When we aren't riding we will be looking for swimming holes and/or public swimming pools. Any ideas? Thanks again.

You can swim at Buttermilk Falls State Park or Robert Treman State Park, both downtown along route 13. You can also go out to Taughannock Falls State Park along the west side of the lake on 89 and swim in the lake.

Do people still go to Flatrock, outside of Varna? Seems like coming down the hill from Cornell into Varna on 366, you make the left immediately at the base of the hill, and there were wading and playing spots all along Fall Creek down through there.

Edit: this may have just been an old Townie spot. Don't know.

Can one of you Ithaca-ites let me know what the mileage is for an around Cayuga Lake ride? I thought of doing it for a century ride, but I've seen conflicting numbers on the total miles. I guess it depends on the route also...

Thanks

I recall it being 86 or 87, if you swing north and include Montezuma you break 100.

Thanks. Or I could swing through the Cornell campus trolling for co-eds ;)

Less than 100. Other than dipping into sheldrake and dinking around town, this is about as tight as you can go.

http://app.strava.com/rides/9458879

As far as swimming, check out six mile creek for the true townie experience. First dam off Giles street is easily accessed. Second dam, behind commonland community on 79 (look for the streets named after beatles conga- penny lane, abbey road) is a bit of a hike (can't ride bikes down, wouldnt really want to)... But stellar swimming spot at the top of a dam. Go into commonland, take the first right (TONS of parked cars n a hot day) and look for a double track trail with a chain crossing it. Walk down until a service road that parallels the creek, take a right about 150 yards the a trail that points down a gulch right to the swimming spot. Then there's potters falls, which you access at a gate (look for cars parked n the side of 79) just north of where John St. (also, six mile creek winery) hits 79. Walk down the service road, go to the right, follow the trail along the edge of the gorge, you'll know when you're there. Beautiful spot.

All three spots are near east hill plaza, and well trafficked. Follow the herd, they'll take you to them on a hot day. Naked hippies abound, but it's all part of the experience.

Looks like right about 92 if cruising campus is part of the itinerary

http://app.strava.com/rides/9457472

Am I reading that Strava wrong? It doesn't look like the route is hilly at all. I thought that there were at least a couple of tough hills?

Yes, you're reading it wrong...dumb American doesn't even know meters!

The general rule for all of the Finger Lakes is that the south end is much hillier than the north end. I forgot this rule when I circled Canandaigua Lake.

I didn't realize that. I grew up in Canandaigua and go down every Sunday to see my mom. I bring my bike and have gone around Canandaigua Lake twice so far. The south end is definitely hillier than the north end, and the west side is much worse than the east side.

Loving the self quote here. That hill out of Lansing is no joke. Either way really, but going north can catch you off guard and kill a lot of momentum.

Hey! Ithaca resident here. This place is great for hills of all types except for those really long 3% to 6% grade mountain roads like you'd find in Colorado. We've got easy to medium rollers you can maintain a decent tempo over and also tough, grinding mile to 2-mile climbs and some steep walls. I think I've tried every hill around here many times. If you want the toughest hills within a 10-mile radius of downtown Ithaca, here's a list of my favorites:

Blakeslee Hill Rd. on the South end of South Hill (near Spencer) is overall the toughest in the area. It's a bit over a mile long but it starts getting a lot easier after the first 0.88 miles, which averages 12.1% grade with a max of 19%. Seeing the last section following an already tough climb to the 105-degree switchback is one of those "you've got to be kidding me" moments.
Yellow Barn Rd. in Dryden (9+ miles East of downtown Ithaca) is just over 1.5 miles at 8.8% avg. grade with several sections of 10% to 13% and no real rest sections.
Bostwick Rd. headed West off of Rte. 13A on West Hill is 1.74 miles at 8.4% avg. There's a fairly significant gentle downslope after this, then you can add on a couple of short, sharp ascending rollers after that to get to the highest elevation near Applegate Rd.
Mt. Pleasant Rd. headed East from Rte. 366 has a very steep pitch just after crossing Turkey Hill Rd. There are more fairly tough rollers after that to get to the high point at the observatory, but also fun descents, so it's not a continuous climb. Also try Ringwood Rd. (from either direction) + Mineah Rd. + Mt. Pleasant from the other side, finishing with the stair-step rollers on Mt. Pleasant. Not as tough as the first three climbs on this list, but a good bit of work.
Another pretty hard climb is "Gun Hill" (Lake St.), which is 15.8% avg. for 0.2 miles, followed by a brief (3-ish%) rest section at the top, then follow Gun Hill with a left on University Ave. and another concave climb (maxing at 14%) up toward East Ave.
Harvey Hill Rd. (West of Enfield Main Rd. (327) following the descent of the West side of Bostwick) is a mile at 8.8% avg. with a half mile in the middle at 12.2%. That's a bear after doing Bostwick!

Other long-ish grinders at around 7% avg. grade include Rte. 327 NW from Rte. 13A, Sandbank Rd. (pretty steep near the S curve), Turkey Hill (South from Ellis Hollow Creek Rd.) + Quarry Rd., State St. + Mitchell St., and Rte. 79 West out of Ithaca (this road has a 2.2-mile initial climb plus a few mile-ish 5%-6% grade climbs and some short rollers on the way out to Watkins Glen and back, with the hardest being the one coming back out of Watkins Glen - 1.3 miles at 7.2%). Some roads like Genung or Snyder Hill over by the Ellis Hollow area are also decent climbs, as are Hurd Rd. and parts of Irish Settlement Rd. farther East, and a few near the South end of both Rte. 89 (near Taughannock Falls) and Rte. 34B (near Lansing and Ludlowville) along Cayuga Lake. The rollers get easier and easier as you go farther North on either side of the lake, and it's extremely flat up at the far North end, especially if you go as far North as the Montezuma marsh on Rte. 31.

If you want shorter steep hills, the steepest named street in town is Kline Rd. near Ithaca HS just North of Gun Hill (you can find some other 20-ish% walls in this same area). Kline gets up to 24.6% for almost a tenth of a mile out of its 0.37-mile length from East Shore/Lake St. to Cayuga Heights.
The West side of Bostwick is probably the hardest climb in this area that's shorter than a mile (unless you stop 0.9 miles into Blakeslee Hill). It's a stand-up grunt for about a third of a mile near the top coming to Applegate.
Buffalo St. is notorious but not nearly as bad - 0.31 miles at 10.6% to soften you up, then a long block of 0.12 miles at 16.7% (max 19.9% at the very top at Eddy St.).
Williams St. (the Chapter House hill) is one street over to the North of Buffalo and only consists of that 0.12-mile block, but it's at 18%.
Caldwell Dr. by the Plantations is 16% (similar to the top block of Buffalo, but about 45m longer).

If those aren't enough, there are harder ones at other lakes. By far the hardest hill I've ever done - and considered the hardest regularly-ridden climb in the Finger Lakes area - is Bopple Hill Rd. on the West side of Canandaigua Lake. It's 0.8 miles at 14.2% avg. but that includes a 1.5% to 2% rest section following the initial hard quarter mile. The final 0.4 miles average over 17% and max out at 22.6%. Unless you're a real mountain goat, bring a granny ring (30 x 27 gear or similar). Gannett Hill in the same area is a distinctly tougher 1.5-mile climb than either Yellow Barn or Bostwick. It averages 10.5% for the 1.5 miles (max 15.2%).
Church Hill Rd. and Moon Hill Rd. at Otisco Lake are very, very tough < 1 mile climbs. I've never tried Moon Hill, but Church Hill is 0.55 miles at 13.3% and it's definitely about 50% harder than Buffalo St. and even a bit tougher than the one mile long Harvey Hill in overall difficulty. Not as hard as the last 0.55 miles of the West side of Bostwick, though.

Enjoy the challenges! I'm a relative newbie who's been riding for almost 3 years and I love riding in this area. Even though my max wattage at age 53 is paltry enough to keep me crawling on some of the harder climbs and I'm just getting to the point where I'm thinking of trying a road race, it's been a blast getting from beginner to average and to the point where I can finally conquer all these hills, do a solo century with over 6,000 feet of climbing and ride at 21-22 mph solo for 10-mile sections of easier terrain. Two years ago, I couldn't even do Buffalo St. in 39 x 27 without stopping twice! Now I can do longer, harder ones nonstop in the same gear, albeit very slow. The Ithaca area is definitely a fun and challenging place to ride a bike!

If you want to do a nice climbing ride, I'm leading a club ride on August 18, 38 miles, 5600 feet of climbing, leaving LACS at 10am, here's the route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1198469
Beautiful hills, focused around areas southwest of the city. Inspired by the "terrible B Hills" century but no unpaved or gravel roads, all paved, a nice challenge for a Saturday ride.

That hilly 38 miler sounds like a pretty tough one. I'm going to ride the Giro d'Otisco course with another guy on either the 11th or the 18th, we haven't decided which weekend yet (won't be at a hard effort throughout - I can't imagine doing Church Hill Rd. at the end of a race; it's tough enough as a stand-alone). If I have the 18th free, I might try that 38 mile ride. I thought I'd done all the Terrible B hills (spread out over several rides) except for the ones with gravel, like Bruce Hill (the one time I went out there, I decided not to even try it on a road bike). But oddly enough, I hardly ever go South from Ithaca (hate the traffic on 13/34/96 just outside of town), so I've never seen a lot of those hills that far South between 34/96 and 13. If I go South, it's almost always on 96B from the Commons and past IC or via 79/Burns/King to get to Sandbank or Blakeslee Hill. I've always wondered what was out in that area West of 96, though.

So if I'm free, I might join that ride. If I don't hold up the group, that is - my normal average speed on routes that have more than 3 of those Terrible B type of hills is only about 13 mph - or if I'm not too much of a squirrel (I ride solo about 98% of the time and definitely need more practice with group rides).

I've done even the gravel ones including Bruce, and Beech Hill which is even worse -- never again though. This course is an alternative to those gravel (and worse!) B Hills, totally paved.

The hills south of Ithaca are beautiful, nice climbs, great views, nice downhills too. I wouldn't worry about speed, the goal is to finish the course!

BTW have you checked out the Highlander? Their Quads Hilla Century is 105 miles, only 9,000 ft climbing this year (last yr it was 11,000), with some real nice hills: http://www.highlandercycletour.com/rides.htm And fwiw I'm also a 95% solo rider.