Finger Lakes Cycling Club

Saturday Ride: Black Diamond Trail
2022-05-21 10:00 UTC | Black Diamond Trail Trailhead @ Cass Park, 121 Turtle Lane, Ithaca, NY, 14850
We are planning for the first FLCC Weekend Ride for Saturday, May 21 at 10 AM. The meeting place will be in Cass Park by the Ithaca Children’s Garden. We will ride up the Black Diamond Trail and offer several options of riding (16-22 miles) by only riding the BDT, or further up to the Taughannock Falls Overlook, or up to Trumansburg for ice cream at Not My Dad’s and returning to Cass Park. Look for more details as we get closer to the ride.
Still have questions or want to plan or lead a ride? Contact Doug Dylla at ddylla2010@gmail.com.

The number of weekend rides we can offer will depend greatly on how many volunteers we have to help coordinate, lead or sweep rides. Please contact Doug Dylla directly if you’d like to help with the FLCC Weekend Rides.
Rides will begin at 20+ miles in length and get longer through the season. Riders should bring water, have bikes in good mechanical condition and be comfortable with group rides on local roads.
Rides will be no-drop, regrouping at the tops of major hills and intersections when the group is spread out. Rides will often include a social stop which will be mentioned in the weekly ride announcement.
Ride Announcements
We hope to send out the announcement about the Weekend Rides to the fingerlakescycling group by Wednesday afternoon every week. Generally, we will plan for Saturday Rides — though bad weather might push some rides into Sundays. If we have enough interest (and volunteers), we may do multiple weekend rides.
Meeting Place and Time
The time, meeting place and route will vary every week and be announced on the fingerlakescycling group. Early in the season, we start at 10 AM and then shift earlier as the weather gets hotter in the summer. Please arrive 15 minutes ahead of that time so you can hear the route instructions, and make sure your bike is ready to go.
What to Bring
Ride organizers expect all riders to have their bicycles in good repair, a helmet, water bottles, a snack, equipment to fix a flat, and a copy of the route (usually a Ride with GPS route from the Club route list).
Weather
We generally do not ride if it is raining or if there is a threat of adverse weather. We will send out an email to the FLCC Listserv at least an hour before the start time if a ride is canceled.
RSVP for Rides
Generally, ride leaders will ask for people to RSVP if they plan to attend the Weekend Ride. While this isn’t critical, it helps the ride organizers know how many people to expect.
Join the Finger Lakes Cycling Club
The FLCC sponsors our rides. Non-members are allowed two club rides before we ask that you join the club.

Gravel Ride
2022-05-12 18:00 - 20:00 | Community Corners, 903 Hanshaw Road, Ithaca, NY, United States
Gravel rides during the 2022 season will be held on Thursdays at 6:00pm. The starting location (and any changes to the time) will be specified in the ride announcements each week, sent to both the flcc-gravel and fingerlakescycling groups.
If you’re seeing this description, it means a specific route has not been selected for this date – watch this page for updates!

Gravel rides are focused on exploring the gravel, dirt, and otherwise unpaved roads and trails in and around Ithaca. If you like to get away from traffic, occasionally climb a hill just because it’s there, and don’t mind mud on your clothes then gravel rides are probably for you!
These rides are largely targeted to intermediate riders, although all skill levels are welcome. Gravel rides put an emphasis on bike handling rather than raw speed. They’re intended to be challenging while also social and, more than anything else, fun! Rides will be no-drop, regrouping at the tops of major hills and intersections when the group is spread out. If you have a mechanical issue the group will stop to help before everyone continues on together. The group is sure to spread out periodically based on everyone’s preferred pace, handling ability, hill climbing speed, but no one will be left behind. On weeks where multiple ride leaders attend we will be able to offer additional pace groups to more comfortably accommodate all riders, which we will also include in the ride announcement when able.
Gravel rides were first offered in 2021. You can review this presentation for a recap the season and what we learned from it.
A Few Good Questions
Q: Do I need a special bike?
No! There are lots of “gravel” and “adventure” bikes that would be great for these rides, but really you could get by on almost anything.
Q: What equipment do I need?
The main thing to think about is your tire width and pressure. A rough suggestion would be something wider than 700x30c at 60psi or less. If you don’t know what that means, it’s okay! Get in touch and we can help you figure out if your bike would be up to the task (it probably is).
Other than your bike you’ll need blinking lights that fix to you or your bike for safety at dusk, water bottles with water, a helmet, and tools/parts to fix a flat tire. Multiple gears are recommended, but if you can ride a fixie up Mt. Pleasant then more power to you.
Q: It’s wet out. Is the ride on?
Yup, that just makes it more fun! Rides will be cancelled for heavy rain, thunder and/or lightning, etc. but otherwise don’t shy away from getting wet or muddy.
Q: Is this mountain biking?
No. But mountain biking is great and is very complimentary to gravel riding, especially when it comes to bike handling.
