FLCC> Halsey Valley ride notes

[John Dennis]

 Hi All,

Although the Halsey Valley ride--for those starting in Ithaca--has always
been an "inter-basin ride", partly in the Lake Ontario Basin and mostly in
the Cheaspeake Bay Basin, last Sunday it became the first interstate
ride on the FLCC Sunday ride calendar.  What were we waiting for?

At Bill Lodico's initiative (always trust those with local knowledge),
instead of sticking with that flat, shadeless, dare-I-say dreary west-bound
section of Route 17C where the biggest excitement is racing a train if you
get lucky, we instead followed Bill across the westward-flowing Susquehanna
River at Smithboro. We then proceeded west on West River Drive close to the
river. At Litchfield, NY, we rode under 17 and followed the course of the
Susquehanna past recently flooded fields into hilly and scenic riveraine
terrain. A mile or so south of Litchfield, still on Riverside Drive, we
plunged into the unknown wilds of Litchfield County, Pennsylvania. What a
marvelous addition to our well-worn routes!

By that time Wayne Gottleib and Don Smith had a quarter mile lead on our
loose pack. Vanessa McCaffery and I managed to gap up to them. At the next
bridge across the Susquehanna, we waited for Bill to lead us across into
Sayre, PA.  The few blocks that lie on the east side of the railroad tracks
were on astonishing pocket of stark urban poverty, worse than anything I've
seen in our part of Central New York.  We then rode past some Landis
pennants and proceeded north along the  west side of the railroad tracks.
We passed a marvelous old brick train station and proceeded north
into Waverly, NY.  It was only then that I suspected that our group had
fragmented and that some riders had travelled on 17C afterall.

The Big Horn Velo contingent (Bill, Lou, Blaine, his son-in-law and John
Fressenden)--being sensible--repaired to a good diner while the rest of us
uninspiredly swilled gatorade at a convenience store.  Instead of following
the que sheet north on Route 34, Gary Hodges led us on a westerly diversion,
the one that runs along the north bank of the Chemung River  (which, btw,
merges with the Susquehanna just south of Sayre) for about three miles on a
shady, traffic-less single lane roadway that almost has "made for cyclists"
written down the middle. This segment is truly a gem of our summer cycling
routine, though it was looking a tad scruffier than in years past, perhaps
from being under flood waters for a day or so.  This route crosses from
Tioga into Chemung County just at the narrowest, shadiest portion of the
single-lane route. We then followed Wynkoop Creek Rd. (Route 3) due north up
the south-flowing Wynkoop Creek basin.  The official route, Route 34, lies
about 5-6 miles to the east and runs beside the slightly larger Cayuta
Creek.  Considering the greatly reduced trafiic levels on West River Drive
and on Wynkoop, I would favor substituting them for Routes 17C and Rt 34 on
the official Halsey Valley ride que sheet. We add a second state and three
more counties, Litchfield and Athens in Pa and Chemung in NY.  And, we get a
safer, longer, more scenic and more diverse ride.

The proper "new route" is probably to turn off Wyncoop Creek east onto
Rumsey Hill Road, east onto Cooper Hill Road, straight onto Beckhorn Hollow
Road to Van Etten and then proceed due east on 46 into Spencer.  Chris
Koukourtis, Vanessa, and I, however, kept going north until we hit Route
224. My recollection was that we needed to go right, but we could see Dave
Ruppert almost a half mile away heading off to the west, so we gave chase.
When we eventually caught up with Monsieur President, there was a sign
indicating we were heading to Odessa, so we turned around and rode to
Spencer-Van Etten.  The Waverly diner contingent was already there in the
parking area licking their chops and eying us stragglers a bit curiously.

According to my haphazard notes, the short riders included Bill and Lou
Lodico, Blaine Chamerlain, his son-in-law ___ Walburger, John Fessenden
(perhaps he rode from home?), Gary Hodges, Chris Koukourtis, Dan Barbasch,
and Kerry Kaylegian.  It was Kerry's birthday!  Perhaps Chris had ridden
from Ithaca?

Long riders included Stewart Wolsh (riding from near Lodi), Jack Ruckheim,
Don Smith, Don Tenkate, Mark Sorrells, Wayne Gottleib, Dave Ruppert, Vanessa
McCaffery and myself.  Wanting the miles but not the climb, Vanessa and I
rode back by way of 96, Gridleyville Road, 96B to Willseyville and then back
on Coddington, White Church and 79. The others took the more altitudinal
route going north on Crum Town Road to South Danby Road, hitting the Lake
Ontario Divide right about Peters Road.  By contrast, Vanessa and I did not
hit the watershed divide until about 3 miles further north a bit north of
where White Church passes Ridgeway.  The small pond that sits just north of
Ridgeway is one of the many "headwaters" of the Cheaspeake Watershed.

My spouse is offering to buy me a subscription to a new magazine called
"geezer jock," reportedly targeting 40+ year-old athletes.  I resist her
offer pointing out that I'm not an athlete.  Cycling for me is, I demur, a
low-cost form of health insurance providing mid-trip access to some of the
region's least-known diners. I'm also there for the vicarious thrill of
meeting real athletes and hearing about their accomplishments. Thus, for
example, on last Sunday's ride, I learned from John Fessenden that he would
be completing 4900 cycling miles so far this season by the end of last
Sunday's ride.   As I write this, he is somewhere out there riding the
400-mile QuadZilla that starts and ends in Ithaca.  Vanessa McCaffery told
me of a recent near win in NYC that she had had as a member of the Cornell
cycling team.   And Chris mentioned a summer solstice ride with some friends
where they left at 5:30am and completed a leisurely 200-miles by 9:30pm that
night. If you talk with enough riders, you can end a ride feeling as if
you've just ridden a thousand miles but without the pain!

Ride safe,   John
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