Day 2-Delightful Day

September 10, 2023

Letchworth State Park and surrounds

Today began with a typical Choice hotel breakfast-bread stuffs, pastries, powder-mixed scrambled eggs, bacon, cereals, etc…reasonably good for an included amenity. The four of us agree that fueling up with a decent meal is important, unless the weather is very hot. Then leaving early is a higher priority. However, the temperatures are 60-70’s, with chances of light rain throughout the day; it wasn’t raining at 9:30, our rolling time, and so off we went.

A mile down the road we turned into one of the entry roads into Letchfield state park…and began the first of 11 climbs noted by Jim’s Wahoo Roam device. The park ranger at the entry kiosk waved us in for free. After a mile or so the grade leveled out and the park unfolded.

The land making up a lot of the park was originally bought up by a rich dude named William Letchworth between 1858 and 1906. He built his estate on it and eventually gifted it to the state of New York in order to save it from development and exploitation. The highlights of the park are a deep gorge cut by the Genesee River and 3 impressive water falls. Apparently many people consider it to be the best state park in the US and it is open year-round.

Our impressions as we cycled through on a Sunday after summer season but before leaf peeping season (October); the gorge and waterfalls are impressive and access to viewing them is good. As cyclists, we enjoyed the lack of traffic and the good road surface and the graciousness of the drivers we did encounter. It was a fun ride-lots of rollers that added up to about 2100 ft of climbing. Lots of fun descending as well. There were many hiking trails, campgrounds and other accommodations in the park. I noticed 2 large playground complexes and a large pool complex as well. The neighboring towns are picturesque and the locals seem friendly.

The combination of fun and moderately challenging cycling, great scenery and great weather made for a truly delightful day.

As we finished our loop and returned to Mt. Morris we stopped for a late pizza and salad lunch, then took some takeout to eat later for dinner.

Unfortunately, Rich is having a mechanical issue-his front derailleur has slipped down the tube until a water bottle holder screw stops it. With it in its current position, he only has use of the small chainring. He is riding a new bike this year and thought he had ironed out the problems, but here we are. With our available tools, he and Jim were unable to fix it. Tomorrow we hope to find a bike shop that can help.