Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.cranky old dude
08-28-08, 04:22 PM
The wife and I made a vacation like day trip out of buying a used bike. We started out by having a leisurely breakfast at our local diner, which is always a treat. French toast and sausage links are always a great way to start any day. Then with our hunger satisfied we headed south towards the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. On the way, there was the obligatory stop in East Bloomfield for some antique shopping. No buying, just shopping. We literally spend entire days wandering through antique shops. It’s probably a good thing that we haven’t the money to actually make purchases or we’d need a much bigger house.
The next stop on our itinerary was Hammondsport, deep into wine country of the Finger Lakes area. The drive there is most enjoyable and generally free of much traffic. Hills, drumlins and lakes and lots of trees keep the scenery visually appealing. Believe it or not, the leaves are already starting to turn color back on some of the higher hills, as they are in the Adirondacks also. I hear it’s due to the trees being stressed from the unusually copious amount of rainfall they’ve been subjected to. Here’s a quick picture of Canandaigua Lake from one of the scenic overlooks.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/crankyolddude/IMG_1171.jpg
Though the picture doesn’t show it very well, it was a crisp, clear low humidity day with temps in the low 70’s. Absolutely beautiful. Hammondsport, at the southern tip of Keuka Lake is one of our favorite destinations. We did some more Antique shopping, had a great lunch and of course had some Ice Cream at the Ice Cream Parlor. We try to come down this way at least once every year, it’s that enjoyable.
Now for the Bike part of the day. 65 miles to the southeast on the Southern-tier expressway was waiting for me the final objective of the day. A slightly used Volae Tour, SWB recumbent at a fair price was being sold by an active recumbent enthusiast.
We spent a little over an hour at his house as he patiently helped (I watched) me get the bike adjusted to my body proportions. Several test rides and adjustments and I was the proud owner of the Volae. You may remember that a few weeks ago I got caught in a severe hailstorm causing a lot of damage to my Van. The insurance man cut me a check and after getting a lot of professional advise I chose to pocket the check and live with the damage. Well, that check and $46 dollars bought me the bike. Pardon the pun but the hailstorm turned into quite a windfall. Here are a couple of pics of the bike as it sits today. I’ll post more after I set it up for my needs, mirror, rack, fenders and such. Yes, it has platform pedals for now. When I get rich I’ll venture into that area so many of us wonder about and most of us venture into eventually. Clipless pedals and shoes.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/crankyolddude/IMG_1177.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/crankyolddude/IMG_1176.jpg
Happy Trails
The next stop on our itinerary was Hammondsport, deep into wine country of the Finger Lakes area. The drive there is most enjoyable and generally free of much traffic. Hills, drumlins and lakes and lots of trees keep the scenery visually appealing. Believe it or not, the leaves are already starting to turn color back on some of the higher hills, as they are in the Adirondacks also. I hear it’s due to the trees being stressed from the unusually copious amount of rainfall they’ve been subjected to. Here’s a quick picture of Canandaigua Lake from one of the scenic overlooks.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/crankyolddude/IMG_1171.jpg
Though the picture doesn’t show it very well, it was a crisp, clear low humidity day with temps in the low 70’s. Absolutely beautiful. Hammondsport, at the southern tip of Keuka Lake is one of our favorite destinations. We did some more Antique shopping, had a great lunch and of course had some Ice Cream at the Ice Cream Parlor. We try to come down this way at least once every year, it’s that enjoyable.
Now for the Bike part of the day. 65 miles to the southeast on the Southern-tier expressway was waiting for me the final objective of the day. A slightly used Volae Tour, SWB recumbent at a fair price was being sold by an active recumbent enthusiast.
We spent a little over an hour at his house as he patiently helped (I watched) me get the bike adjusted to my body proportions. Several test rides and adjustments and I was the proud owner of the Volae. You may remember that a few weeks ago I got caught in a severe hailstorm causing a lot of damage to my Van. The insurance man cut me a check and after getting a lot of professional advise I chose to pocket the check and live with the damage. Well, that check and $46 dollars bought me the bike. Pardon the pun but the hailstorm turned into quite a windfall. Here are a couple of pics of the bike as it sits today. I’ll post more after I set it up for my needs, mirror, rack, fenders and such. Yes, it has platform pedals for now. When I get rich I’ll venture into that area so many of us wonder about and most of us venture into eventually. Clipless pedals and shoes.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/crankyolddude/IMG_1177.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/crankyolddude/IMG_1176.jpg
Happy Trails