Weve been cooped up for weeks now with freezing cold wind chill temps and snow here in Central New York and the Southern Tier. We were itching for some good pedaling, and hoped that some of the singletrack and snowmobile trails in Finger Lakes National Forest would deliver. Wondered if this plan would lead to a death march in bitter cold temperatures or sweet ridin on buffed snowy trails
Party sunny skies, windy, and 20 degrees for our little day adventure. We wrangled up 6 riders - TheDude, No One in Particular, Rod Stabler, David, niteviper2k, and me. A good mix of hardtails, singlespeeds, rigids, and 29ers.
Truck full o bikes.
Getting my game face on.
FLNF is a pretty cool place, nestled on top of a ridge overlooking the East shore of Seneca Lake. 16,000 acres of forest land and fields. Its not much for singletrack in the summer so we rarely ride there, but in the winter the snowmobiles typically leave us some good tracks to ride on.
Niteviper2k warming up with a pre-ride smoke.
The trail started tough. Not packed too well, and slipperly, snow covered boardwalks to negotiate. Rod trying to hold a line.
There was a little pushing involved to start with we were all hoping there would be better things to follow.
After a mile of tough stuff, we found some good stuff. Niteviper2k coming out of the woods.
The first nice downhill gave us a great view and the promise of better trails ahead.
Me enjoying some downhill.
No One In Particular pedaling some nice trail.
The trails on the edge of the fields had some big snowdrifts. The effort to pedal through them was like trying to hop over a log every 30 feet. And there were some big drifts. Some of them were packed down enough that they made nice little jumps on the downhills.
Mmmmm, purdy picture.
Riders down .a couple of low speed drift-related crashes.
We met some nice XC skiers along our travels, most of them looked as us (and commented) that we were out of our minds. Oddly enough we didnt see barely any snowmobilers.
David with a controlled slide down the snowy hill.
TheDude feeling the radio tower vibe on the downhill.
Me trying to hang onto a bridge.
Rod zipping around a nice hardpacked corner.
No One In Particular pulled a nice wheelie into the ditch, just for our enjoyment. Hilarity ensued shortly after, No One In Particular firmly planted his front tire in a snowy ditch at speed and went over the bars. Not to be outdone, Rod immediately followed with one of the sweetest over the bars Ive ever seen after also burying his big front 29er tire in a ditch. Cursing the snow and thanking it at the same time.
Loving life.
This ride had a couple of huge climbing sections. Heres looking up as I start one of them. The snow tends to add a bit of rolling resistance
And heres looking back from the top on that same climb. Silly singlespeeders.
Ive been quoted once saying that Central NY doesnt have much for impressing vistas, but FLNF had quite a few.
TheDude and No One In Particular testing the ice on the frozen pond near the end of the ride.
A satisfied, tired, and hungry group. Ok, we have beer wheres the pizza?
Pizza!
More pics in my photo album
Party sunny skies, windy, and 20 degrees for our little day adventure. We wrangled up 6 riders - TheDude, No One in Particular, Rod Stabler, David, niteviper2k, and me. A good mix of hardtails, singlespeeds, rigids, and 29ers.
Truck full o bikes.
Getting my game face on.
FLNF is a pretty cool place, nestled on top of a ridge overlooking the East shore of Seneca Lake. 16,000 acres of forest land and fields. Its not much for singletrack in the summer so we rarely ride there, but in the winter the snowmobiles typically leave us some good tracks to ride on.
Niteviper2k warming up with a pre-ride smoke.
The trail started tough. Not packed too well, and slipperly, snow covered boardwalks to negotiate. Rod trying to hold a line.
There was a little pushing involved to start with we were all hoping there would be better things to follow.
After a mile of tough stuff, we found some good stuff. Niteviper2k coming out of the woods.
The first nice downhill gave us a great view and the promise of better trails ahead.
Me enjoying some downhill.
No One In Particular pedaling some nice trail.
The trails on the edge of the fields had some big snowdrifts. The effort to pedal through them was like trying to hop over a log every 30 feet. And there were some big drifts. Some of them were packed down enough that they made nice little jumps on the downhills.
Mmmmm, purdy picture.
Riders down .a couple of low speed drift-related crashes.
We met some nice XC skiers along our travels, most of them looked as us (and commented) that we were out of our minds. Oddly enough we didnt see barely any snowmobilers.
David with a controlled slide down the snowy hill.
TheDude feeling the radio tower vibe on the downhill.
Me trying to hang onto a bridge.
Rod zipping around a nice hardpacked corner.
No One In Particular pulled a nice wheelie into the ditch, just for our enjoyment. Hilarity ensued shortly after, No One In Particular firmly planted his front tire in a snowy ditch at speed and went over the bars. Not to be outdone, Rod immediately followed with one of the sweetest over the bars Ive ever seen after also burying his big front 29er tire in a ditch. Cursing the snow and thanking it at the same time.
Loving life.
This ride had a couple of huge climbing sections. Heres looking up as I start one of them. The snow tends to add a bit of rolling resistance
And heres looking back from the top on that same climb. Silly singlespeeders.
Ive been quoted once saying that Central NY doesnt have much for impressing vistas, but FLNF had quite a few.
TheDude and No One In Particular testing the ice on the frozen pond near the end of the ride.
A satisfied, tired, and hungry group. Ok, we have beer wheres the pizza?
Pizza!
More pics in my photo album
