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On May 16 a bunch of Finger Lakes Cycling Folk set out for Ludlow, Vermont for a weekend of Green Mountain tourism. My minivan was going to have five bikes on it until, at the last moment, Emanuel couldn’t get away and had to cancel. Still, there were ten of us (counting Diana who doesn’t bike but is part of our family membership in the FLCC) at the Trojan Horse Lodge — that many used to be a substantial turnout for one of our local Sunday rides! The Trojan Horse is a hostel in the Hosteling International organization (formerly American Youth Hostels). It turned out that we were eligible for a free club HI membership which earned us a further discount on lodgings.

The next day, Saturday, was all the forecasters had said it would be: cold, gray, drizzly. So all of us were glad to implement plan B, viz. hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail. By the time we got to the trailhead the rain had pretty much stopped and we had great weather for walking. The section we were on was about 5 or 6 miles over a ridge about 1200' above the starting point. I’d never gone any distance on the AT and was surprised that it didn’t show more signs of traffic. It really didn’t betray the enormous number of people who walk it every year. Some of it may be due to the soil and terrain, but the Appalachian Trail Club’s maintenance no doubt is what keeps things looking like the woods rather than the thruway.

 The hike was enough work to make us all receptive to a big dinner, which everyone contributed to preparing at the Lodge. Two young Austrian travelers showed up at the lodge and we threw in some extra pasta for them as well. It all led to a great evening of Gemütlichkeit, highlighted by the remarkable coincidence that Kyra had lived near the Austrians’ hometown and was personally acquainted with their summer employer in Philadelphia.

 It had been a really great day, but most of us were a bit apprehensive about the coming day’s riding since the weather was cold and showed no sign of clearing up. Sunday morning, though, was a reward to the faithful: the sun rose in a brilliant blue sky. It was still chilly, but ideal for riding. We made our way to the starting point and registered for our respective categories. In the department of coincidences, it turned out that the reason we had received an invitation to this ride was that its organizer, Rick Trainer, is a native of Virgil and wanted his hometown club to know about the event!

The ride didn’t exactly go like clockwork but turned out beautifully anyway. I had intended to follow the 100-mile route but wound up getting lost in the company of a Vermont native who knew exactly where we were, but not where we should be. By the time we found the route, there was no chance of catching back on so we resorted to the 50-mile route. It was a really great day to ride for a while, chat with the support folks, look around at the scenery and the trout fishermen in the rivers, and think about making the day last forever. Most of the Ithaca contingent, even the self-doubters, did the 50 mile loop, though for some of us it took about 65 miles to do it.

I’m planning on doing it again next year.

Andrejs