btd23

I'm driving to Canandaigua, NY from Cleveland for a concert in June, and I'm looking for some riding to do. The concert is a Sunday night, so I'm considering taking Friday and Monday off to make a long weekend out of it. I'm already planning on riding around Canandaigua Lake (some routes I found on RideWithGPS), but I'd like to do some rides elsewhere as well.

Are there any points of interest for riding between Cleveland and Canandaigua? I wouldn't be opposed to northern PA or going east of the Rochester/Canandaigua area for some good rides either.

I'd like to do some longer climbs if possible since the biggest climbs around me are generally no more than 500-600ft. I'm not the fastest climber by any means, but I enjoy the challenge.

MikeinBuffalo

The Erie Canal trail is a nice trail that stretches from SWNY all the way to Rochester. Never made it all the way at once, but I know the segment from North Tonawanda to Rochester is 75 miles.

rm -rf

I made an experimental Lockport NY route to possibly ride later this year, but I've never been there. Lockport is near the western end of the Erie Canal Trail. I used Strava Route Builder to pick popular bicycle roads, the canal trail itself is mostly unpaved. Lockport looks interesting, with canal locks, etc. The rest of the route is mostly flat to rolling farmland. It's kind of on your way, not too far from I-90.

I've wanted to visit NE Ohio to ride at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, either on or off the bike trails there.
Here's the Strava Heat Map for the area--dark red roads are the most popular for bikes. Click "Toggle labels" to show town and road names.

You mentioned possibly heading south or even east. I want to ride the southern Finger Lakes area around Watkins Glen NY and Ithaca NY. It's not just flat or rolling farmland there, there's forests, valleys, and the towns look interesting. Or, last year, I did a 40 mile ride from Seneca Falls - south on Cayuga Lake shoreline road - hilly farmland and vineyards west to Geneva Lake - north to Geneva NY and back to Seneca Falls. A nice ride. (There are some gravel roads in the area.)


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A quick ride report after your trip would be nice!

btd23

Thanks, guys! Since you both mentioned the Erie Canal Trail, I'll look into that. I'll check out Watkins Glen as well!

I'm pretty familiar with the Cuyahoga Valley National Park - there's some great riding there for sure. You should come to the area toward the end of July. There's a great ride called the Sweet Corn Challenge near CVNP on 7/30. You could make a weekend out of it - do some routing of your own and then ride the Sweet Corn Challenge on Sunday!

www.sweetcornride.com

rm -rf

And see this Erie Canal Trail thread.

FBinNY 

It depends on what you want and how hard or gar you want to ride. The Finger Lakes offer great riding, and cut into the Allegheny Plateau like Fjords, so the southern end of each lake has a good climb up and out. The Plateau itself offer some nice riding, and you can explore Ithaca, or continue to Corning (though it's he wrong direction).

indyfabz

With so much good riding in the Finger Lakes areas I would stick to that since you are going to be there. See if the ride organizers will give you some old cue sheets for routes that pass through Canandaigua:

The Bon Ton Roulet

btd23

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone! I'll probably stick around the Finger Lakes area. I did some more searching on RideWithGPS and found some good looking routes, including some from the Bon Ton Roulet.

1Coopgt

If you're going to ride around Canandaigua lake , a nice town to stop in is Naples. On the west side is Bristol Ski resort . Should be some good ride around there . I know it is on the Motorcycle. Some of the roads Just south of Watkins glen are a lot of fun. Twisty turney and kind of like a mini roller coaster. I found this one road while driving to PA . I couldn't stop giggling I was have so much fun.