6/6/15 3:21 PM

Just got back from a reunion in Ithaca (NY), took a bike and was reminded, Central New York is one damn hilly place! Retraced my old commute, places Rob is familiar with, up Buffalo St. and then out 79 W to Enfield. Buffalo St., the direct route from downtown up to the Law School, is about like a mile of Mt. Washington in the middle of downtown. Out 79 W is actually much harder, because it is much longer. I realized why this area is different than other climbing I have done - around Maine climbs are short and fairly steep, out West they are long and moderately steep, while in CNY they are long and steep! (not as long as out west, but long enough).

Today I had some leg cramps from the ride yesterday (who wasn't that long).

One thing I can't quite process, I used to do this commute on the late '70s, with higher gears than I use today, and while I remember Buffalo St. as steep, I don't remember ever thinking that rest of the commute was difficult. Huh?

I know Rob "loved" all these hills (which are all over CNY). Ha ha

6/8/15 7:36 AM

I've spent a fair amount of time in that area, and it's quite beautiful. I only cycled there once - a loop around Skaneateles, which being in a north/south direction, did not have the killer hills you run into on the east/west roads.

However, despite the beauty I found it somewhat depressing. Once you got away from the lakeside homes and villages and further into the countryside, there were a surprising number of abandoned farms. It looks like they haven't done well economically for generations.

6/8/15 3:03 PM

My son went to Ithaca College in the late'80's so we have toured the area a fair bit by car and I was interested in any biking I could do there.

In 2004 I took a 6-day "Credit Card" bike tour loop of the Finger Lakes area with three friends starting in Penn Yan and overnighting in Hammondsport, Canandaigua, Watkins Glen, Skaneateles and Ithaca. Last year I rode the Bon Ton Roulet, a week-long loop which started in Cortland and looped through Auburn, Keuka, Geneva, and Skaneateles.

Based on the above I can certify the area is HILLY if you are riding across the grain (East-West) between lakes with one of the toughest 50 mile rides I've ever done being a loop around Keuka Lake.

Yes, the area has a lot of worn-out, abandoned farms away from the cities and lake shores but it was a tough area to farm in the best of times so the people moved to more rewarding agricultural areas when they could. The towns prosper on Tourism and wine making and they seem to be doing well.

6/8/15 3:51 PM

The hills are definitely there. Back in '75 I rode across the state on Rt 20. The sections more or less south of Syracuse were hellacious. I remember an article by Ed Pavelka describing a cross country ride, and he said that was the hardest section.

Driving through, you certainly see depressed rural areas. Don't specifically know much about the state of agriculture, but the Law School is starting a Farm Labor clinic, as apparently there is a large population of migrant farm workers in the area.

I like Ithaca a lot, but of course it's oriented to the schools.

6/8/15 7:48 PM

I supported a ride last year out of Rochester (Aids Red Ribbon Ride) that did 7 days thru the Finger Lakes-staying at state parks each night. I had no idea of the beauty of the waterfalls up there. Would love to do the ride, but asking friends to fund my riding, regardless of the cause, is against my grain.

6/8/15 10:10 PM

Being from the Rochester area I have done tons of riding in the Finger Lakes. The Red Ribbon route looks fantastic.

http://www.aidsredribbonride.org/5-day-route.html

I have been on most of the roads on the route and the participants will see ALL the highlights of the Finger Lakes. As you can see from the course profiles there is very little flat land around here. That is why I love this area for cycling!

Like Greg I do not like begging friends for donations and will not participate.

6/15/15 7:32 PM

I only cycled up Buffalo St once and that was quite enough, thank you very much. Steep hills in the country are one thing but when you also have to look out for pedestrians and a lot of cars and intersections, not as much fun.

I do miss those rides, though. Politically NY is not a great place to live but damn those rides were pretty and I never really knew how good I had it in that regard. Not that the PNW is ugly by any means, but I live close enough to downtown it's an hour or more ride to anything even close to country.

6/24/15 2:26 PM

Just curious Rob, why do you say " Politically NY is not a great place to live but..."?
I'd understand if you'd said high taxes but what's so wrong or bad " politically "with NY?

Btw, This, coming from a Canadian who may be spending up to 4-5 months a year south of our border in a few years.

6/25/15 8:14 AM

It depends on your perspective. The NYC metropolitan area largely funds/supports the rest of (upstate) New York, much to their grumble of their taxes being too high. From this political perspective, upstate New York is quite strong.

7/7/15 9:04 PM

Funny...we always complained about our taxes going downstate.

NY is a high-tax state that (upstate) offers relatively few opportunities and has been economically failing for most of my life. I'm also super-biased based on my experiences in family court so I will recuse myself from my own comments. ;)