Jane and I participated in the sixtth annual FANY ride, July 23-29, 2005. FANY stands for many things such as "Festival Across New York" or "Five hundred miles Across New York," or whatever you'd like! In any case, it's pronounced "fanny," as in what gets sore after 500 miles on a bicycle!

Jane and I drove to Niagara Falls on Saturday, July 22, and set up camp and registered. We got a late start, so we arrived just in time to get set up before dark. Jane drove our van with our camping gear while I rode across the state with the other riders. We returned from Saratoga Springs, NY, at the end of the ride on Saturday, July 29.

This is the sixth FANY ride. The 2001 ride had only about 25 riders. In 2002, there were about 60. Unfortunately, we missed 2003. In 2004, there were about 130 riders of which about 40 were taking advantage of the "hotel option," which allows you to stay in a hotel each night rather than set up camp. Another new feature that year was the "Sore FANY option" in which riders SAGged to the midpoint each day and then rode from the midpoint to the overnight town. In other words, about 250 miles total instead of 500 miles. I think about a half dozen riders were doing this. In 2005, the ride reverted to a camping only ride with a hotel ride promised for September. Also, the Sore FANY option was eliminated. (Not enough demand?) About 90 riders participated.

This year about 90 riders participated. The hotel option was back (I'm not sure how many did the hotel option) and the Sore FANY was back, but I don't think anyone signed up for it!

An improvement in 2003 was arrows taped to signpoles along the route, showing when to turn. In 2005, the arrows were replaced by colored ribbons tied to whatever was handy. "Always keep the ribbons on your right." In 2006, we had painted road markings.

The rest of the story is in the photo albums below. Click on a thumbnail to see the photo album for that day. Note that the group photo and the map overlays are large files. All the rest are moderate sized files. If you want to see all the thumbnails on a single page, which will take a long time to load, look at the super album. Note that the album links on the individual pages, return to the daily albums, not the super album.

I really need help with the names. When the ride had only 25 people I could remember everyone's name. With 90, I can't. I should have been writing them down, but I didn't. If you know a name, email me at groth@princeton.edu. Thanks, and don't be shy!

	Saturday, July 22, 2006 The day before the ride at Niagara Falls
	Sunday, July 23, 2006 Niagara Falls to Brockport Cue sheet: 88.0 miles, GPS: 88.0 miles, Climb: 1440 feet Took side trip to light house (added 1.6 miles). Took 31 from Medina straight to Brockport (subtracted 2.5 miles?). Sunny, mid 80s, winds calm.
	Monday, July 24, 2006 Brockport to Penn Yan Cue sheet: 79.9 miles, GPS: 79.4 miles, Climb: 2879 feet Followed cue sheet. Sunny and hot. Occasional headwinds.
	Tuesday, July 25, 2006 Penn Yan to Baldwinsville Cue sheet: 68.7 miles, GPS: 72.1 miles, Climb: 2184 feet Made a couple of wrong turns that added about 2.2 miles. Sunny and hot. Occasional tailwinds.
	Wednsesday, July 26, 2006 Baldwinsville to Rome Cue sheet: 61.4 miles, GPS: 61.0 miles, Climb: 909 feet Missed Verplank road and took 31 to Bridgeport. Saved a mile(?) and a little climbing. Sunny and hot. Downpour in camp at about 6 pm.
	Thursday, July 27, 2006 Rome to Speculator Cue sheet: 67.8 miles, GPS: 70.7 miles, Climb: 3370 feet Couple of wrong turns added a mile. Optional loop around Lake Piseco added another 2 miles. Overcast and a little foggy in the morning. Nice afternoon. Some tailwinds.
	Friday, July 28, 2006 Speculator to Lake George Cue sheet: 68.0 miles, GPS: 69.0 miles, Climb: 2551 feet Folllowed cue sheet. Rained off and on all day. Sometimes very heavy!
	Saturday, July 29, 2006 Lake George to Saratoga Springs Cue sheet: 47.2 miles, GPS: 47.6 miles, Climb: 1810 feet Followed cue sheet. Humid and somewhat foggy to start. Cleared later. Some headwinds.
	Maps and Profiles

If I learn of additional photo albums of the ride, I'll add links here.

Ginny and Jim's album.
Lorraine and Aaron's album.
Felice's album.