Central New York
 

Does anyone have any CNY, one or two day bike friendly rides they'd like to share. I'm thinking I'll utilize Rt 20 because there's good shoulder on a lot of it. But traffic and trucks move pretty fast on 20 as well so not sure if there are better options. Originating in Syracuse I'm think to Rochester, Albany, or maybe riding around a finger lake or two.

Are you looking for an organized ride, or just some suggested routes? For an organized ride, I suggest the Great Finger Lakes Bicycle Tour which is June 7-9 this year. If you do this enough, you'll get to know a lot of the roads around Lakes Seneca and Keuka.

- Ed

NY Bike Route 5 is one of the state's best signed bike routes. As you note, nice wide shoulders, etc. Some parts of it are a little busy for my taste ( which doesn't mean you'll be dealing with constant traffic - it's just that I prefer backroads ). It varies between NY routes 5/20, 31, and some others, depending on where you are.

Then of course there's the Erie Canal trailway, if you're in the mood for something dead flat and mostly off-road. Some bits, especially east and west of Syracuse are on-road, as the trailway isn't quite complete yet.

I hadn't considered an organized ride. Something to think about.

I need to research. I didn't know the bike routes were that long. Assuming the canal trail-way will have walkers I'll probably avoid it; plus I like hills.

I did a good distance on the canal a couple years ago. It is empty. Walkers are not a problem.

I've done the westernmost 150 or so miles of the Erie towpath twice and could easily count the number of walkers I saw on my fingers, except for the short stretch through Fairport which is sort of a multi-use promenade where you must dismount & walk for a few hundred yards anyway.

For me the more rural the better as far as riding, so I avoid 20 as much as possible. If you like hills and are not averse to finding yourself on a gravel road occasionally, I never found myself going wrong on any of the little roads in the hills south of 20 in the Finger Lakes or the Cortland-Chenango-Madison county area to the east. I don't have a GPS and have found the DeLorme atlas to be great.....I just cut out the relevant pages rather that carry the whole book. Remember you did say you liked hills.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to wing it a little too and just ride what looks good. I'm thinking most of those rural roads in the Finger Lakes would probably be good to ride.

Theres always the Bon Ton Roulet. I think they sort of publish a route on their pamplet, not detailed but perhaps enough to get ideas of day routes...

Jay

If you can get a week off there is the Bon Ton Roulet in the Finger Lakes region.

Yep, I've done the canal end-to-end with my son. There are very short sections in some of the towns where you'll find walkers, but there were times when we could go hours without seeing another person.

I just checked out the Bon Ton Roulet website. Looks cool, it's definitely an option.

For heading west out of Syracuse, I prefer 31 to 5/20. 5/20 has significantly more debris on the shoulders (glass, road salt residue), and traffic is obnoxious. Any of the lakes are nice to circle, just bear in mind that the south ends of the lakes are the hillier ends.

My only negative with the Erie trail is the crushed limestone is dusty and covers everything. I don't mind riding it with 28's, but find anything narrower to require more vigilance than I like.

Rides around the Finger Lakes are all nice -- Skaneateles, Otisco, Cayuga, Seneca all have nice shoulders and are beautiful rides, some longer than others. +1 on Rt 31 over Rt 20/5 which is real busy. Also you should check out the routes at ridewithgps.com and bikely.com and mapmyride.com, lots of good routes out there that avoid busy roads.

One organized ride I strongly recommend is the Point to Pint ride in August out of Empire Brewing in Armory Square downtown Syracuse, sponsored by the Brewery and Syracuse Bicycles, I did the century ride last year, out to Hamilton NY and back in, beautiful roads, and all the beer you can drink at the end!

I checked out Rt 31 on the map last night. Looks good, I'm going to give it a try.

I knew they did the Ommegang ride, I was planning on doing that one. I'm liking these brewery rides.

As an interesting rt. 31 tidbit: after Port Byron but before rt. 89, you cross the north end of Montezuma. It is the flattest, straightest road I have ever encountered in the finger lakes. There is a bridge at the east end, and a hill at the west, so no matter which way you ride, you have a landmark in front of you that never seems to get closer.

Other tidbit: Canandaigua Lake is the most interesting of them to circle, in my opinion. Least developed, little traffic, and horrendous hills on the south end.

Thanks for the info. Canandaigua sounds perfect.

Don't know if you are local to Syracuse, but the group I ride with does Skaneateles Lake twice per summer, Otisco once per summer (Church Hill Rd. is my nemesis), among other odd trips. I also hit most of the lakes solo as well, not necessarily full loops but several 130 to 150 days out of Liverpool. Company is always welcome.

130 to 150 miles in one day? Last year was my first year back into cycling for a long time and most of my loops from home were 25 to 50. I'm planning on stretching it out this year but will most likely be staying under 100 per day.

Welcome back to the sport. I'm only 3 years back into it, so you can see things add up in a hurry. And no, not everyone of my rides is 130+, but I was just trying to say it is doable to leave on your bike and day trip to them. In one day trip, I rode along 4 of them. On a 2 day, 250 mile trip I rode along 6.

Dude, you're an animal. That's covering some serious distance. If you're ever looking for someone to tag along on a 50-75 I'm game.

Do any of you ride north of Oneida Lake? I'm in the Watertown area.

I have occasionally gone as far north as Pulaski, but don't know the roads as well. I have circled Oneida Lake a few times, but that is, IMO, a really crappy ride.

I also ride in the Adirondacks, but much farther east than your end.

How far east. I ride in the Plattsburgh, Saranac Lake area also.