Photos and route by Joseph Insalaco
Before
starting this trip, I knew that we were going to see picturesque lakes and
waterfalls. I also anticipated some
challenging hills between the lakes. As
promised, the scenery was fantastic but the first 2 hills were more than
challenging. After cresting the second
one, I seriously questioned my desire to continue cycling and wondered if my
heart and breath would ever return to normal rhythms.
Once
again, we were drawn to water for our summer cycling adventure. With all our
trips along rivers and lakes, we sometimes wonder why we don’t trade our bikes
in for kayaks or canoes. On this trip we cycled from Syracuse, New York, up and
down the Finger Lakes, before arriving in Rochester, New York. From there we cycled along Lake Ontario as we
headed back to Syracuse.
The
Finger Lakes is a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes
located south of Lake Ontario. This part of New York state is a very popular
tourist area for cyclists. Besides its lakes, the area has numerous waterfalls,
parks, large cities, unique small towns, historic sites, museums, and many
wineries. Cycling north or south along the lakes is relatively flat. However, cycling east
or west between the lakes involves serious
climbs.
In
Syracuse, we left Joe’s van at our friend Dick’s house. The 3 of us met during
our 2002 cycling adventure across the United States. Even though Dick wasn’t
able to join us on this ride, he did provide great hospitality and we enjoyed
sharing stories about our past cycling adventures. Dick’s parting words were “some of the hills
are really tough.”
The
start of our cycling led us through the city of Syracuse. We first stopped at Syracuse’s historic Clinton Square. This square was the town’s original center
and now boasts a beautiful panorama of architecture from the 19th and early
20th centuries. Clinton Square also houses a stunning fountain park where the
Erie Canal once ran. This area also participated in the Underground Railroad. In Clinton Square we stopped at the Jerry Rescue Monument celebrating the October 1,
1851, rescue of William "Jerry" Henry, an escaped slave from
Missouri. According to Wikipedia. Henry had been arrested in Syracuse and
identified as an escaped slave. Federal officials eager to compel obedience to
the then-new Fugitive Slave Act determined to return him to Missouri. The
arrest occurred on the very day that a major abolitionist meeting was taking
place in the city. Following one failed rescue attempt, a large mob stormed the
police station and rescued Jerry Henry, defying the Fugitive Slave Act.
Heading
out of the city we cycled through an area that at one time housed the city's
affluent citizens. Sadly, many of the once stately mansions were in need of
major restoration.
Soon,
we encountered our first significant hill. We had been warned many times that
we would have lots of climbing, but it took our first climb for that reality to
sink in. This climb was about 3 miles long with some steep grades. It was
tough, but we stayed on our bikes and felt good about beating this hill. At the top, we asked ourselves, “how bad
could the rest of the hills be?”
Our
second climb let us know that the first hill was relatively easy. This second killer climb occurred at the
southern tip of Otisco Lake, just as we started heading north along Skaneateles
Lake. Not only was it steep but we had to do it during the heat of the day when
temperatures were in the mid-90s and the humidity at the same level. While this climb was only one-half miles
long, it required us to get off our loaded
touring bikes and push them up an 18 percent grade . It was very difficult. We were afraid to stop
to rest, unsure that we could start walking again. Worse than the first climb,
my heart and lungs beat so hard, my chest felt like it was going to explode.
After
we recovered, we next stopped in the town of Skaneateles. There we enjoyed cool drinks and
sat under a shade tree with a great view of the lake as we tried to forget the
killer hill we had to walk up. Skaneateles is an Iroquois term meaning
"long lake" and the town dates
back to the 1830s. After reaching the
northern end of Skaneateles Lake, we headed west on an easy 6 mile ride to the
town of Auburn and our hotel for the night. After getting cleaned up, we forced
our legs to carry us to a nearby restaurant.
We
started our morning with a walk to Anne's Family
Restaurant . Anne served us the daily
special of 2 eggs, coffee, toast, and home fries (which we both declined). Before leaving Auburn, we visited the home of
William Seward, who was instrumental in the purchase of Alaska from
Russia. We next stopped at the more
modest home of Harriet Tubman, who led many enslaved people to freedom.
Leaving
Auburn, we had a 20-mile leisurely ride south along Owasco Lake. What came next
was another monster climb that Joe conquered but I walked up the last quarter
mile. There were other climbs during the day and a few great downhill rides.
In
Moravia, we stopped at Millard Fillmore's
birthplace, a tiny log cabin. He was the
13th US President. From there we headed
west to Cayuga Lake, one of the deepest lakes in the United States, measuring
435 feet deep. Once we reached the lake we headed south to Ithaca, which is at
the southern tip of the lake. Our route
to the hotel in Ithaca was blocked by a street fair where we were tempted by
the offerings of many food vendors. We
slowly walked our bikes through the fair for several blocks before deciding on
a detour. However, that detour soon took us to a road that was torn up and
closed. Rather than “detouring a
detour,” we proceeded through the construction to get to our hotel.
The
next morning, we left our Ithaca hotel room a little after 6am, because the
internet indicated that a nearby breakfast spot opened at 5am. However, the hours posted on the internet
were wrong. The sign on the door said it
did not open until 7 a.m. The only other nearby breakfast choice was a gas
station that advertised breakfast sandwiches made fresh daily. We bought 2 sandwiches but should have just
left town hungry. A trail quickly took us out of Ithaca and into Cass Park and marina. There we saw many runners, birders, and lots of big boats. Following the park’s signs to an osprey nest we were rewarded with 2 big birds perched on the edge of their home.
Heading north along Cayuga Lake, we
encountered more hills, but thankfully they were modest. That is except for the climb to Taughannock Falls State
Park. We wanted to see the park’s magnificent
215 foot waterfalls, which was high up the mountain off our route. After taking pictures and enjoying the view,
we had a great downhill ride, followed by relatively flat cycling. Continuing
north, we faced challenging head winds that reduced our 12 to 15 mph pace down
to a painful 6 to 8 mph. Twenty miles
into our day, we dropped down from the Cayuga Scenic Byway to the Cayuga Lake
Shore Drive. Despite the fierce winds,
it was nice to be able to cycle this close to the lake. Large white caps were breaking on shore like
they do at the ocean. Eventually, our lake shore cycling took us to the Thirsty
Owl Winery and Bistro, where we stopped for lunch.
In
Seneca Falls we toured its historic
downtown and saw where the nation’s first convention for Women’s Rights was
held in July 1848. Next, we passed the Seneca Museum of Waterways and Industry,
the National Women’s Hall of Fame, located in the 1844 Seneca Knitting Mill,
and finally, the “It's a Wonderful Life Museum” a local “Bedford Falls"
nostalgia attraction with displays & memorabilia from the namesake film.If
we correctly remember our theology lessons, the prior 3 days we were in
purgatory and on the fourth day we ascended into heaven. Our first heavenly stop was at the marker
claiming the town of Waterloo as the birthplace of the annual Memorial Day
celebration in May of each year. In the
summer of 1865, a prominent local druggist, Henry C. Welles mentioned at a
social gathering that it would be good to remember the Civil War’s dead
soldiers by placing flowers on their graves. Nothing resulted from this suggestion
until a year later. In May, the village honored the fallen with flags at
half-mast. (While President Johnson proclaimed the town as its birthplace, new
information indicates that an earlier celebration was held in Columbus,
Georgia.)
Within
a few miles we stopped to take pictures of a Cayuga Canal lock and noticed a sign on
the other side of the water announcing a civil war memorial. We debated going to see it but since it was
early and a short day, we decided, why not.
Thankfully, we made the right choice and it became our second heavenly
stop of the day. This unassuming and out of the ordinary cemetery contained
dozens of simple granite monuments, each 5-foot high. Beneath, there were tags identifying the
man’s name, rank, age, and where he was from. Both of us were moved by this
memorial, more so than when we cycled through the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
battlefield on a previous bike trip. Simple, but powerful. Unlike our normal
behavior of stop, look, photograph, and move on, we spent an hour there as we
were captivated by its solemnity.
After
leaving the cemetery we started cycling west on the Cayuga Trail. The trail was mostly a single-track trail
that paralleled the Cayuga canal. The
trail was only 5 miles long. Near its
end we came upon a very unique 100 yards section of trail art (for the lack of
a better description) that we counted as our third heavenly stop. There were stuffed animals, toys, non-native
plants, stick sculptures, drawings, signs, and more unique stuff that you can
see in our photos. As we marveled at
this interesting section of the trail, Jim, a runner, stopped to talk to
us. Jim is a county legislator and a
regular on this trail. He said that he
got to talk to the man responsible for these decorations. Actually, according to Jim, talk was too
strong of a word. The best that Jim
could determine was that the man, a recluse, is a seasonal neighbor of the
trail and has made it his role to make the trail special.
One
and a half hours after we left our hotel, we had gone only 5 miles. This was so unlike us. Our day definitely started out as something
very wonderful. When the Cayuga trail
ended, we cycled south along Seneca Lake. Seneca Lake is the deepest Finger
Lake at 618 feet and the longest at 38.1 miles. At the end of the road, we entered a
deserted trail that took us through Sampson State Park. Leaving the park, we came to a fenced area
containing a large collection of brick buildings that were boarded up. We stopped a walker and asked “what are we
seeing?” We were told that it was a
former state prison. She said that the
local community was trying to get it turned over to them for development but
not having much luck.
Cycling
along Cayuga lake presented a much different picture than yesterday when the
waters lapped the shore. Today,
everything was calm (heavenly). Another
interesting feature of today’s cycling was that we had many wonderful (again,
heavenly) downhill sections but didn’t remember getting to the tops of any
hills. Our climbs were very gentle and
barely noticeable. That is, except the
last one to get to our hotel in Watkins Glen.
After
checking into our hotel, we took a short walk to the Watkins Glen Gorge. The gorge contains 19 waterfalls in a narrow
passageway cut through the rocks. In
many places it is 400 feet deep and to hike the 1.5-mile trail required us to
climb hundreds of steps cut into the rocks.
The water sprayed from some of the falls was cooling and the walk was
not too strenuous. It felt good to be
off our bikes and immersed into nature.
Leaving
Watkins Glen, we headed southwest to Corning. Immediately we started with a
long climb that was only a 3 to 4 percent grade but seemed endless. However, in comparison to our early climbs,
it was easy. Unlike the beginning of our
trip, the day was overcast and cold enough for us to keep our jackets on all
day. There were no lakes between Watkins
Glen and Corning, but we cycled in what should have been a picturesque valley,
if only it were sunny.
We
had a late breakfast in Corning and then headed north towards Hammondsport, fighting a head wind the
whole way. The highlight of the day was
when we reached Hammondsport and checked into a new Best Western Plus with
exceptionally friendly staff and a plate of fresh baked cookies waiting for
us. The highlight of the day should have
been the Glenn H Curtiss Museum that displays 20th-century
aircraft & motorcycles, but we were too tired to see it or go into the town
for dinner. But we did find comfort in the brew pub next to the hotel.
Our
ride from Hammondsport to Pen Yan was along Kuaka Lake but we didn’t see much
of it. We were on the third day of a
weather advisory caused by the Canadian forest fires that were polluting the
east coast. While the advisory stated
that all outdoor activities be curtailed, we cycled. Because of the haze we could not see the lake
or much else and it also made breathing challenging, especially on the
climbs. The day’s highlight was meeting
up with our old friend Ray, who we also met on our 2002 ride across the
United States. At that time and at age
66, Ray cycled from his home in Pen Yan to the start of our cross-country ride
in Williamsburg, Virginia. After we
cycled 4,500 miles to Astoria, Oregon, Ray continued cycling south to San
Francisco then headed east to Salt Lake City before he decided he had
enough. Twenty-two years later, Ray is
still cycling.
Because
of the smoke filled air and the afternoon headwinds, we cut our ride from Pen
Yan to Canandaigua short by eliminating the ride along the northern part of the
lake and skipping the town of Geneva.
While we eliminated about 15 miles, we were still beat up by the
headwinds. We did get to see the northern tip of Canandaigua Lake as we entered
the town.
Another
cold start as we left Canandaigua, but we warmed up with a quick infusion of
joy from a trail angel.
Leaving the
hotel, we had a short ride to an “open 24 hours” restaurant that wasn’t open.
When we got there, only the front seating
area was lit and one person was setting up for breakfast.
We walked in only to be told that the
restaurant did not open for another hour.
Mary, the manager, must have seen the sad look on our faces and said, “I
will make you breakfast as long as your request is simple.”
We both ordered 2 eggs over easy with wheat
toast.
Mary said that 2 eggs came with
potatoes, which we declined.
So instead
of potatoes, she cooked us some bacon and 3 eggs each.
The food was fine, but her kindness was
wonderful.
We
cycled through the town of Canandaigua then headed out into the country. That is when things got confusing for
us. A little background: Joe prepares our routes and down loads them
into our GPSs (which are different Garmin models). After cycling about 10 miles of country
roads, my GPS directed that we turn right onto Mt. Payne Road. However, Joe’s GPS indicated that we should
continue straight. After our painful
climbs early on, we chose not to turn onto Mt. Payne Road, which was in fact, a
climb.
In
the town of Palmyra, we got on the Erie Canal Trail. While most of the trail was in rural areas,
we did go through several interesting towns. We stopped in Pittsford for coffee
and pastries. If our Swiss cycling
friend HP was with us, we would have lingered for an hour watching the pleasure
barges on the water. We miss his “stop
and smell the coffee” approach to bike touring.
To reach Rochester, we cycled almost 30 miles of the Erie Canal. (Joe and his wife Nancy have cycled the
entire canal from Buffalo to Albany.)
In
Rochester we cycled 14 extra miles looking at various points of interest and
seeing the downtown. We especially enjoyed Highland Park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in
1888. Spring-blooming flowers & trees line the 150-acre park and we made
stops at its castle, sunken garden, and amphitheater. The other notable stop was the Susan B.
Anthony House. After our downtown tour
we got back on the Erie Canal trail to get to our hotel in Rochester’s western
suburbs. From
Rochester we planned to head directly north to Lake Ontario. However, a bridge
over a causeway that gave access to boats entering Lake Ontario from
Irondequoit Bay had been closed for the season, making our planned route
impassable. So rather than heading north
out of Rochester, we headed east then north.
Once we left Rochester, most of the rest of the day we cycled in rural
areas.We
did enjoy cycling along the Lake Ontario shore. For lunch we stopped at Burnap’s Fruit Farm near Sodus. The farm stand also had a café where we got a
great sandwich (that was large enough for us to share) made with bread that was
baked on site. We also had strawberry filled
pastries that just came out of the oven.
We ate on their deck overlooking the farm and, in the distance, we could
almost see the lake. If we didn’t have more miles to go, we could
have sat there for hours. Next, we cycled to the historic Sodus lighthouse, our
day’s first and only planned point of interest until we got to Walcott. In
Walcott we saw the Wolcott Falls and the Buggy Museum. We spent the night at the Wolcott hotel. The hotel is old and that is probably the
best thing we can say about it.
We
cycled on the canal trail for over 20 miles until we got to Syracuse where we
had about 15 miles of road cycling to get to Joe’s van. Our route through Syracuse took us on a trail
through a park where a large Pride festival was occurring. Many of the festival
participants were dressed in interesting costumes, but I suspect that the
participants looked at us with the same thought. Because of the crowds and narrow paths, it was
slow going. On the other side of the
park, we exited the path and got on a street lined with folks waiting for the
Pride Parade to come through. We cycled
the parade route until we came head on to the parade’s beginning where a police
officer made us exit the route.
The
final miles through Syracuse were hilly but uneventful as we cycled to the
van. After washing the mud off our bikes
and changing our clothes, we drove to Joe’s home in eastern New York. The next
morning, I drove to my home in Virginia.
More
pictures and detailed map of our travels can be seen at https://fingerlakengood2023.blogspot.com/
Our Scottish journey
continued with luxury accommodations, fine meals, and historic attractions, but
the second day delivered a classic introduction to Scotland's fickle skies. We
started under cool, bright sunshine but spent the rest of the day playing a
constant game of wardrobe roulette. The sun would break through the clouds,
prompting us to strip off our jackets, only to duck away moments later, forcing
us to layer right back up. Occasional light showers drifted through, which we
laughed off as a minor inconvenience, right up until the final five miles when
the skies opened into a downpour.
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