Headed out early on a cool (55F), misty morning for my traditional climb up Harris Hill. I've blogged about this ride before, its mostly flat until Harris Hill itself, which is a steep wall of a climb. Then a fast descent back down to the Chemung River valley, a circuit around the local airport, then back to Corning. This time, I doubled-up and did another ascent of Harris Hill and airport circuit. This turned the usual 35 mile ride into a 47 mile ride. Its been quite a few weeks since I've needed the gloves and arm warmers for a ride but the morning here upstate are 20F cooler than they have been on the Island.
Saturday, July 5th
Another brisk morning! Felt a bit tired so I opted for a ride that would be mostly flat, with the option of hills if I felt up to it later. I headed west out of Corning on Rt. 415 (Bike 17) to Savona. Still didn't feel great but I knew I had time for 50 miles today, the weather was good and warming-up, so I wanted to make the most of the ride opportunity. I made the right turn onto Rt. 226 and headed into the hills. The climbs are not steep until Weston, and I didn't go that far. Green farm country and small towns. A nice quiet ride on good roads and good pace. As soon as my odemeter click to 25 miles I turned back and retraced my route back to Corning. 51 miles on the day.
Sunday, July 6th
Legs were feeling great this morning, weather was clear and warm, so I decided to go for a long ride. I decided that I could make a challenging century by combining the full Savona-Weston hill route with a loop around Keuka Lake, which I had done once before without Savona/Weston piece. It turned out to be a 108 mile ride, lots of rolling hills, a couple of steep tough climbs, some fast tempo sections, and a hard return home with the last 25 miles into a headwind. Here is a map of the route:
I took the camera along so here is a little photo summary...
About 10 miles in, on Rt. 415, the sunrise is lighting up this wet cornfield.
My shadow as I cruise toward the turnoff at Savona.
On a small uphill section through the farm country on Rt. 226, headed to the town of Tyrone and then Weston.
Still on Rt. 226, about 20 miles into the ride, some horses grazing in the morning sun.
Mile 25, yet another nice farm scene! There were just too many picture opportunities so, around this time, I decided I needed to curtail the photo stops or the ride would take all day.
The post office in Tyrone. Now some big hills as I head back toward Keuka Lake.
After a long, tough climb into Weston, I'm about to lose a large portion of that elevation gain on this 40 mph decent toward Hammondsport and Keuka Lake.
Descending to Keuka Lake, passed this pond on the hills overlooking the Lake. The hills in the distance are on the other side of the lake, which is not yet in view.
This is upstate wine and grape country, as illustrated on the side of this barn. You can see a small bit of Keuka Lake, which is still below me, to the right of the barn.
I got down to the bottom end of Keuka Lake near Hammonsport at mile 35. Then is was a fast, flat 20 mile run up the west side of the lake to Penn Yan. See yesterday's blog entry for a photo from the boat harbor there.
Heading out of Penn Yan, I stopped at a scenic overlook for this photo looking down the western fork of the lake.
Heading back down the east side of the lake, the road is a continuous series of rollers and narrow, twisting roads, unlike the flat and straight west side. I was constantly getting out of the saddle to keep my momentum going. Finally, at mile 80, I got to the town of Hammondsport and stopped in the town square for a Clif bar.
Left Hammondsport on the way to Bath and passed the Curtiss airplane museum.
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