Letchworth-Cayuga 600k - My route and 2 rides

Good grief, it's been a while since I wrote anything. You'd think I'd be able to pick up the laptop and bang out a few lines and publish, but for some reason, I haven't had the oomph to do it. The Internet is full of junk, who needs my flavor of it?

Well, this isn't going to be pretty. It won't be Grammarly'd and ChatGPT'd to perfection. I'm going to do just keep typing until something is out there. Puke on the page.

A made a 600k route

After having ridden the 400k around all of the Finger Lakes a number of times (not even going to link that to the relevant article...just keep typing...) I felt that maybe a good 600k that went around many of the lakes would also be a nice addition to our route library. Partly, Jim and I have been thinking about how we can get more local riders interested in rando rides around us and having more routes seemed like it might be a good idea.

I knew I wanted to visit Letchworth in the daytime, and zig zag a little between some of the little Finger Lakes to the west as well as make use of some the waterfalls and trails around Watkins Glen and Ithaca. The result was a figure eight course that started and ended in Penn Yan each day.

Penn Yan is expensive

First off, there are almost no hotels in Penn Yan, and those that are there are crazy expensive when we've run the brevet. Riders got creative with where they decided to stay to get a cheaper room, but this wasn't something I really thought about during the design. Rando's tend to like to do things cheap. We are not hanging in the hotel for long and when we are, we probably could sleep on a log. Paying top dollar for the privilige of sleep isn't high on my list of priorities for a route.

I'd love to find a hostel-ish accommodation with a nearby inexpensive motel, but I haven't found it. I'll leep searching. It may mean redesigning the entire route around the new location, which would be a shame because...

The route is great

After having ridden the entire thing, I think it's a wonderful route. The climbs on day 1 are front-loaded, which could be demoralizing, but forwarned with the knowledge, I was able to accept the slower first 200k knowing that I'd make up for lost time later. The climbs are pretty evenly spaced out on day 2. There are plenty of intimate encounters with nature as the routes come down to touch the water and send you back up over and over. I'd only beento Letchworth a handful of times, so I still find it worthy of my attention.

Attempt #1 in 2024

I decided to pre-ride the route in 2024, but the weather wasn't in my favor. It rained buckets and the wind stole from my time bank from the get go for about 200k. I rode my Fuji with fenders and 32mm (too wide for fenders on this frame) tires. The few gravel sections sent stones scraping between the rubber and thermoplastic and I worried I'd crumple the fender, as I had on the Auburn 200k. I received ominous news about the health of our elderly dog and lost my fight. I finished the first 400k loop in just under 24 hours, I didn't have it in me to finish that pre-ride and threw in the towel at the Penn Yan hotel I had spent so much on. Of the 3 other riders that started the brevet, only one superstar finished.

Attempt #2 in 2025

Despite some pretty lackluster training and an inconsistent brevet schedule, I retried the ride again this year with Peter Wills (our superstar from last year) and Chris Gross (DCR). I started with two other riders, but was dropped after mile 1 on the very first climb. The weather this year ended up very hot and humid, but the wind and rain weren't a factor. While hot weather certainly slows me down a lot, my general pokey pace may work a little to my advantage, as I don't tend to overheat. Chris abandoned in the heat after about 60 miles. It was his first DNF ever in randonneuring.

I knew the heat was my enemy, and I really took it easy on the climbs during the first half of the day. Having ridden it once before, I knew what to expect and focused more on enjoying the day than working hard. I started a convenience store sub for lunch in Mt. Morris and finished it while in Letchworth, near the Table Rocks area. I dallied a little in the park to look at the falls near the Glen Iris and cool dawn. The sun beat down as I stopped to apply sunscreen and don sun sleeves on a climb out of Portageville. In Hume, I had an cold fruit punch, a bag of chips, and an extended chat with a couple in a truck who recognized me from a few miles back. The control in Houghton preceded one last push over Hongo Valley and Klein Roads to reach Keeney Swamp. The descent from that area was a highlight and I zoned out listening to music and podcasts from there to Hornell, where I ate at a Burger King.

The stretch from Hornell to Painted Post was done after dinner. I found myself sort of "autopilot" here. My legs were just turning on their own and my brain turned off as I enjoyed the cooler night air along the Canisteo River. It's all very nice country, but I was alone, cranking out miles along the gentle downgrade. After the sun set and the deer were no longer visible, I was simply riding in my head. I reached the Painted Post control near midnight, the Hammondsport control 2 hours after that, and was back in Penn Yan for sleep a couple hours later.

The second day started about three hours after I went to bed. I woke to a stomach that was a little sour and didn't want to eat. I struggled along up what should have mild climbs on my way to Watkins Glen, where I stopped at a grocery store and ate bananas and drank a bottle of juice. I climbed out of Montaur Falls slowly and it wasn't really until I got close to Ithaca before everything started to work right again. I stopped at the Farmer's Market and bought some lunch, which I ate at Ithaca Falls. Jim met me there to top off my bottles and chat briefly. We noted I was cutting it close, but the heat and nutrition couldn't be helped.

I began doing the rando math as I approached Toughannock Falls on the Black Diamond Trail. I was going to make it, but I couldn't stop for much else. I filled my bag with liters of cold water and stopped to drip some on my head and down my back as I climbed for 7 miles to the ridge at the Finger Lakes National Forest area. After the info control in Hector, I continued to drip cool water as I climbed to Lodi to replenish those bottles with cool water from a convenience store in Ovid. I passed through Sampson State Park and enjoyed the cooling effects of Seneca Lake before climbing out of Geneva.

The sun was getting low on Ridge Road where the snell of the grain growing on Mennonite farms, the young couples casually walking along the road in their simple garb, and the calls of Osprey atop telephone poles put me a great mood for the finish. Unfortunately, the last file miles put an end to my good mood as a series of sharp little 10% grades eventually had me dismount and trudge my way towards the finish.

I took my time and managed my effort to finish with just 30 minites to spare. Peter, on the other hand did the whole route in one shot, finishing in 28.5 hours, stopping at convenience stores to douse his head with cold bottled water to cool his engine. On day 2, I did the same.

The high points of the route for me are (in order of how much I loved it):

My least favorite parts of the ride were:

randonneuring Letchworth finger lakes Cayuga Lake