the side of the trail, I suspect for eggs. (I do NOT believe turtles bother with their waste products like cats do.) I didn’t bother HER as she seemed intent on a project.
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​Not 100 yards from there, I meet a second turtle. Smaller, but with a very different shell. I thought maybe this was a snapper, and was pretty convinced when I went to pick it up off the trail. Hard to believe a turtle can snap so fast. I decided to move along while I still have all my digits.

​On down the trail past Macedon, I detoured out onto Route 31 due to construction work near Pal-Mac Park. I noticed a brilliant little bike-infrastructure detail I’m thrilled to see. Where the trail has to share the road shoulder, the DOT marked out the separation by painting a barrier right on the (correctly placed) rumble strips. Very cool!

​Back on the trail at Palmyra, it’s a smooth roll toward Newark where I jump off the trail at  Whitbeck road and head south to Phelps. Stop #1 (38 miles in) was at the Speedway c-store just west of town on Route 96, and just down the road from the trailhead for Ontario Pathways. I grabbed a chocolate milk there, took it to the trailhead, and enjoyed it with a chocolate crunch bar. Sitting in the shade on a beautiful day, I almost took a nap, but knew that could be a problem if I wanted to get home before dark, so after dropping tire pressures for the trail, I  slowly meander down the trail.

It’s an interesting trail. All trails are interesting if you go slow enough and take the time to look around.
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After about 20 miles, I get dumped out onto the streets on Canandaigua. It’s mid-afternoon, I’ve wisely had a caffeine-free day, and with great discipline, I do NOT stop for coffee at Dalai Java, but blast thru town to Byrne Dairy where I pick up my 2nd chocolate milk of the day and down another granola bar. OK … chocolate has SOME caffeine, but compared to my usual Red-Eye, it’s kindergarten stuff.

Tires pumped back up for the road, I’ve got about ten miles of pavement before I hop onto the Auburn Trail outside Victor, and from there about 15 miles to Pittsford and back on the Erie Canal to the city. In the city, I’m still short about 10 miles of a century, so I rode up the Genesee River Trail to downtown, then “Bled Air” to finish. No, I didn’t soften my tires. That’s a term I learned from skydiving. That’s the technique of making a series of turns on approach to landing to lose altitude quickly so you don’t overshoot your landing. I “bleed air” by wiggling around streets to add up the miles before home. So when you see my track files that show apparent indecision about where I’m going, the only decision I’ve made is to KEEP going.

Today, I felt great even after a loooong day in the saddle (OK ... nothing new here) so after a morning appointment, I shot back out the canal trail to intercept my friend Andy who was on his way back IN to town after a morning ride.

Picked up another 37 miles today.
Looked at my mileage log.
I have a task to perform.

​b

You can tell when the weather gets nice. I have trouble sitting down at the Mac to write when all I want is a hot shower and early to bed. My last post (1/2 a month ago) mentioned two centuries, but this post only has one. A week ago, I set off to “paint some roads”. Yeah.

In the RideWithGPS website and app (premium account?), you can display a heat map of roads you’ve recorded rides on. I only started really using RWGPS to log my miles since late 2020, so most of what I’ve covered over the years hasn’t been captured. But it appears that 2021 was pretty busy and I managed to cover much of northwest Wayne county, but there are still roads to be savored!
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​And a nice day it was! A cool start, but it warmed up nicely by the time I stopped for a snack in Sodus Point. Bonus points for discovering a rail-trail between Sodus Point and Route 104. Scored 108 miles on that one.

Another super riding day came when I was leading the “Wayne & Brian’s Ride”. It’s another bike club “Adventure” ride, and yes, there was a buddy, many moons ago, who once called me up and said “Let’s take a f@#*-off day and go ride the hills!” And did he ever find some hills! That was Wayne and we HAD to save that as a bike club ride. And this year … 28 YEARS later … who shows up for the ride but none other than Wayne himself!

May started a bit slowly, weather wise, and toward the middle of the month, I was beginning to wonder if I’d end up with fewer miles in May than April. But the last two weeks shaped up nicely, I’ve been getting out on longer rides most days, and I ended up beating my goal of 4000 miles by the end of May, by 220 miles. Terrific!

And the ride that really put me over the top was yet another old, old, old bike club route: Todd’s Turns. With Todd leading of course, we did that ride on Memorial Day in the heat. Most everyone who showed up at the start had announced that they would take a cut to avoid the afternoon heat, except for that one guy.

I had no time commitments and brought two bottles and a hydration pack, so I was OK to give it a shot. The full route of Todd’s Turns is 76 miles and the best part of it is Fowlerville Road, with it’s long gentle downhill to the east. Combined with the day’s steady tailwinds, I was in Avon in no time! LOVE that road.

And I felt good having done a “Good Deed” that day, with the help of another rider, Jay.
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​We came upon a giant snapping turtle on the road and I HATE seeing critters getting mooshed by cars. Jay expressed a certain “dislike” for snappers, thinking maybe he’s right where he oughta be. But I insisted on saving the big guy, so Jay and I grabbed a couple big sticks and eventually convinced the big green guy (well … we kinda dragged his ass off the road … a good 30-40 lbs worth) to return to the bushes.

And that was the big excitement for the day. Shortly after, I peeled off from the group to ride on with the full route. It was hot, and the wind started shifting by the time I got back. I knocked off the 76 miles in just under 6 hours with only two stops for fluids and was pretty excited to fire up the air conditioning in the car for the drive home!

So May turned out just fine. Stats below.
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Being retired and doing little more than riding bikes, some things happen. My face gets the raccoon look from hiding behind sunglasses during endless unprotected hours of sunshine and the rest of my (exposed anyway) skin turns brown after the “Season’s First Burn” sloughs (molting?) off. And dead skin isn’t the only thing falling off. Last fall’s post-surgery “Surge-Weight” (coined by Steve R.) also falls off, and this year, quite precipitously. Mission Accomplished.
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Down from post-surge of 150lbs in January

I haven’t planned on any big mile goals for the year, but an aggressive start for the year has me logging 500 more miles this year (3620 miles to date) than the same time in 2020 when I hit 11,000 miles for the year. So, when a gloomy day like today comes around, I don’t feel like I’m cheating myself by leaving the bike hanging on a hook today.

To catch up … the last blog post talks of this year’s second century (a 100+ mile ride). I can report two more since then. May 5th was #3 at 101 miles on my Rivendell Sam Hillborne   “country bike” as the builder (Grant Petersen) calls it.

Sammy Visits the Fox Sisters of Hydesville

That’s his response to the bike industry’s marketing hype of calling something a “Gravel” bike vs. “All-Road” bike or whatever else they come up with. Bottom line, a bike is a bike and where you can take it often depends more on attitude than equipment. If the bike is comfortable, well fit and adjusted, just get it on and go.

Sammy is responsible for a respectable chunk of my road and rail-trail miles this year. I credit the super smooth ride as the reason this bike seems to be the default choice for many rides, even an occasional century. It’s not my “fast bike” by any means, but it’s a sweetheart. On a recent club ride, I was advised by a fellow member that I’d be “Really Fast” at my weight if only my bike didn’t weigh twice as much as his. He groaned when he picked up my bike (bags filled with stuff) for comparison. I’m not sure how a light bike can make up for carrying an extra 30 pounds around the midsection, but I noted how the rider finished the 35 mile version of the route in about the same time I did the 50 miler. Whatever.

So on this particular day with full sunshine, low winds and no hurry to get home, Me & Sammy went noodling around looking for back roads in Wayne County that I have not ridden. Turns out, I gotta go waaaay out to find any roads I haven’t visited. The Ride With GPS app (and website) enables a heat map showing roads you have recorded riding on. I only started using RWGPS for tracking my rides very late in 2020, so a LOT of what I have ridden isn’t shown.
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Red line is the ride. Blue lines are where I’ve been since late 2020

May 11th with 116 miles was #4. This ride was a modification of an old RBC classic: Map #84, The Old Hilly Century, created in 1972 by Dick Burns, a fixture of the club for decades. Back in those days when 5-speed freewheels were standard and triple chainring cranks were considered “exotic” , the Old Hilly was a real test of endurance, and unchallenged till the same man developed the Gear ’80 Hilly (yet another fave!). Not considered difficult in modern times due to vastly improved bike technology, the Old Hilly is still a sweet day ride. So, on a gorgeous sunny day, I took off on old bike, the FrankenTrek, and headed for C-Daigua.
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Stop #1: Coffee and a muffin

​The ride’s first hill of significance (CR18 out of C-Daigua is NOT) hit me at mile 47 with a short steep climb up Pierce Hill Road. Rarely an issue, but this time, the hill is getting milled for a new surface (soon I hope) and I find my fast bike with skinny tires can double as a full-body vibrating massage.
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No Nice Words to Say Here!

​I stopped again in Middlesex to grab a chocolate milk (MORE caffeine Brian, really?) mostly to check that the store is still in business … ya never know anymore. Cruised down 245 toward Naples but turned down Parrish Cross Road before Naples to go check on the trail situation for this weekend’s “Wayne and Brian’s Ride” (RBC#280). Looking good! So I end up on Route 21 a mile north of the turn UP County Road 12, so rather than backtrack, I decide to give Griesa Hill Road a shot. There’s a Road Closed sign at the bottom of the hill. Of course, that means no cars. But we cyclists sneak by/around/thru road construction zones all the time, so I disregard and start climbing.

Now, the “fast bike” doesn’t have the super low gearing of some other steeds in the stable, so this is an out-of-the-saddle task of climbing almost 500’ elevation in just over a mile. And when I get to the top, I find the road really is CLOSED.

The ditch was harder than the climb

​I normally ride bikes with sneakers rather than clipless road shoes, so I wasn’t really prepared for THIS adventure since I’m on the road bike. I was able to scramble down into the ditch, toss the bike up to the road, and pull myself back up without crashing into the rocks. Back in the saddle, I paused for yet another peaceful moment at the overlook.

I never tire of this view over Canandaigua Lake

​Headed northbound, I had a sweet tailwind pushing me up Bristol Valley to Bristol Center where I stopped for a snack and a Coke (MORE CAFFEINE BRIAN ... REALLY?). Tailwinds were great and I was sure to be home in record time even with the stops. One last pit stop (stupid caffeine!) at the Victor Municipal Park, and I ended up at home in the sunshine with another caffeine fueled 116 miles. I even slept well. Shocking.
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A Perfect Day

​It's beginning to look a lot like SUMMER!!!!

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Unlike 2020, when I went bonkers about big miles (11,111) for the year, and about lots of centuries (25), I feel no compulsion to reach any particular goal for 2022. BUT … I have no plan to “take a year off” either.

So Tuesday’s wonderful weather presented me with an opportunity to knock out a big ride in a “strategic” way. I had earlier plotted a route to the hills south of the city, but a last minute check of weather implied I’d have a nicer day by capitalizing on the increasing northwest winds in the afternoon. A westerly start in the morning promises a fast return, but “fast” means the right bike. Given how flat the terrain is to the west and north of the City, I decided to give Old Blue the honors.

Dear Old Blue. So many miles, so many adventures, so many changes over the years, but still a sweetheart of a bike it has been and always will be. Smooth, silent and simple, Old Blue is my “2-speed”. It got me across the country twice in it’s current configuration, so it’s plenty good enough for a day out in the sun.

Unlike Monday - Total Sunshine all day long Tuesday! Out the door at 7:15am and it’s already in the 50’s (F) with only gentle breezes. I pass through downtown and Genesee Valley Park on my way to the Erie Canalway Trail, and I pause on the Wally Bridge to watch the rowing teams.
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​“The Plan” for the day was to take the trail all the way out to Albion but when the pavement ended at Long Pond Road, the softening of last night’s rain on the stone dust surface made for tough riding. I recalibrated my expectations for the day and took paved alternates to get to Albion.
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​I chose not to stop in town, rather, I continued north on Route 98 to Route 104 when I scored a slice of Buffalo Chicken pizza and a chocolate milk. Yes, the “routine”. Grab food, take a leak, sit in the sun on the curb out front of the convenience store. I’m making a habit of determining the day’s ride based on a turn-around point at a Crosby’s c-store. I’m 47 miles in at this point. The food will be required.

From Albion, it’s a straight fast shot to Oak Orchard, Point Breeze and Lake Ontario when I make the turn east toward the Parkway and the free ride begins. The afternoon tailwinds were picking up and I quickly started an internal debate about taking the time to flip-flop the rear wheel. This bike has a single cog on both sides of the symmetric rear wheel, so if I need a bigger or smaller gear, I can stop, pull the rear wheel, flip and re-chain it up into the dropouts and away we go. Right now I have a 22 tooth cog chained up, but I could use the 17 tooth for a higher faster gear. Would be GREAT not spinning out half the way home. Alas, I chose to work on my spin as best I could and accept that the return can only be “so fast” and not a bit faster.

Fast enough though. Even with taking a pit stop and fuel break at Hamlin Beach State Park, I still pulled into the driveway earlier than planned. It never quite got warm enough to pull off the tights and wooly shirt, but with tailwinds and sunshine and miles of quiet and smooth Parkway to bring Old Blue back home, I think I’ll classify today as “Extra Special”.

To date, I've knocked off TWO centuries and covered over 2000 miles for 2022. Looking like a great year.