A very successful Tour de Syracuse race happening is in the books and it’s time to hit those great CNY roads on a predicted-great-weather-as-I-write-this Memorial Day weekend.
Saturday, 28 May. We’ll start with a ride resurrected from the early 90s after which this Tour of the Oswego River Valley disappeared from the club’s bible. Fortunately, in the process of moving, I came across a copy from one of my first club outings. Twenty years later. Believe it.
Note that the ride starts at 0800 hours in response to a membership survey two years ago in which some people indicated that they would like an earlier starting time. We tried a few last year, not too successfully, but decided (unilaterally) to try a few more, especially with this being a holiday weekend.
There are three distance options of 28, 38 and 47 miles. Your friendly RL, Jimmy Ryan [451-1616], will explain that middle one as it is not noted on the map but merely skips the Northerly extension from the Minetto bridge up to the Port City.
Sunday, 29 May. The first of OCC’s four century rides this year uses a modified version of the venerable Delta Lake Loop laid out by Jim Konski back in the late 70s. Lots of twists and turns, not many refueling stops, but only about a thousand feet of climbing makes it a memorable adventure odyssey. There are four mileage options: 50, 62, 75 and 102 which our RL, Michael Roe [466-9729] will explain at the 8:00 a.m. start.
There were seventy riders the last time ridden including a friendly group who motored up from the mid-Hudson valley to join us. Another memorable version of this ride (‘traditionally,’ an ‘Almost-Fourth of July’ century) occurred back in late 90s when a huge forest fire in Canada enshrouded Lee Valley and Smoky Hollow in a hazy salute to America’s Independence Day.
Monday, 30 May. You can sleep in this morning for an extra hour as OCC begins their summer 9:00 a.m. starts for most weekend rides. A short, get- you-back-in-time-for-a-holiday-cookout spin, which my, and Mr. Rogers,’ neighbor designed as a Wednesday night outing and which we’ll take advantage of as a holiday-bonus-recover-from-a-century trek and with a few visits to some ‘friends’. Two route options of 23 and 36 miles leaving from Roberts K-8 school on Glenwood Avenue at the intersection with Stinard on the Southwest side of Syracuse. You will, no doubt, note that the map [SyrC- 12] is not up yet on the OCC webpage but rest assured there is a map, it shows visits to Howlett Hill, Marcellus, South Onondaga and returns via a Pleasant Valley and/or Cedarvale’s thirteen curves. I’ll have plenty of copies. For more info: 474-3801.