When we planned our adventure of riding around each of the 11 Finger Lakes we had things spaced out nicely so that we could slowly build our distance. We had time between each planned ride for more training and building our endurance as our distance climbed. But as we reached the end of our planned riding schedule things got a little cramped.
After having to delay our Seneca Lake ride because we were sick we were left with a choice. Delay our Cayuga Lake ride at least a week or ride our two biggest, longest, hardest rides on back to back weekends. If we stuck to our schedule we would have just a week between our rides. Would that be enough time to recover and then do an even longer ride?
We decided we wanted to go for it on back to back weekends. We worried that the longer we delayed the more likely we would be to run into weather issues. I for one was anxious and excited to get this ride done.
When the day arrived to make the ride around Cayuga Lake the weather was looking sketchy at best. I am an eternal optimist when it comes to going outside if I have a plan to do it. And as an experience trail and ultra runner I have a willingness to suffer through something I believe is worth it.
I was for at least driving to our planned start location and reevaluate the weather situation once we got there. Looking at the weather radar I thought it was possible that we could mostly avoid the rain that was predicted as we rode around the lake it would hopefully be in areas we were not to yet or places we already left on our ride if the rain followed the predicted path. When we arrived In Ithaca to start it was lightly raining, but then stopped. I was all in on going for it. I may have convinced my biking partner that we should do it. She was a little more skeptical.
We decided to go for it.
The route started in Ithaca then up the eastern side of the lake. This meant we had a hill to climb right as we began the ride. We had our rain coats on just in case we encountered bad weather. The climb up out of town to start was challenging. But we got it done. After the climb I was hot, sweaty, and optimistic. We had not encountered any rain so far. We decided to stop and take our rain coats off since we were definitely warmed up after the climb and the weather was currently good.
I bet you can guess what happened next. And you are right.
Shortly after we took off our rain coats it began to rain. And it rained and it rained hard. It wasn’t a particularly warm day so the rain made it pretty cold. We had ridden in worse weather on a shorter ride, but this was a much longer ride we would have to endure.
The rain did not stop. It showed no signs of stopping. We decided, eventually, to stop again and put our rain coats back on. Unfortunately at that point we were pretty drenched and cold. The jacket did help to some degree. This wasn’t a great start to the ride.
The one good thing about the cold weather was that it allowed me to ride faster and push harder than I had been able to on other rides. Even on climbs I could go hard. I didn’t have to worry about overheating or dehydration. My bike partner who usually out paces me asked if I had added a motor to my bike because I was riding so well in the weather.
The rain lasted most of the first half of the ride. When we arrived at the north end of the lake the rain was at least more intermittent. We stopped at a gas station to rest for a minute, eat, and do all the things one has to do on a long bike ride. While we were there a gentleman that pulled into the parking lot with big antennas on their vehicle asked if we were part of the bike race. We looked at each other and then him with quizzical expressions on our face.
We didn’t know what he was talking about. He informed us that the AIDS Ride for Life was taking place at the same time as we were out riding. The AIDS Ride for Life is a 100 mile bike event riding around Cayuga Lake and sounds like something fun to do in the future.
It looked like we might get a reprieve from the rain after we left the gas station. But then the rain returned. While the rain did eventually stop as we began the second half of the ride We were already so soaked and cold that every time we stopped and then restarted our ride it was hard to get our bodies warmed back up. Every restart it felt so cold until you got going for a bit.
This was a beautiful and scenic ride despite the rain on the first half. But now that the rain had finally subsided we had a little more time to soak it in. We enjoyed the views of countryside and parks we passed by. We stopped briefly at point and had roosters loudly crowing at us from a nearby yard. That was a unique experience.
There is so much out there to see. And experience. I highly recommend this ride. I cannot possibly describe it all here. One thing that made this ride so nice is that it was lake that I felt familiarity with but I have rarely driven all the way around it. I generally visit a few specific parts and when I do I do not spend much of the travel time along the lake.
We began seeing more riders from the AIDS Ride for Life event that coincided with our ride. Apparently our two routes converged as we got closer to the end. And as in any long adventure eventually you really need to pee. I was pretty sure our route was going to take us past another gas station eventually. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I was really trying to hang on until we got there. Or else I was going to end up having to pee in someone’s yard. There really was no place discrete to relieve oneself on this route.
Finally we reached the town of Trumansburg and I knew we would pass by the gas station soon. At the same time a large group of bikers from the AIDS Ride for Life passed us. All I could think is “They better not be going to the gas station to use the bathroom.” Thankfully they were not and I was able to make the much needed pit stop.
The next major step in the ride was to merge onto the Black Diamond Trail and that would essentially take us nearly 10 miles to the finish of our ride. Getting on the trail was a bit more of an adventure than I anticipated because the trail head was under construction and it turned out we needed to access the trail at the next road crossing which we eventually did.
The ride on the Black Diamond Trail was really nice. It is a relatively gradual downhill so not much really effort needed to keep going. And it is a beautiful trail.
Unfortunately, this is also where wee ran into a problem. We had our first mechanical issue that had a significant impact on our ride. My biking partner got a flat. Really it is probably a minor miracle that it took this long to have an issue. But really It couldn’t have waited just like less than 10 more miles to go flat. Couldn’t have been a slow leak that flattened out just at the end of the ride. We were soooo close.
Neither of us were experienced at changing a tire, so we decided we would just try to pump it up again and see if we could get to the finish that way. We ended up having to pump it up multiple times but we did get to the finish eventually. All the other riders that passed us by were super friendly and offered to help us out. But we managed to get down the trail on our own.
So, we eventually arrived at Cas Parrk where the Black Diamond Trail ends. And as it happens that is where the AIDS Ride for Life had its finish line. As we got there people were cheering for us and I kind felt like a fraud as we went around their finish line since we were not part of their event.
This route was 97 miles, so the plan originally was to ride a few extra miles to get to a century ride. Why not knock that out while we are so close. AS every ride was essentially our longest neither of us had ever rode 100 miles before and we wanted to do that as well since we were so close.
My fiend said she would just put her bike down since she had a flat and she would wait for me to ride around to get to the century ride. And that is when I realized that during one of the stops to pump up the tire I had apparently paused my watch and forgotten to restart it. So I needed to ride around 5 miles instead of just 3 to officially get to the century ride. And if my watch didn’t say 100 miles then did I really even do it. You know “Strava or it didn’t happen” lol. But really I did want that personal validation of being able to look back at my Garmin timeline and remember the time I rode 100 miles and see that number on my training calendar. So I rode the requisite miles to get to 100 and we were officially done with our Finger Lakes bike riding adventure.
Unfortunately, because of all the rain I didn’t turn on my GoPro until we reached the Black Diamond Trail. So there isn’t a ton of scenic video to watch. But you do get to watch me try to pump up a tire for several minutes. How fun is that!!!
Have you ever ridden around Cayuga Lake or any of the other Finger Lakes? I would love to hear about it. Tell me about it in the comments or find me on social media.
We made our journey around Cayuga Lake on 9/6/25
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