[Crash_Tested]

Any of you monkeys have anything to say about Ithaca? An opportunity has presented itself and I am curious about the location. Positives and negatives would be nice. I currently live in Texas and get 1" of snow a year if lucky and it melts before noon. Any Mountains/lifts near? Will I go insane from being snowed in? (I wear shorts through out December and ride year around) Would it be possible to live in Syracuse and drive to Ithaca daily for work? (Texans have no clue how to drive in snow, we just slide around and wreck on black ice from time to time) Feel free to answer any questions I have forgotten to ask.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Echo]

You would be pretty close to Plattekill. But other than that, Ithaca is pretty much considered to be the armpit of upstate NY I think. They do have a nice microbrewery.

 

[BurlyShirley]

Do you live in Boston, Texas?

 

[Tweek]

Nah, you're thinking of Utica, Echo. But Ithaca does have a microbrewery. (Utica's isn't micro). Crash -- Ithaca's a small college town (Cornell, Ithaca Coll, and a CC nearby) with a lot of hills and small mountains. There's a really nice big park if you're into mtn. climbing and hiking. Haven't ridden in Ithaca, but with all the elevation, there's gotta be good riding. Plus, you're not too far to ride in Binghamton, Syracuse, or Rochester. You're about 200 miles from Plattekill. And yes, expect snow. Lots of it.

 

[Toshi]

ithaca is gorges!

ahha (i see those bumper stickers around even here out west, and it's a running non-joke with my ithaca/binghamton friends)

 

[Ian F]

I did a bike tour around the Finger Lakes and through Ithaca when I was 15 (many moons ago). Nice town. Lotsa hills...

 

[syadasti]

Ithaca has Shindgan Hollow (great trails, area 51 NS area, FBM's dreamland DJ spot (never seen it)), Jenksville, Hammond Hill, Chenago State Park, Oakley Corners, CU's test forest (the name escapes me, ok riding though with tons of climbing), CT Hill (don't know it well). I've heard there are possibly some trails between Walkins Glen and Ithaca, but I never asked about them...

Cayuga Mountain Shop is probably the best local bike shop and Jeff the owner is a nice guy

An hour and half away or so is Fell Mountain in Carbondale - its rated as one of the top ten trails in the country - about 15 mi. of technical, super fun singletrack.

In the winter you can do XC Skiing or just brave the elements if the snow isn't too deep (I rode at Chenago once when it was 9F). Night riding is legal in NY State, so in the fall you can ride after work too...

 

[jacksonpt]

There's lots of hiking and water activies up there... the finger lakes are beautiful. Lots of wineries if you are a wine conneseur. There is some good singletrack out that way, and Pkill is a reasonable drive for a day trip, but that will be the only real downhilling you'll find.

There are a few colleges in/around Ithica, so you'll get a lot of college kids, and parts of Ithica definitely have a college town feel. I'm about an hour from Ithica, it's a nice area, but probably not the best if you want a steady feed of downhill.

 

[syadasti]

Ithaca has Greek Peak w/lifts for the Winter, I just highly doubt they'll ever do lift serviced DH - that would be nice though. Maybe you should call them and ask if they have any plans or ever considered it?

 

[Echo]

Nah, you're thinking of Utica, Echo

Doh!

 

[Westy]

'lot of hippies in Ithaca.

 

[Mike B.]

Syadasti covered it well. I'm in the Corning area about an hour from Ithaca and there is a fairly good sized group of us that ride all the places he mentioned. The town isn't too bad and is definetly growing quickly right now. Good food downtown and good riding all around. I know of many other places not mentioned and will be happy to show you, just can't blab them on the internet. Expect 100" of snow and 30+" of rain a year. Prime riding is mid-June through early November. When the snow flies get out your skies or wait for the snowmobiles to pack the trails down and go for a ride. I'm not much for road riding but it is supposedly exceptional. There is also a rather large cycling club, Finger Lake Cycling Club, that organizes rides fairly regularly.

 

[berkshire_rider]

Would it be possible to live in Syracuse and drive to Ithaca daily for work?

Possible? Yes. Practical? No. It's too far IMO to drive for work each day. You would be better off living near Ithaca, and driving to Syracuse when you needed to.

As for the weather, it will be a BIG change from Texas. You will have 3-4 months of snow every year. If you don't like snow and cold weather, Upstate NY won't work for you. I'm not trying to scare you off, the rest of the year is pretty nice, but most years you will only be riding your bike 8-9 months, unless you head south.