2007
Ride Reports
November
18 - CCCC
Wake up temp was 27º,
the hard part was getting out the door. Once out, the sunny skies and slight
winds negated
the low temperature. At
the coffee house the gathering wedgies (including Tom's recumbent, and
Bruce) outnumbered the
Recumbenteers 6-1.
31º start, with slight east wind. Headed east on bike path, then headed
north to AJ's over McNeely,
Draper, Meahl, Carney,
Cedar, Ditch and Griswold. Temp hovered in upper 30's. Headed back south
west over Mann, 93,
Tonawanda Crk, Fletcher,
Crego, Miland, Salt down to bike path into CCCC with a nice 14 mph tailwind.
Temp did not
crack 40 until the end
of the ride but it was quite comfortable. 32.1 miles.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Streetmachine
.
November
11 - CCCC
Only 36 degrees at 10AM
start, but with sunny blue sky and single digit wind (SSW) it seemed much
more comfortable.
Headed east on bike path,
routed north on Strickler, then over Croop, Miland, Sandhill, Dye, McNeely,
Hake etc. on way
to McD's at 14 miles,
with temp now in low 40's. Usual route south of Main westward along thruway
from there, but with
nice conditions we added
miles by heading west on bike path from Shisler to Wehrle, then back north
on Shimmerville to
Maple (really nice downhill!),
Thompson back to bike path via new extension, then east to CCCC. Finished
with 32.7 miles,
temp mid-40's. Lunched
on the patio, quite comfortable in the warm sun. Nice ride.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Streetmachine
Rich Jurkowski - Rocket
.
November
4 - CCCC
Ride number 24 for 2007,
as the end of riding season approaches. Rich brought the latest addition
to his recumbent
stable, an '07 Rans Rocket
in a sharp silver/red two tone. A nice mid-Fall day with blue skies and
44 degrees at the
10AM start. Hadn't been
to AJ's for a while; no south wind to hinder return ride, so we headed
to Wolcottsville.
North on Goodrich, then
traversed Delaware, Cedar, Kelkenburg, Block Church zig-zagging NE with
slight tailwind,
enjoying Fall scenery.
Added some miles by going west on Sims (henceforth know as "dog ally"),
north on Miller, east
on Rt. 93, Grove and Hasely
to come into AJ's from the north at just under 20 miles. Clouds and wind
increased for
the return trip, temps
held in upper 40's. Predicted NW wind turned out to be DUE west (at around
15 mph w/gusts
close to 20), making for
more of a workout than planned. Zig-zag route broke up the headwind mileage
(Fisk, Ertman,
Kelkenburg, Miland, Croop,
Keller, Strickler, bike path). Finished with 34.4 miles, 3.4 bike path,
31 rural roads, with
only a handful of cars
passing all ride. The usual cozy temps inside the CCCC warmed us up quickly
as we enjoyed a
post ride lunch. Last
year we had seven Nov-Dec rides, so we're not done for the year yet!
Attended:
Paul Bigelow- Lynx
Jerry Hanley - Streetmachine
Rich Jurkowski - Rocket
Gordon Walters - Jetstream
.
October
28 - CCCC
40º, windy, but sunny
at 10AM start. Headed west on bike path and quick turn south to check out
the new 1/2 mile
feeder trail (it works)
which brought us out on Thompson. Usual route from there up Old Goodrich
and Goodrich to
Main, etc. keeping just
north of Thruway east with sunny skies and tailwind to McDonalds at 16.5
miles. Temps now
in upper 40's. Out of
break on Rt. 93, over Skyline and cut downhill through Akron Falls Park,
through village and
back to bike path on Cedar.
Veered north from path at Clarence Ctr, working way down Dye, Draper, west
on Meahl,
up Rapids, west on Crego,
Miland then south to bike path. Strong west winds, 18 mph with gusts well
into 20's made
for some good exercise,
and good appetite upon reaching CCCC. Just over 34 miles. Nice fall workout.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Streetmachine
Rich Jurkowski - Rans
V2
.
October
21 - CCCC
Global warming's not ALL
bad. Temp already 60 degrees at 10AM start. Cloudless blue skies, strong
SSW winds.
Headed north on Goodrich
with tailwind, west on Sesh, north on Northfield, west on closed section
of Tonawanda
Creek (requiring walking
past road slide area, but clear path). Rode Amherst Canalway trail from
start at Amherst
Museum, stopping at Veteran's
park boat launch/rest room. (16 miles) Temp now 70 degrees. Continued over
newly
completed section and
across N. Falls Blvd. onto the new Old Falls Blvd/Creekside path which
is now landscaped and
virtually complete. Temp
up to mid 70's. Turned into Ellicott Creek Park for eastward trek back
to CCCC via Amherst
Ellicott Trail, (25 miles
at N. Forest trail end), burb back roads 5 1/2 mile from that trail to
the Clarence bike bath
at Transit, and due east
to CCCC. Final mileage 34.6, including 18 miles on bike paths. Good route
for strong SSW winds.
Absolutely gorgeous ride,
shorts and short sleeves, with deep blue skies that in mid summer would
have been been
accompanied by oppressive
heat. The views along the route looked new with crops harvested and and
a totally different
color palette. Foliage
along the whole route at peak but with paths still all but clear of leafs.
Strong gusts at start even
higher mid-ride, but wind
change worked for us much of the route, and we took it slow where it did
not. The warm winds
were actually quite comfortable.
Lots of smiling bikers, joggers, and dog walkers, all enjoying the
day as we were.
And the Bills won, too.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Street
machine
Rich Jurkowski - Rans
V2
Dan Mangold - Rans Stratus
.
October
14 - CCCC
Temps in mid-50's, moderate
west winds, bit overcast all morning. Took Thompson, Old Goodrich, Gunville
to bike path,
though Tillman Wildlife
Mgt area and paralleled thruway east, crossing over south to Buckwheat
and Steiner to Crittenden.
West on Rt. 5, 21 miles
at McDonald's break. Back to CCCC via Skyline, Crittenden hill, and through
village of Akron
to the bike path at Cedar.
Ended with about 34 miles. Leaves starting to change, woolly caterpillars
crossing the bike path.
A nice fall ride.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Streetmachine
Rich Jurkowski - Rans
V2
.
September
30 - CCCC
Yet another perfect riding
day. Temp was already in low 60's for the 10AM start. Slight SSW
wind, sunny blue skies.
Headed north on Goodrich
again, east over Delaware, Cedar, and Miland and then south to McDonald's
for a break.
Went south of Main (Nice,
Hiller, Billo, Tillman), then added 5 miles by going west on the bike trail
and looping back
on Wherle before heading
to CCCC down Kraus to the bike trail. Just a tick over 34 miles, pleasant
low key scenic
ride.
Jerry Hanley - HP
Streetmachine
.
September
23 - CCCC
Summer officially ended
about three hours before our AM start, but it decided to hang around for
the ride anyway.
Another beautiful riding
day with blue skies, light winds, and temps in the upper 60's most of the
ride. Headed north
to AJ's in order to take
advantage of an expected building north wind on the ride home (it worked).
Transversed
Goodrich, Delaware, Cedar,
Kelkenburg, and Tonawanda Creek to Rt. 93. Light winds deposited
the first of the falling
leaves in out path.
Into Wolcottsville via back roads from the east. With perfect riding
weather we added miles and
scenery on the return
trip, heading north out of AJ's, then working our way southwest to Rapids,
then back east into
Erie County at Rapids
Rd, zig-zagging back to the bike trail at Salt, and into CCC with just
a tick under 40 miles.
Despite the calendar,
the sun and heat warranted lunch on the CCCC shaded porch instead of the
open patio. Doesn't
get much better than today's
ride.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Streetmachine
Rich Jurkowski - Rans
V2
Dan Mangold - Stratus
Sue Mangold - upright
.
September
16 - CCCC
Temp in the high 40's
for 9 AM start, but skies were blue and negligible south wind. Headed
west on the bike trail,
up Transit to Smith, over
to Tonawanda Creek and west to Old Falls Blvd. Rode most of the new
trail through
Ellicott Creek Park, it's
about 90 % complete now. Back east on the Ellicott Trail, then through
the burbs back to
the Clarence Trail. Temps
in upper 50's, sunny, light wind for most of the 31 mile ride. Perfect
riding weather.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Veloteknic
Streetmachine
Rich Jurkowski - Rans
V2 Formula 26
,
September
2 - CCCC
Headed west out to Tonawanda
and checked out the new bike paths. came back through Amherst on the Ellicott
Creek trail. Ended up
with about 31 miles.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Street
Machine
Paul Bigelow - Lynx
.
August
19 - CCCC
Mostly cloudy, Calm and
59º as we headed east on the bike path. Rode down to Akron Junction,
west to Wherle,
south on Shisler to Tillman.
The dry weather has caused the swamps to be nearly dried up. The shoreline
has
receded close to 250'.
Took a slightly different route out to Mcd's because of some new chip n'
seal on our
usual route. After the
break we headed out to Genesee County and down the escarpment to Bloomingdale
Rd.
Picked up the bike path
in Akron and ran straight back to the coffee shop. Temperature was up to
72º as
we enjoyed our lunch out
on the patio. Ended up with 37.5 miles today. A very good ride!!!
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Street
Machine
Dan Mangold -
Stratus
Susan Mangold - upright
Jack Merlino - Gold Rush
Bruce Raines - upright
Paul Bigelow - Lynx
.
August
12 - CCCC
Another beautiful day.
Due to west wind we decided on a primarily north/south route. Headed up
Goodrich to
Brauer with almost no
traffic. Crossed into Niagara County at Rapids bridge, headed east
on Tonawanda Crk.
North to Riddle. Traversed
Moyer, Simms, Miller and went north of 93 on Singer. Circled back below
93 - over
Riddle, Kinne and Wisterman
to cross county line again at Rapids. Short excursion west on Tonawanda
Creek to
Westphalinger, heading
south to the bike path and back to CCCC with a tailwind. 32 miles,
nice ride.
Attended:
Tom Barone - Aero
Jerry Hanley - Streetmachine
Steve Schultz - Grasshopper
.
August
5 - CCCC
Bright blue cloudless
sky, 70º and an east wind this morning. Took the bike path down to
Strickler
and then headed north
into Niagara County. Made our way over to A.J.'s for our break. Very little
traffic on the roads.
Got back with just over 30 miles on the computers. Had a nice lunch out
on
the patio. Temperature
was 89º as we finished and headed for the air conditioned vehicles.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Street
Machine
Steve Schultz - Grasshopper
Sara Schultz - Rocket
Paul Bigelow - Lynx
.
July
29 - CCCC
Partly cloudy, 70º
and breezy this morning. Rode the bike path out to Akron Junction and then
west
to the end at Wherle.
Took the south Newstead route past Tillman and over to Mcd's for
our break.
Picked up the path again
in town and rode it straight back. Ended up with just over 34 miles. The
temperature was up to
84º as we enjoyed our lunch out on the patio.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Street
Machine
Dan Mangold -
Stratus
Susan Mangold - upright
Tom Barone - Aero
Paul Bigelow - Lynx
.
July
22 - CCCC
Sunny and calm. Rode an
extended counterclockwise route route through Clarence, Newstead, Lancaster
and Alden to McDonald's
for our break. Then headed east into Genesee County through the towns of
Pembroke and Alabama.
Very light traffic. Met a couple of other riders on bents. Al Pyra met
us at the
coffee shop for lunch.
Great ride today. 35.3 miles.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Street
Machine
Steve Schultz - Grasshopper
Sara Schultz - Rocket
Paul Bigelow - Lynx
.
July
15 - CCCC
Temp in mid'70's, some
clouds in blue sky, west wind 10-15mph. Decided to forgo a 1/2 stop destination
in
order to travel N/S to
negate the west wind factor. North on Goodrich, zigzagged over some roads
not
used often (Northfield,
Sesh, Brauer, TonCrkN, Block Church, Simms, Miller, went north of Rt. 93
for a
bit, then back south (Old
Dysinger, Riddle, Kinne, Wisterman, TonCrk, Westphalinger, Transit
back to
bike trail, coming into
CCC from west. Very pleasant low key ride, 40 miles.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Street
Machine
.
July
8 - CCCC
Warm and breezy this morning.
Rode our "circle route" through Newstead to McDonalds and back via Tilman.
Ended up with about 30
miles.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Street
Machine
Steve Schultz - Grasshopper
Sara Schultz - Rocket
Paul Bigelow - Lynx
.
July
1 - CCCC
Mostly sunny, 60º
and a slight breeze out of the west as we headed out this morning. Took
the bike path out
to Akron and stopped at
McDonald's for our break. Then headed east into Genesee County to ride
down the
escarpment. Picked up
the bike path and rode straight back for lunch. Ended up with 24
miles today. Bruce
and George joined us after
their longer ride.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Street
Machine
Andrea Heine - EZ-1
Steve Schultz - Grasshopper
Sara Schultz - Rocket
Paul Bigelow - Lynx
.
June
17 - CCCC
With several recumbenteers
down in PA for the RBR rally, and pre-ride time rain in Clarence Center,
only one
rider today. Final spring
10AM start, partly cloudy skies. Temps in low 80's most of ride. Went west
on the
bike trail, west on Smith
across Transit, followed Tonawanda Creek South to Niagara Falls Blvd. in
Amherst,
then back east with tailwind
on Tonawanda Creek North. Bridge construction at Irish Rd added extra miles
for
detour over Bear Ridge
and East Canal and back to Transit. Portaged the road slide on Ton. Cr.
Rd, then south
on Westphalinger, Kenfield,
Green Acres back to bike trail to CCCC. 38 miles at leisurely pace.
Nice ride.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Streetmachine
.
June
9 - CCCC
Beautiful day. Rode a
28 mile loop out to A.J.'s and back.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Street
Machine
George Hofheins - upright
Tom Barone - Aero
Bruce Raines - upright
Paul Bigelow - Lynx
.
May
13 - CCCC
Another beautiful Sunday
morning. Rode up to A.J.'s and back. 32.6 miles.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Street
Machine
Paul Bigelow - Lynx
.
May
6 - CCCC
Another clear and bright
morning. Headed north east into the wind. Hit McDonald's at just over 15
miles. Had a
faster ride back with
the wind at our backs. Ended up with about 30 miles. 58º as we had
our lunch in the sun.
Attended:
Jim McMaster -
VRex
Jerry Hanley - Street
Machine
Dan Mangold -
Stratus
Steve Schultz - Grasshopper
Bruce Raines - upright
Paul Bigelow - Lynx
.
April
29 - CCCC
Bright blue cloudless
sky this morning. 49º and a slight breeze out of the west. We took
our counter clockwise
route up Thompson, Old
Goodrich and Gunville to the bike path. Rode down Shisler, Wherle and Tillman.
Made our
way to McDonalds for our
break. Worked our way over to Akron Park and then down the escarpment.
Picked up
the bike path in town
and rode it all the way back. Had just over 28 miles today.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Street
Machine
Dan Mangold -
Stratus
Tom Barone - Aero
Bruce Raines - upright
Paul Bigelow - Lynx
.
April
22 - CCCC
The sun was shining brightly,
the air was still, it was 61º and Brian Ball was here with two new
titanium bents for
us to drool over. Can
it get any better than that? He brought along a RANS V3 TI with the M5
seat option and a
titanium Barcroft Virginia
with a EuroMesh seat. Tom suggested we head north today and at 10:00 AM
sharp we
were off. For the first
few miles we all rode together but then the faster riders took off. The
slower group took
a longer route getting
to A.J.'s. Had a nice break standing out in the warm sun. The fast group
took a longer route
back. The return ride
was considerably slower due to the head wind we encountered. Ended up with
about 33 miles
today. It was up to 74º
as we had lunch out on the patio.
Attended:
Brian Ball - V3 TI
Bill Glor - ShockProof
Al Pyra - Django
Rosalie Pyra - Django
Gordon Walker - Jetstream
Jerry Hanley - Streetmachine
Bruce Raines - upright
George Hofheins - upright
Tom Barone - Aero
Steve Schultz - Grasshopper
Dave Fleck - Sport
Paul Bigelow - Lynx
.
March
25 - CCCC
Forecast was promising
for the first ride of the 2007 spring season - bright sun and slight winds.
Dawn came but the
sun did not, it was still
rather dismal for our planned 10 AM start, 39 degrees and a moderate
east wind. We got
rolling about 10:20AM,
headed east on the bike path. Did our "perfect circle" route - north to
Croop (sighted very
large red fox), over Miland,
down Sandhill, up McNeely, Clarence Ctr to 93 and half stop at McDonald's
at 14 miles.
At this point it went
from "just good to get out" to "really nice ride". The skies turned blue,
temps kept climbing and
we had a tailwind on the
14 remaining miles to CCCC. Temp close to 50 with bright sun, we grabbed
a bite on the patio.
Promising start to 2007
ride season. 28 miles.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Street
Machine
Dan Mangold -
Stratus
Jim McMaster -
VRex
January
7 - CCCC
Mostly sunny, calm and
41º as headed out this morning. Tom, Bruce and most of the upright
riders from the NFBC
headed east while the
rest of us headed west. Made our way up the escarpment on Old Goodrich
then over to Main.
Picked up the bike path
from Gunville to Shisler and the rode south to the Tillman wildlife refuge.
The water was
within two feet of the
road. We've never seen the swamps so high. There were lots of ducks and
geese. Took our
break at McDonald's. Rode
out to Scotland Rd. and down the "big hill". Returned via the bike path.
The fast group
ended up with about 30
miles and the slower group 28.5. It was still 41º as we enjoyed our
lunch.
Attended:
Jerry Hanley - Streetmachine
Bruce Raines - upright
Tom Barone - Aero
Paul Bigelow - Lynx
2006 Ride Reports
2005 Ride Reports
2004 Ride Reports
2003 Ride Reports
2002 Ride Reports
