Some of us are going to take in some fall leaves cycling in the Finger Lakes area this year. We're going from Tuesday October 17 to Thursday October 19. And a few of us may stay a bit longer.
Accommodation We will be staying in the Econo Lodge (website) in North Hornell which is in the south west corner of the Finger Lakes. Please call the hotel directly at 607-324-0800 to make your reservation. Tell them that you are part of the Wednesday Wheelies group and ask them to put you in the "New Building". It's a separate structure of 18 large rooms, all of which are non-smoking. You can expect to pay around $60 per night, including breakfast. Don't try and use one of the many of the online booking options as you may actually pay more, and you probably won't be able to ask to be put in the New Building. We suggest you drive down on the Monday, stay for the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and drive home after the ride on Thursday. See also the comments below under "Driving".
The Scenery The region is very hilly, and so not for the faint of heart (sorry). You may wish to consider using a granny gear bike. The fall leaves should be very close to their glorious colour peak. There are some really long beautiful remote stretches on all of the routes. It will be impossible to avoid enjoying the scenery, even when you are climbing! You may even decide that the scenery is spectacular. Be sure to bring along some sort of camera device.
The Rides We've plotted a hilly ride for the Tuesday and an even hillier ride for the Wednesday. On Thursday there will be two options, a flatter ride around one of the smaller Finger Lakes or another hilly ride. Click here to see a first cut of the RWGPS plots of the rides (click on the "SHOW ALL ON MAP" button in order to see the big picture). In the coming weeks we will add in parking lot information, refreshment stops and other details, and some nits will be fixed. Start times for the rides will be 9:30. There will be a short drive to the start locations for the hilly rides, and a slightly longer drive to the start location for the flatter ride around the lake on Thursday.
Tuesday and Wednesday Night Socializing and Dinner If you are still on your feet after the rides on Tuesday and Wednesday, we'll go to the Club 57 (website) for socializing and dinner. It's a big roomy restaurant within walking distance of the hotel offering a large selection of beer and food options. Socializing will start at 5 and dinner will be at 6.
Flexibility Since we all be staying in the same hotel and will likely be a fairly small group, we will have the flexibility to change details to suit the circumstances (e.g., start times or restaurant details).
Weather and Cancelling Your Hotel Reservation Click here to check out the weather forecast for Hornell (this page also includes also includes links to 14 day and 7 day forecasts). If the weather looks like it will be really lousy, you will be able to cancel your hotel reservation without penalty up to 11 am on the day before your scheduled arrival. If we have one bad day of weather, Corning is a very touristy town about an hour away that's worth a visit. Of particular interest is the Corning Glass Museum (website) where you can learn all about glass making and how Corning developed Pyrex, Corelle, fiber optic cable, gorilla glass and other game changing technical glass products.
Driving For driving directions, click here. Google Maps estimates the driving time to be 3.5 hours in good conditions. Of course, there is the border and possible traffic delays. Hence, we recommend that you drive down on Monday evening. In order to avoid roaming charges on your phone, you may wish to consider downloading the Google Maps sections for the area before leaving home. This will allow you to put your phone in airplane mode after crossing the the border. In addition to using Google Maps to get to the hotel, you will also find it useful for finding parking lots, restaurants, etc.
Registration If you think you are likely to join us, please click on the registration button on the left and register as soon as possible. If you change your mind at any point, not an issue. However, it will be very helpful to us if you register so that we have a reasonable sense of our likely numbers.
Suggestions or Questions This is another first time event for the Wednesday Wheelies (and any other TBN members interested in joining us). Thus, if you have any suggestions for changes or refinements to the proposed program, we will be very happy to hear them. Also, if you have any questions about the event, please feel free to contact us.
NY Waterfall in the Fall photo by Dustin Jamison/ CC BY-NC 2.0
