Returning to the Finger Lakes
I have been going to the Finger Lakes with my family for summer vacations since the mid 80’s. Seeing this bike trip through the back roads of the Finger Lakes was a way for me to reconnect with past memories. I wasn’t disappointed! Some things changed but the area is still wonderful.
We did some hiking in the spectacular gorges of some of the parks after our rides. Had some great dinners and lots of wine.
The hotels we stayed in were top notch and our guides Brian and Lisa were always around in case of trouble. I had a the misfortune to get a flat every day. We had their cell phone numbers and one of them was always within a few minutes to help if needed. Each day one guide road the van with our luggage, snacks, drinks and water while the other rode sweep.
We had 11 riders, four couples and three singles. The first day we started out together but soon broke into riding clicks matching with those more our own speed.
The trip gives out pre-programmed Garmin GPS’s and cue sheets so there was no problem riding on your own if you chose to.. Brian and Lisa were always flexible and after seeing our riding levels the first day, realized that we were more interested in riding miles than constantly stopping so Brian added an additional 10 miles on day two making 38 miles total for anyone who wanted to do that.. All of us took that option!! We were surprised and very impressed that Wilderness Voyageurs listened to us, and modified the itinerary to match our requests.
Most of the miles were on back roads or packed gravel trails with little or no traffic. However, a fair portion of the roads were US highways with bike lanes, cars and trucks. I realize that there were few road options and those highways were the only way to get from A to B but I hoped more of the rides would have been on back roads.. I am an experienced rider so the roads didn’t bother me but one woman who was not very experienced mentioned that she felt nervous with the cars passing so close..
Over all I enjoyed the trip and made some new friends. I would go with Wilderness Voyageurs again on another bike trip..
Rating: Pretty good ****
Gary Schwab
Wayne, PA
This was Gary’s first adventure with us, on our Finger Lakes Wine and Bike Tour.