An Evening in Skaneateles

Our ride finished at 5:00pm as we rolled into Mike’s apartment on Lake Skaneateles. A very nice, quaint town that is a place for the NYC crowd to head to (if they aren’t heading to the Hampfons, I guess). We ended up at Joe’s Pasta Garage, which used to be a working mechanics garage before being renovated into a restaurant. As it is across the street from Mike, the commute was easy! Our waitress was Amanda.

After the last blog entry related to the rain, we did roll past the lake on our way in. I am including some photos so you can get the idea but like most images, they don’t do the real place justice.

Tomorrow, we meet with Mike’s people from Welch Allyn and the Finger Lakes SPCA and then we head to Watertown. We hope the wind is not a factor, and the weather is supposed to be great with mid 80s and low humidity. Hopefully West Chester will have power returned by then – they had a wicked storm and high winds too. Good luck all!!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

If you plan to ride a 485 mile, 5 day. 14 county (in 2 states) ride, you have to be very lucky not to get any adverse weather, especially when then temperature is around 88 and the humidity around 90%.

Well, we got wet… just after Cortland on Rte 41A towards Skaneateles. Only about 15 minutes of solid drenching rain but it does give you that wet poodle look.

Fortunately, a 15-20 mph headwind dried things quickly. Did we mention that the Stillman Volvo is a godsend? See Gary’s new, dry jersey?

Check it out…

The Humane Society in Binghamton

Our first NY state animal shelter was The Humane Society in Binghamton. We met up with Karen Matson (short hair in photo) and Tarah Tripp (long hair) and they had a great feast ready for us! Additionally, they gave us a tour of the facility and the animals they are currently taking care of. It’s great that we can help such super places and hope all the folks reading this blog cam help them too!

As a great bonus, we were interviewed by Nicky Hickling, a reporter from Action News 12 (WBNG) television station. Nicky did a 5 minute piece that should air today, so hopefully more of the local people can hear about the cause and help. We had Angie a 6 week old puppy as our mascot and when asked why we created Pedaling4Paws, we just held up Angie and asked, “Are you kidding? Just look at Angie!”

Priceless.

Check out the photos…

Lunch in Whitney Point, NY

After departing from the Binghamton Humane Society we got a phone call from Doug Williams and Mona both very active members of the Southern Tier Bike Club. They were both in Whitney Point and said they would roll south on Route 79 towards us. When I heard Doug say, “Oh, you are that far south”, we picked up the pace and did 20+ mph for about 30 minutes. Here’s a photo of when we met up and another of our lunch place in Whitney Point!

We hope to see more STBC riders and some of the OCC and JCBC folks in the next day or two!

Rolling, rolling, rolling…

Quick break in Hallstead

We are a few miles south of the PA-NY border in Hallstead,PA and are heading up towards Binghamton and the local SPCA. More soon!

Day Three Starts at 6:00am

We work up a bit after the sun started shining and a quick look at the ground reminded us that there was rain overnight but the sky was nearly cloudless. A good sign, but we’ll have to be careful as we start our descents down towards the NY state border (only 20 or so miles away).

Breakfast today is bagels in the room but Mike got his coffee, so he is ready and if he’s ready, the rest of us are too!

A couple of quick photos and we should be off around 7:30am.

Thanks again for the hospitality, Rocco and the good folks at The Vacation Inn!

Riding on 41A along Skaneateles Lake

Hello!

Depending on our time schedule we  may decide to continue to the Village of Skaneateles and stay with at my apartment rather than stay at a hotel in the Cortland/McGraw area.  If we do decide to push on Day 3, our route will take us along Skaneateles Lake on Rte 41A (which is the road that runs on the west-side of the lake).  This will add about 30-35 miles to Day 3′s mileage total. 

For those who have not had the pleasure of driving or cycling on 41A – it’s a wonderful road-with wide shoulders and scenic views and fairly light traffic.

The first couple miles of 41A wind through a wooded section with steep walls, towering trees and cool shade.  From there the road begins to undulate over rollers as you climb to the summit where you are greeted with spectacular views of Skanaeateles Lake. 

The second half of the ride contains several sweeping downhills and a few ‘minor’ climbs – just to keep you honest.  As a result, we will be riding 41A from Homer (Cortland) to the Village of Skaneateles on Day 3 and we will begin Day 4 from the Village of Skaneateles at 8:00 AM on our way to Watertown.

Happy Riding,
Mike