Day 1- Auburn to Corning NY

We boarded the buses Saturday morning in Trenton NJ for the 6 hour drive up to Auburn. Taking the bus is a necessary part of the Anchor House Ride experience but biking is always much preferred! At least on the bus you can catch up with old friends- seen below are three Ken's (and one Joanie) who often ride together (we literally go by "Ken 1", "Ken 2", and Ken 3"). There are actually a few more Kens on the ride.

The bus made a lunch stop at mall outside Scranton, PA. For those of us who brought our food the challenge was where to sit down in the concrete landscape outside. Problem solved- an employee of Dick's Sporting Goods, Tyler, let us borrow camp chairs (that were for sale) and we made a campsite on the sidewalk. A great example of the good will we find on the Anchor House ride.

We made it up to Auburn, which is at the northern tip of Lake Owasco. We were really impressed with Auburn and this part of NY State. Auburn was a hotbed of abolitionists and suffragettes, including William Seward and his wife Frances whose house was part of the Underground Railroad and who enabled Harriet Tubman by offering her a house to live in. We arrived in Auburn just in time for the Harriet Tubman Freedom Music Festival- it was amazing to see fantastic musicians playing to a racially diverse audience in front of the NYS Equal Right Heritage Center in this small city in upstate NY. 

The Anchor House Ride is all about consistently getting up every morning and riding the route that is carefully selected for us every day. Today's ride is the longest of the week at 80 miles. The weather looked to be gorgeous in the high 70's/low 80's. Eat, Sleep Repeat! So True!  Let the ride begin!

For today's ride we headed west to Lake Cayuga, and then headed south along the Lake's western Shore. Lake Cayuga and Lake Seneca are huge lakes, and are two of the deepest lakes in the country. Riding along the lakes is always breathtaking (even more breathtaking when you're climbing uphill!). 

Our local guide for the day was first year (and very strong) rider and close friend, Bruce Ellsworth, who grew up in Ithaca and spent his summers exploring and enjoying the Finger Lake region. 

It did turn out to be a spectacular summer day. No complaints about today's weather. The first rest stop was restful, but not terminally so, despite that it was next to Oak Hill Cemetery. 

We eventually made our way over to Lake Seneca and rode along its eastern shore. Wineries abound on the shores of Lake Seneca and the other Finger Lakes. It's a business that's ripe for the picking. 

We had a great lunch stop at the bottom of Lake Seneca in Watkins Glen, known for its car racing scene. We then climbed out of Watkins Glen on our bikes, not feeling like race cars with full stomachs.

The day ended in Corning, with nice views of the Chemung River and with our cooling off in a city fountain. 

At the end of the ride, we're handed cold River Horse beers- a great recovery beverage. And a great first day today.