newyork-2024

A bicycle with panniers is parked on a kickstand on the rocky shoreline of a lake. The far side of the lake is a sloping, tree-covered hill. The sky is cloudy, with some light breaking through. A bouquet of flowers sits near the water line, in front of the bike.

Day 11: Keuka Lake to Letchworth State Park

Because I had chosen to camp two nights at Keuka, today’s day would be the longest on the trip. The route I’d sketched out came to 105km, but the last few days had shown me to check the terrain before I finalized the plan for the day. A couple of the straight-line roads looked like they went straight up steep ridges; I’d probably be better off doing some more distance and skirting some of the drumlins.

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A bicyclist, riding away from the camera, in a bright turquoise shirt with a bag slung over his shoulder, waves at three young girls in Amish garb in a wagon on the other side of the road, being pulled by a black donkey.

Day 9: Ithaca to Keuka Lake

From Ithaca I’d be gradually making my way back to Buffalo through the Finger Lakes region. That meant cutting across the glaciated landscape, which in turn meant a lot more climbing than I’d been doing so far. Today’s route would start with 500m of climbing, some of it steep. The weather was lovely, so with some rest and recuperation behind us, we were in for a great day.

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A cascade of waterfalls is seen in a deep gorge. At the top of the image can be seen some autumnal trees and bushes; small waterfalls, perhaps three or four feet tall, lead down to a larger waterfall in the front and center of the image, with the water blurred to white by motion.

Day 8: Around Ithaca

I was now over a week on the road and in desperate need of laundry and a chill-out day, so John was going to show me around Ithaca a bit. Ithaca is Gorges, as you may have heard, and there are interesting waterfalls all over the place. We visited the campus and Moosewood Restaurant.

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A bicyclist on a folding bike with full panniers, covered with red rain covers, rides on a leaf-covered rail trail through a forest.

Day 6: Rochester to Cayuga State Park

I was entering phase 2 of the trip, riding with my friend John. We’ve toured before, San Francisco to LA, but it was a while ago. Today would a big day to start with, almost 100km, and the weather was threatening all day long. We wanted to get a decently early start, so after a very nice breakfast at the diner around the corner, and meeting some of the resident hippies at the co-op, we got on the road, mostly avoiding the rain during the day.

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A tree lined double-track path through the woods is dappled with sunlight. A few leaves are on the ground. In the distance, near the vanishing point of the road, a bicyclist with panniers rides towards a bright clearing.

Day 4: Churchville to Lakeville

Nancy only had time for five riding days, and she wanted to see a little piece of the Finger Lakes herself, so today we’d be riding south to Lake Conesus. The place we’d stayed was chosen for its location; reachable in one day from Medina, close enough to get to the Finger Lakes the following day. We were staying in Lakeville at the north end of the lake, which was about 40km away; our plan was to ride to our motel, drop our bags, and if Nancy was up for it, do the loop around the lake for a 70km day.

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