Presents:

The 2006 Finger Lakes Tandem Tour (central)

September 16th through September 23rd

The Tour begins on Sunday morning. We will meet at Rich and Lindy’s house at 9:00am. Parking for cars will be in our driveway. We’ll load luggage and start the ride by 10:00am. On other transfer days, please have your luggage by the truck by the 9:00 am ride kickoff meeting.

Luggage will be moved on transfer days in a trailer. Because of the limited space, we need you to limit luggage to one medium bag per person OR one large bag per couple. Also, have a luggage tag with your name on your bags.

We will be staying at motels. Motel rooms will let us store our tandems inside our rooms. If you incur any room charges (phone calls, room service, laundry, etc.) please take care of them at checkout.

Food is important! On Sunday, we’ll have bagels at our house for a pre-ride snack. And because food brings people together, we will celebrate the beginning, middle, and end of the tour with dinners.
In Hammondsport, on Sunday night, we will have dinner at the Snug Harbor Restaurant on Keuka Lake.
On Tuesday night we will have dinner in Seneca Falls at Abigail's, which "concentrates on an American cuisine where patrons tend to favor pasta, seafood and steaks".
On Friday night, in Ithaca, we'll have our Farewell Dinner at Simeons near the Ithaca Commons.
These dinners are included in the tour package. Alcoholic beverages are not included. Breakfast and lunch are on your own. Restaurants are located near each motel in Hammondsport, Seneca Falls, Skaneateles and Ithaca.

Tour distances are typically 30 - 49 miles for transfer days between Elmira, Seneca Falls, Skaneateles and Ithaca. On non-transfer days, routes ranging from 29 to 57 miles are possible. Or take a rest day. Or stroll Hammondsport, visit a museum, taking a walking tour of Skaneateles or a boat ride!

Route Maps are provided, with route instructions. We’ve driven / ridden all of the routes, to find the best roads and least climb. Expect climb, though, because we will be biking between the lakes, across ridges carved by glaciers thousands of years ago. We get the chance to ride along sections 4 of the Finger Lakes. The lakes are beautiful, surrounded by vineyards, orchards, farmland, 18th century houses, and lots of waterfalls!

Other essentials - Laundry facilities are within walking distance at Hammondsport (day 1 and 2) and Seneca Falls (day 3).

Dress is casual Bring rain gear. Plan on carefully checking out your bike ahead of time to minimize problems during the tour. Check those brakes! Plan on carrying tools and limited spares to deal with most on road problems. You can contact Rich on his cell phone for major problems, though cell service is not available in many locations along the routes. The sag car is primarily for luggage transfers between motels. It can also be used if illness requires shortening the route for a couple on a transfer day.

Itinerary for the Finger Lakes Tandem Tour

Day 1	Sunday	To Hammondsport
Ride from Rich and Lindy’s house in Elmira to Hammondsport ~45 miles, a day with little climb. Passing through the Chemung and Cohocton River valleys to Bath, and then up through Pleasant Valley to Hammondsport at the tip of Keuka Lake. Pause in Corning and see the Corning Museum of Glass, Rockwell Museum of Western Art, or shop downtown. We know you might want to hurryalong, but Corning is well worth a stop!
Day 2	Monday	Hammondsport
Ride around Keuka Lake, including its Bluff Point, for ~57 miles (one of the favorite rides for local cyclists in the Finger Lakes region) or ~44 miles as an alternative. Lots of short, rolling hills with one additional climb at Bluff Point (only 300 ft.). Later, visit the Glenn Curtiss Museum of early aviation or stroll downtown.
Day 3	Tuesday	To Seneca Falls
Transfer day of 59 miles, or an easier route of 49 miles, to Seneca Falls. The longer route goes part way up the lake then climbs up onto the ridgeline for the journey north to Geneva. The shorter route continues the length of the lake then heads part way up the ridge to join the longer route on the way to Geneva. Go around the top of Seneca Lake and continue on the mostly flat route to Seneca Falls.
Day 4	Wednesday	To Skaneateles
An easy ride of 30 or 43 miles to Skaneateles. This leaves plenty of time for you to visit the Women’s Rights Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls as you ride out in the morning and visit the birthplace of the Women's Movement
Day 5	Thursday	Skaneateles
There are three options for day rides today, ranging from 30 to 40 miles. And / or you can take the day to explore Skaneateles, take a boat ride, do some shopping, visit an art museum, etc. Plenty of time to spend in this unspoiled gem of a small town resort.
Day 6	Friday	To Ithaca
Three climbs and three descents, with a net loss of almost 500 feet of elevation, and one of the most pastoral rides of the week, gets us to Ithaca. The 43-mile ride takes you within 1/2 mile of our favorite Ice Cream shop, Purity Ice Cream.
Day 7	Saturday	Return to Elmira
Decisions, decisions. Once again we offer three options for this route, 38, 46, or 55 miles. Routes depend on which climbs you take out of Ithaca and from the Newtown Creek valley. The amount of main roads also varies. All nice routes, just depends on your preferences. Either way, there will be a climb out of the valley which holds Ithaca and Cayuga Lake. You will go through a dramatic change in geography as you leave the Finger Lakes and head south toward the Southern Tier of NY.