FLCC> Marathon Sunday ride notes

[John Dennis]

Yesterday's 65-mile ride started a bit after 9am from East Hill Plaza under
cloudy skies and ideal temperatures.  David Sahn and I joined the ride at
the corner of Freese and Hanshaw roads.  The route out to Marathon and back
is shaped like a figure eight lying on its side with the western, Ithaca
loop being the larger of the two loops. N-S Rte 38 is more or less the
dividing line between the two loops.  Ben Gray and Gary Hodges more or less
led the lead group out to the Dryden Post Office where we regrouped.  Among
those chatting in the parking area were: Matt Horak, Dave Ruppert (the
Prez), Alex Specker, Evan Palmer-Young, Jim Millar, Mark Sorrells, Hobbitt
LaFaye, Steve Powell, Scott Zimmerman, Bobby Nunnick (wearing a Big Horn
Velo jersey), Alex Deyhim (yellow jersey), Vanessa McCaffrey, Greg Wooster,
Doug Dylla, Susan Soboroff, Neil Weinberg, Marilyn Dispensa, Joe Lalley,
Stephen Hlywa, Cliff Hood (yellow jersey), Diane Kohl, Ron Hine, and Karen
Edgar.  What a turn-out! 

 

>From Dryden, we proceeded south mostly on back roads and turned east at
Harwood, the junction of the "eight."  Perhaps 3-4 miles further east we met
up with the "leisure riders" who had started at Hollenbeck's in Virgil for
what I believe was a 27-mile loop through Marathon.  This group included
Sara Strickland, Cathy Michael, Marci Robinson, Victor Johnson, Ann Shapiro,
and Jim and Debra Bonda.   I believe it was Steve Powell who was the only
person to patronize the restaurant at the NE corner of the Marathon (great
homemade pies as I recall); the rest of us settled for the more prosaic
profferings of the gas station on the SW corner.  As we stood about at the
gas station, some of us watched a bearded hiker heading west with a huge
knapsack on his back, accompanied by a heavy set black dog carrying paniers
on either side.  Marathon is home to two antique stores and I think it fair
to say not a lot of other businesses.  

 

Amongst the lead group leaving town were Gary, Alex, Mark, Matt Horak and
Dave Ruppert. After turning west onto 392, I found myself in a second group
including Vanessa and Jim Millar.  In the flora and fauna department, we
passed a dead immature fox and ample quantities of sweet clover in bloom
along the roadsides. Goldfinches and red-wing blackbirds were numerous.
After regrouping in Virgil, we were soon on the Daisy Hollow Road with dark
storm clouds massing to the northwest of us.  Just as some significant
climbing and rainfall began, David Sahn arranged-or so it seemed-for his
rear tire to blow with a loud report. David, Gary, and I repaired into a
nearby barn along with the barn's owner, Eric Price.  As we began work on
David's wheel in low light conditions, a stream of rainwater began flowing
past at the side of the road and Eric, holding his dog, Mattie, explained
that he was the 6th generation of his family to farm their 250 acres,
Saltland Farm.  His ancestors, named Saltsman had arrived in the area in
1779 or 1789.   He also farmed another 350 acres of rented land.  A barn had
burned in 1931 and the milk cows had been sold off long ago but Eric still
had a 22 "beefers" and 65 holsteins that were not yet fresh.  Eric worked a
day job over on the Cornell research farm near Harford.  It seemed quite a
feat to farm 600 acres and rear 87 animals in one's spare time.  "It pays
the taxes" was a phrase Eric used quite a bit. Either he thought we were
from the IRS or farming income is nothing to write home about. 

 

By the time we took off, the rain had stopped and we realized we were in
tour mode.  The slower groups seemed to have gone back by another route.
After crossing 38, we took Schutt road to connect with the
Harford-Brooktondale Road.  After passing Flatiron Road, David's rear tire
blew again.  This time Gary produced a 4" length of TB-1 that Bobby Nunnick
had given him.  This stands for Tire Boot and is a rectangle of rubber
adhesive material designed to patch rips in bike tires by applying it to the
inside.  Much better than the candy wrapper we had used back at Eric
Price's.  A short ways further along we stopped at David Lasher's fruit
stand and bought three empire apples. What a great stored, just before the
road swings sharply to the right.  In Slaterville Springs we stopped at the
spring for water.  It's located beside the parking area for the Town Hall
and to me has a bit too much iron, but Gary likes it. Gary explained that he
had crashed there some weeks ago.  He had heard that Don Fitterer had tucked
during a crash and managed to land on his feet, so Gary had done the same
thing.  Perhaps Don and Gary could demonstrate this technique at one of
Glenn's spring seminars, especially the part involving breaking loose from
one's pedal clips while going airborne. 

 

Ride safe,    John

 

 


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