Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Seneca Falls: Mile 80 of Today's Finger Lakes Century

Today's Finger Lakes century ride has hit Mile 80 here in Seneca Falls, a working-class village north of Cayuga Lake as I make my way back to Auburn. Overcast skies and stiff winds from the south made for a challenging ride to Penn Yan, the turn-around spot at Mile 50.

But now it's mostly cross-winds as I bike west to east back to Auburn through Geneva and Waterloo and Seneca Falls.

The long country roads offer mesmerizing vistas of rolling farm land. I enjoyed the Mennonite horse-drawn carriages on the farm roads between Geneva and Penn Yan.

And when you bike between the lakes and get on roads that are about halfway between the lakes, you can get on tabletop roads that offer long vistas of the long, narrow lakes. It's a cool view.

I have lots of photos, but I can upload them in my laptop, which is in Auburn. I hope to post the photos when I get my laptop to the Auburn Library, which offers wireless service.

Geneva, hometown of my alma matter Hobart College, has a kickass bike shop that is a Top 100 Retailer. But it takes Wednesdays off, so I could not chat with the owner. Geneva's downtown seems a little more vibrant with an Ashler Furniture store and several new eateries. Too bad it didn't build its downtown on the lake itself, which is behind downtown and seperated by Route 5/20, which is a four-lane highway to cross to get to the lake from downtown.

I have about 20 miles to go to finish the century. Stay tuned for photos and some fun photos and videos.

And for you softserve ice cream fans out there, I stopped off at the famous Mr. Twistee's on Pre-emption Road outside Geneva.

It's famous for its whopper/mega-sized "small" cone, which is a large anywhere else. I call Mr. Twistee's "Big T" because that small cone of ice cream can suffocate you if it ever fell on you. I have an exclusive video interview with Amanda the Mr. Twistee's worker that I hope to post later. Stay tuned.

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