Bon Ton Roulet and Hudson Valley bike rides: 2 weeks in July/Aug 2023

 The Bon Ton Roulet is a 7 day bike ride starting and ending in Cortland NY, July 22-29, and sponsored by the Cortland and Auburn YMCAs. As the ride is their major fund raiser and supports their summer camps and much else, it brings out a numerous and enthusiastic volunteer staff from the two Ys. The guy directing me to a parking space on arrival was a member of one of their Boards. 

I used my Bianchi eBike for this ride, which would have been impossible (or fatal!) without it. I had made a note 2 years ago not to do the ride again, but last year I got the bike just before the ride and it became doable and fun. Half the day is fairly flat around a Fingerlake but the other part of the day is a mountain climb to get to the next lake. The Fingerlakes were formed from a glacier's moving south to dig out the lakes and push the dirt and stones up high between them. Maybe 30 riders had eBikes and the BTR allowed charging wherever an outlet could be found, in my case usually at the shower truck. 

I have done this ride maybe 10 times, almost always with Steve Breit from Boston whom I met on Cycle Montana years ago. Lisa, his wife, conveniently attends a quilting conference in the area that meets the same week. Steve brought a couple of friends from Boston, and Janet Brown and several others I know came from Baltimore. Again, I was the oldest biker (85 next Feb) of the 300 or so riders (the oldest rider on the Hudson Valley ride was going to be 85 in Sept, but he said he was not doing the ride again, so if I did it next year, which I do not plan to do, I would probably be the oldest). 

The days start early as the tents have to be taken down and all bags put on to the transport trucks by 8 am. Breakfast is 6-8, so this means getting up by 5:30 each day. Nothing ever seems to be close to anything, so there were always long walks to a portapotty, breakfast, and baggage trucks, and the mornings are rushed. Usually, I get dressed into bike clothes inside my tent, stuff the sleeping bag into its sack, roll the air mattress, and repack everything that got tossed around during the night.  By 7:30 I have had breakfast, taken down the tent and dragged everything to the baggage trucks. Finally, checked tires, get water, and meet up with riding buddies. Lunch was on our own and there are lots of options in the towns and diners we passed. However, I was usually stuffed by mid-day with cookies, fruit, chips, bars at the rest stops so no need for anything else until dinner. Dinner was almost always quite good at the overnight stays on college campuses, Keika, Hobart W-S, and Wells, and at a catered dinner at Emerson Park in Auburn.

Baggage dump

Arrival at the day's destination meant reconnoitering for a tent spot (the shady places were always filled by the time I got there), dragging bags and tent to the site, putting up my tent and getting the bags inside quickly in case of rain, which can be fast and furious. Then I need to find a spot to charge the battery, getting to the shower truck, and maybe take a nap before dinner. 

Still, there is plenty of time to chat or get to the music or lecture in the evening.

Lemon meringue pie at Connie's Diner in Waterloo NY

Rest stop 

Me, Janet, Steve, Georgia

The Bon Ton ended back in Cortland on Sat after a 35 mi bike ride and I drove to Troy, north of Albany to begin the 2nd week of biking, the 1st Annual Cycle the Hudson Valley Bike Ride, destination Brooklyn.

The Hudson Valley bike ride week differed greatly from the Bon Ton week: A portion of most day's ride was on a rail-to-trail path, The Empire State Greenway Trail. A defining purpose of the ride was to show off the Trail with its recently developed extensions. These included some long bike/walkway bridges built over railroad trestles. Most of the Trail was paved, but long sections were slippery packed cinders. Adjacent to the path were displays describing the railroad whose tracks had run on that section and the towns they serviced and the role the trains had played.  

The Trail was not continuous, however. To get to the next section we would have to bike in traffic on city streets or country roads. This happened every day with some days mostly on the Trail and other days mostly on the road, sometimes in heavy traffic. I think that those street sections were still defined as "Empire State Trail" but that seemed disingenuous.  

I used my hybrid with wide (38mm) tires for what we were told could be a muddy trail. The bike was heavy and I walked with the bike on more than a few climbs when not on the usually level Trail. NO eBikes were allowed on this ride as there were several municipalities we biked through that had strict rules against them (I hope this will change).

I was able to get to the Culinary Institute for a cooking demo and tour, and shuttles into town were available for the couple of nights when dinner was not included. Breakfast was provided daily at the camp area or the dining hall on the campus where we stayed. 

The biking into NYC and across the Brooklyn Bridge was not difficult as there were protected bike paths. In the city we biked too often on busy NY streets, narrowed by construction and delivery vans blocking access. 

Most of the riders were from NY state, with the next largest group from PA. It seemed to me that a lot of the NY riders had come as groups and were less open to interacting with me than were the Bon Ton riders that were more diverse (or maybe I was just too tired during the second week to reach out?)

As I think about the two events, I plan to do 

the Bon Ton again next year but not the Hudson Valley ride. 

The Hudson Valley routes, usually 40-50 miles/day:

• Saturday 7/29/23: - Day 0 - Check in and Opening Dinner in Troy
• Sunday 7/30: - Day 1 - Hudson River Ride to Overnight in Hudson
• Monday 7/31: - Day 2 - Clermont State Historic Site, Bard College Campus, Kingston Bridge to Overnight in Kingston
• Tuesday 8/1: - Day 3 -Layover Day in Kingston, Optional Trail and Road Ride Options, Boat Tours, Historic Sites
• Wednesday 8/2: - Day 4 - Wallkill Trail to New Paltz, Walkway Over the Hudson, Overnight in Poughkeepsie
• Thursday 8/3: - Day 5 -Hudson Valley Countryside Ride to Overnight in Carmel Hamlet
• Friday 8/4: - Day 6 -Ride South Through Tarrytown, Closing Dinner and Festivities
• Saturday 8/5: - Day 7 - NYC! Ride Options for Brooklyn Bridge, 9/11 Memorial and More. Shuttle to Albany Loading Mid-Afternoon.

Stuyvesant Falls

Walking across the Brooklyn  Bridge

Tent city at sunset

My Quechua 1-piece tent (3-seconds to open)

Camping along the Hudson

Cinder section of the Empire State Trail

Me on the Trail taken by the Ride Photographer

On a bike trail into NYC

The conclusion of the ride was a 3 hour bus shuttle  

back to Troy to transfer bikes and bags to our cars that had been sitting in a long term parking garage.

I did not get back to Troy until dusk. Having awakened at 5:30 am that morning to pack and load luggage by 8 as usual, completed a 3-hour harrowing bike ride in NYC, and then ridden on a bus for another 3 hours, I knew it would be way too risky to get on the road for the 4-hour drive back to Baltimore. So, I packed the car with bike and bags, got dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant and drove about an hour south to a room I had reserved at a Best Western. The next day I stopped on the way home at Dia Beacon, an immense contemporary art museum, and nearby Storm King, 500 acres of outdoor sculptures. I saw Storm King from a seat on the tram that wove through the park and then drove home to Baltimore.  

End of story except for seeing Lynne and enjoying the blueberry bars she had baked for my return.