FLCC> Sunday Taylor Valley Ride Report

[Steven Powell]

FLCCers,

We had a good showing for the Sunday Taylor Valley ride out of 
Cortland, although I'm not sure of the total number of riders due to 
some busy activity right at the 9 am start in the Friendly's parking 
lot.  First, we were greeted by a group of 4 bike tourists who were 
fully loaded with front and rear panniers and were doing a couple of 
weeks of touring in the Fingerlakes region.  They said they were 
roughly following the Bon Ton Roulet route, but with some extra loops 
and excursions.  Anyway, at about the same time that we were chatting 
with these cyclists, someone from Friendly's told our group that they 
wanted us to move our cars from the restaurant lot to the nearby much 
larger P & C supermarket lot.  It would probably be a good idea to 
meet at the P & C lot next time we have a ride to keep everyone happy.

Back to the ride....well almost...at about the time some of us were 
moving our cars, a group of riders started the ride.  There may have 
been 4-10 riders in this group and I assume their ride went well 
because we never saw them again.  That left a group of 12 of us to 
start what we have been calling "the moderate ride."  It probably was 
about 9:30 am when we left the parking lot under some cloud cover 
which kept the temperature in the low 70s for an hour or so.  The 
first 20 miles or so were mostly flat as we headed up the Taylor 
Valley.  We stopped a couple of times at major turns to regroup and 
eat some of the snacks that we were carrying.  We also encountered a 
stray kitten which was aimlessly wandering the roadway.  There was a 
discussion about what to do with the kitten, since we feared it was 
going to be hit by a car, and I believe that one of our group (Joe?) 
gave the kitten a short bike ride to a safer location.

As we neared Marathon, we encountered a set of very challenging 
climbs along with a thrilling downhill into the center of town.  We 
then took an extended break at the convenience store and nearby diner 
where some us ordered some takeout sandwiches.  We probably rested in 
Marathon for about 30-45 minutes and then headed north on Rt 11.  A 
few miles down the road, we split into 2 groups, one group continued 
on Rt 11 directly to Cortland, and the other group took the hilly cue 
sheet route on Rt 215 past Greek Peak in Virgil and then to Cortland.

We rendezvoused back at the P & C lot, and then most of us decided to 
go to the soft serve ice cream place out on Rt 13 where we cooled off.

A beautiful valley ride, some challenging hills, some clouds, some 
sun, no rain, and ice cream.  Another great Sunday ride.

--Steve

-- 
Steven Powell
Cornell University
School of Electrical & Computer Engineering
321 Rhodes Hall
Ithaca, NY  14853
Tel # 607-255-4551
Fax # 607-255-6236
e-mail: sp35 at cornell.edu