Cayuga Lake
August 7, 2022
6 days / 437 miles / Surly Ogre
This was my second bike tour through the Finger Lakes which started off similar to the Seneca Lake tour I did in 2020, but this time I went further south taking Route 26 almost to Whitney Point before heading towards Ithaca. I also had great weather the entire trip making for a very enjoyable trip.
This was one of my favorite tours since I finally had my Surly Ogre set up with the right saddle , a Brooks B17, which I have since put on 3 of my bikes. I also started using Schwalbe Marathon Mondial tires in a 700x50c (50-622) which has become my favorite tire for touring since they do very well on unpaved surfaces (dirt, gravel) yet they have a pretty low rolling resistance. They have since changed the tread pattern and I have yet to try the new version referred to as the Marathon Mondial Pro. This was also the trip when the rear rim (the stock 32-hole WTB ST i29) started to form cracks around the spoke holes so I rebuilt the wheels when I got home with some WTB KOM Tough i30. The are very similar rims but the KOM Tough is much stronger than the OEM ST i29. I also built up a set of wheels with SUNRingle Rhyno Lite 36-hole rims for heavily-loaded tours. They are known to be “indestructible” and have eyelets at the spoke holes which helps distribute the load around the spoke nipple.
One of the most memorable points on this trip was waking up on the morning of day 4 and riding into the village of Aurora then sitting and having coffee overlooking Cayuga Lake. It was so peaceful and I had everything I needed with me in that moment. It was hard to get up from that spot and continue riding.
Some useful links:
DEC Info Locator - An interactive map for NY State Land
DEC Forest Info - Overview of NY State Forests
Day 1 - Gansevoort to Starkville (70.8 miles), camping in Otsquago State Forest
Day 2 - Starkville to Otselic (79.3 miles), camping in Pitcher Springs State Forest
Day 3 - Otselic to Cayuga Lake (68.4 miles), stealth camping in forest near Cayuga Lake
Day 4 - Cayuga Lake to Tully (64.4 miles), camping in Morgan Hill State Forest
Day 5 - Tully to Palatine Bridge (94.0 miles), night in Palatine Motel
Day 6 - Palatine Bridge to Gansevoort (60.1 miles)
