Thursday, May 14th. I looked at the weather reports the night before. Looked pretty "iffy". Possible rain showers in the afternoon. Temps looked OK, but not if ya get wet miles from home w/o raingear, and who wants to carry raingear when it's reasonably warm?

Accepting a "short" ride, I got up later than necessary if I had planned a big ride. Had pancakes. Karen was good for a ride today, but wanted to head out later when it warmed a bit more. Not sure when the rain might move in (but thinking early to mid afternoon), I wanted to get out earlier.

Took off mid morning and headed southeast toward Canandaigua, unsure how far I'd get. Still hadn't looked at the weather reports today. Duh. Wiggled around and out of the metro area and again used the Auburn Trail to avoid town traffic around Victor. Southbound on NY444/County Road 3 aka "Victor-Holcomb Expressway", I could enjoy the high point view of Stid Hill far to the south and started questioning my last weather update. Checked.

Looks like I can get more than the 50, maybe 60 miles I had envisioned. OK, let's keep the power on and see what happens. After a brief stop to check out the Peanut Trail "Parking Area" on County Road 30 …
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​… I continued on into Canandaigua and was lured to a stop by a street vendor doing Italian Sausages. I have little discipline, and stopped for lunch after only 33 miles. It was soooooo good too. From here, I had a "plan" now. I could head sorta west out of town toward the Bristol Hills, and if I encountered any marginal weather, I could turn north back toward Rochester for the quickest route back. Headed out on Bristol Street / Bristol Road, I crossed Route 5&20 and started into the hills. No wind at all today, so getting to the store in Bristol Center was pretty quick … especially the downhill to the Dandy Mart at the RT64 crossing. Nice view from the top to what lies ahead to the west.

But then it's back up … miles up CR32 to the high point of the day's ride. THAT took a while as it's one big north/south ridge between Bristol Center and Honeoye. Once on top, I could see that I was running out of time, so decided to skip Honeoye and start zig-zagging to the northwest and grabbed the Egypt/Gregg roads to get back to RT20A and the turn north on Buckelew Road. I love the name of that road. I always giggle 'cause it reminds me of a crazy cult classic movie from the mid-eighties "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension". Check it out!

Yeah, the mind wanders on long day rides, 'eh?

And what was I thinking? I thought it was time to head home, but then I get to Baptist Hill Road. Which turns into Simmons. And then Bell Road, which has been mostly paved over the years but still had a tiny dirt stretch past a sheep farm.

"That" was the "Killer Hills" RBC (Rochester Bicycling Club) club ride I was scheduled to lead on Sunday 5/3/2020. Love that ride! It provides great scenery around the Geneseo / Dansville corridor and several opportunities to "check chain wear". IOW … hard climbing in your lowest gears. If your chain and rings are beat, it will become evident on Vista Hill and Coffee Hill, for sure.

Alas … Killer Hills was not to be this year as all RBC club rides are cancelled till further notice due to the Covid-19 outbreak. So when we get blessed with a beautiful warm and sunny day, what do I do? Grab a mask and go Solo Distancing, of course.

"This" will be Century #3 for 2020 and another notch in the goal of 10,000 miles or ten centuries for the year … whichever comes first. (Wouldn't I need a hundred centuries to get the ten-k?)
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So, Saturday night, I get everything prepped. Route planned and track file loaded. Kit laid out. Tires pumped up. Gadgets charged. Snacks loaded on the bike. Bottles filled and Hydro-pack topped off. Aaaahh … which bike? I feel like a lazy ride, so the lightest bike in the fleet gets pulled out. The bike I rarely use anymore: The FrankenTrek.

It's a stupid bike in some ways. It's a pile of leftover and replaced bits from my first (and only) carbon bike from 1995. The original frame didn't even last ten years, as I cracked the BB shell, so instead of that beautiful clean copper-ice original, the warranty frame is a dumb looking blue billboard of advertising graphics. At least the fork is original and helps to give the bike a "Captain America" look. Anytime I ride that bike, I complete the look with my Adventure Cycling TransAmerica jersey. When riding it, I vacillate between feeling like a super-hero and a real dork only minutes later. Mode 2 is the default anyway, so I'm good with that.

But it rolls pretty nice on skinny wheels, so here we go.

I'm up at 5am and on the road by 6. I love the approach of summer with early sunrises. No stopping for a coffee fix on this ride. Nothing is open. I head south on backroads along the west side of the Genesee Valley and reach the village of Leicester in pretty decent time. It's been mostly flat to very gently rolling to this point but the hills start immediately after between there and Perry. So, I take a quick break at a C-store for a coke (Caffeine!) and a cheesy taquito. That was just enough fuel to make it through Perry and Castile and into the south entrance of Letchworth State Park by 10:30am. I'm starting to realize that my long day might not be so long after all, so I slow down to enjoy the beauty of the park with my first pause at the new bridge over the gorge.

At first, the park was pretty quiet. Sunday Morning I guess. But as I moved northward through the park, it started picking up and by the time I got out the north end by the dam, it was getting pretty crowded with people at all the overlooks and waves of Harley bike gangs rumbling down the road. I made four short stops. One at the Middle Falls, another at a roadside overlook for a snack break (1/2 a Cliff bar), one to check out the high water at the Hogsback …

… and a last stop at the dam. That last stop was crazy. Parking lot was jammed and very few people were wearing masks, but I'll give credit to the one young woman motorcyclist who wandered around with her full coverage helmet on and visor down. Overkill? Perhaps not! In any case, I'm outta there FAST!

Down and out the north entrance to River Road and everything was quiet again … all the way home. I even did a section of Route 15 past Marketplace Mall which was eerily empty and had the road nearly to myself. I made it home by 3:15 after knocking out 114 miles. We joke about how no matter how short or long or how flat or hilly our rides are, we always seem to have an overall average of ten MPH. If the ride is a flat 30 miles, it will always take 3 hours. If it's a hilly 80 mile ride it will take (go ahead … guess …) 8 hours.

On the Frankenbike, all bets are off.

I really did expect 2020 to be a banner year!

With plans to ride the Baja Divide in the late winter (a whole 'nuther story), I knew I would need a LOT of miles beforehand to prepare. No lounging around this winter. Thankfully, Karen and I both got new fat bikes last summer and could spend the early winter playing around in the snow and ice and getting lotsa miles in regardless of conditions. Right from January 1st, I actually started logging my miles … something I haven't done in decades, and between January riding and the Baja, I had logged a gazillion miles by early March with grand plans to hit 10,000 miles this year. All systems go!

​And then comes March, sweeeeet March!!!

You might know about the "Golden Snowball Award" and the "Golden Snowglobe Award". It's a fun pair of competitions, online, where Rochester competes against cities in New York and nationally respectively, for the record of annual snowfall totals. I'm thrilled to report that Rochester is, as of this writing, WINNING in both slots, but strangely, even Rochester is roughly 8 inches behind it's average at this date. Why? Because March came in like a lamb and went out like a sniveling iguana!

Cool! To ME, that means early bike season! Let's GO!

So on March 9th, I had an opportunity to make a dent in my 10K. The forecast showed a somewhat windy, but seriously warm day coming (mid-60's!), so I prepped my bike with snacks and water, charged the phone, got my kit laid out, and hit the sack early. Following day, I was up before dawn, fed, and with lights on, hit the road to the coffee shop before the crack of dawn. I had checked out some RBC maps and figured #125 Rush - Stony Brook would be a gentle and quiet ride with services at the right spacing to keep me from stopping too often. Bonus points for the best ever pizza stop in Conesus! But, I had to get TO the ride start in Rush, 15 miles from my house, adding 30 miles round trip to the map. No problem … coffee shop is on the way there!

I realized I had underestimated the warm southerly winds as I turned south on Livonia Center and Federal Roads toward Conesus. By the time I got to Wester's Country Store, I was READY for pizza and really ready for a break. (Half-life of caffeine is pretty sad). I sat there a little too long and felt the burn when I hopped back in the saddle. Bad timing, 'cause I still had a bit of gaining to do. I slowly ramped up Stagecoach Road, diggin' on the warming sunshine and awesome views of our "backyard" before reaching Scottsburg/Liberty Pole, the unofficial start down to Dansville.

In Dansville, I went slightly off-route to get to the Tops market for a coke and pit-stop, but turned at the airport to get back on route. Parker Hill was still ahead, but I had a few miles of re-warm-up riding on flat NY63 plus the payback of a good stiff tailwind. Nice! Up over Parker in no time, I got to Scottsburg Road and paused. The route goes right to Scottsburg. But Barber Hill Road (dirt!) goes straight to Bath Road (more dirt!) which reconnects to the route. I'm on my Co-Motion Pangea with wide tires. Guess what?

Back to the route (NY256), there's more dirt by heading straight over to East Swamp Road (of course) which connects to Sliker Hill and back on-route up East Lake Road. The jacket and tights have been off since Dansville, I still have a tailwind, the sun is shining and all is right with the world as I head up along the lakeside. By the time I get to the Shoreless Acres General Store, I'm thinking a coffee would be nice 'cause it's getting a bit chilly, but it's closed. Bummer. I keep going and realize that southwest wind blowing across the still partially frozen bits of the lake is why I feel like I've jumped into a fridge!   

 I didn't exactly dawdle up East Lake Road to Lakeville. I didn't want to stop to put tights and jacket back on, but I did stop in Lakeville for fries and a coke while lizardizing in the sunshine. Initially, I figured on a slow ride up Bronson Hill Road, but the weather reports of high wind warnings were no joke … but I was laughing all the same! From Lakeville all the way home, I had tailwinds that had me knock off the last miles of the day in record time! What A Day!! Century #1 (103 miles) for 2020. Hopefully a few more.

OK … I'm feeling pretty good for March. And then I get another chance for a good ride. Forecast for March 19th says cloudy, but mid-50's. Wonderful! I'm thinking Naples this time. But how? No need for a club map this time … I know where I wanna go. I like the terrain south of Mendon and south of Bloomfield. But I need to up the game a bit from the last ride. It was "gentle". Not today.

On the road at dawn again and on the way outta town, I get to the Starbucks in Pittsford. By now, social distancing has kicked in. Starbucks is still open, but for grab and go only. I'm standing outside with my coffee and twice, runners stopped in only to come back out after hearing that the restrooms are closed to customers and both of them run off … quickly. Don'tcha hate emergencies? I'm now imagining what's in store for me as I'm drinking a grande mocha.

By the time I get south of 5&20, I'm clearly "wandering" a bit. Not following a plan, but going by sense of direction what I think is a nice rolling way to Honeoye. But I know the plan AFTER Honeoye. Up Gulick to Mosher. Egypt Valley to Route 64. Up Gannett Hill to Ontario County Park. Visit the Jump Off.

I pause. Geez. That wasn't a very quick climb. Geez. I haven't eaten since breakfast! Eat snacks. Drink Water. A little refreshment. OK … Let's go.

The downhill to Naples just feels unearned. With only a couple minor interruptions, Gannett Hill Road to County Road 12 downhill into Naples is really just one of the sweetest rides in the entire Finger Lakes! And unlike the last windy ride, today was almost totally calm so nothing was slowing a wild cruise to Bob and Ruth's. Oh yeah, that's closed too. No matter … I could stop at the store in Middlesex that has reopened! I turn the corner and head up NY245 and take the backroad along South Hill. I pass Wolfanger. NO BRIAN!! Wrong bike!!! I continue. In Middlesex, I decide I'm not hungry and keep going. (mistake) I decided to pass South Vine Valley and take North Vine Valley Road. I haven't ridden there in a while and it offers an opportunity to take a choice of routes north. I decide to skip Bald Hill and continue down toward the lake because I just LOVE East Lake Road along Canandaigua Lake. It's always quiet and the views are stunning. When I get to Town Line Road, I stop. THAT view! At Town Line, you're at the top of a hill with a steep downhill in front of you that looks like a water slide dropping you right into the lake, and you can see the whole rest of the way to Canandaigua from there. I'm starved! I pull over, park the bike on it's center stand on the shoulder, pull out some crackers and a water bottle and sit on the guardrail.
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For a while.

A couple motorists drive by slowly and check me out. I guess to see if I'm OK. (Did I look THAT bad?) We wave. I'm OK. I'm just digging' on the view and recovering while mentally prepping for a long haul back to Rochester. What's the shortest way back I wonder. I'm cutting it close. After I finally get rolling, I kick myself for not thinking to take a photo of that really cool scene of my bike standing up on it's kickstand, longingly facing downhill toward the lake. Would have made a great shot for an Adventure Cyclist magazine cover, or maybe next year's calendar! No matter. That image is certain to be burned into memory forever.

This is why I love living here. Moments and places like this.

Down the road to Canandaigua. Head straight up 332 but take the Auburn Trail to stay south of Victor to avoid NY 96 and the mall. Get to Pittsford and make one last stop for a vanilla shake at the dairy barn. That's just enough fuel to make it into the city via the newly reworked East Avenue. I feel like I've got the whole road to myself. I knocked off 113 miles that day. I started getting really excited that I'm on track to hit my 1st 10,000 mile year in decades. I'm a lucky guy.

Then April comes. COVID-19 hits really hard. RBC rides get cancelled. And the weather turns like it's February again. It snowed again today. I sneak in a few short rides when the weather is a bit more friendly, but have nowhere to go, so I just wander till my fingers and toes freeze, then go home.

Life is like a long bike tour. There are some really phenomenal days. A few crappy ones sneak in once in a while too. But in the end, in the big picture, it's all gonna work out. Bikes teach the value, the paybacks of toughing it out. We can do this.

Be Safe, and we'll see you out there again!

(Story was written April 17, 2020 - sorry for the late posting ... I've been out riding!)

Ah, COVID-19 ... an excuse to sit down and work on my website/blog account.

I had a basic website/blog running for a few years and had it managed by the open-source WordPress tools to easily add/edit while working on the road ... which I've been doing a lot of. Alas ... WordPress accounts always seem to be getting targeted by hacker-jerks and mine got hacked twice while being hosted on my provider's servers. Not feeling it was worth the time on the phone with tech-support, I dumped the whole thing (after saving data locally) and now restarting the "New Era" using my provider's add-on site builder. Hopefully, they can keep this account clean.

​We'll just have to see how this goes.

And, it's a good time to say "buh-bye" to Instagram as well ... just killed that account today. When I retired, I got into the "fun" of social media accounts ... FB, Twitter, Instagram, and even Linked-In ... mostly because it all accelerated my hooking up with bicycle tour-leading gigs. But since I've extracted myself from that interesting yet crazy-ass world, I decided that even IG no longer serves any useful purpose, so all my "social" accounts ... minus Vimeo, and CGOAB ... are now kaput. (Interested in those two? ... email me).

With the COVID-19 outbreak, we're told here in New York State to maintain "social distancing" to help prevent the spread of the pandemic, but "solitary outside exercise" (like bicycling) are OK. Works for me. Out riding!!

Cheers!
​b