Jane and I participated in the seventh annual FANY ride, July 22-28, 2007. 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!

A special treat for us this year was being joined by my brother Rick. He shipped his bike in a special container from Kent, WA (near Seattle) to our house and then followed on an airplane. He arrived on Thursday. Friday he put his bike together and we went on a 38 mile test ride to be sure everything was working.

Jane, Rick, and I drove to Niagara Falls on Saturday, July 21, and set up camp and registered. We had time to take a short ride to the falls and back. Jane drove our van with our camping gear while Rick and I rode across the state with the other riders. We returned from Saratoga Springs, NY, at the end of the ride on Saturday, July 28.

Donna snapped this picture of Jane at the Hyde Park Golf Course with a disposable camera and brought her the print in Saratoga Springs! Photoshop was not used for the special effects!

This is the seventh 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. In 2006, 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!

This year about 150 or so people participated. The hotel option and Sore Fany were available but I think only a small number of people took advantage of them.

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 and again this year, 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. 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 over 100, 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 21, 2007 The day before the ride at Niagara Falls Beautiful day.
	Sunday, July 22, 2007 Niagara Falls to Brockport Cue sheet: 88.0 miles, GPS: 88.6 miles, Climb: 1284 feet Followed cue sheet. Sunny, mid 80s, winds calm, perhaps mild head and tailwinds later in the day.
	Monday, July 23, 2007 Brockport to Waterloo Cue sheet: 81.8 miles, GPS: 82.7 miles, Climb: 2884 feet Followed cue sheet except missed a turn and backtracked, added about a mile. Cloudy and rainy (sometimes heavy) towards the end.
	Tuesday, July 24, 2007 Waterloo to Ithaca Cue sheet: 46.2 miles, GPS: 47.8 miles, Climb: 1660 feet Followed cue sheet but visited Lucas Winery that added about a mile. Went from the Commons straight up Cayuga Street to get to the school. May have subtracted a couple of tenths of a mile. Overcast and rainy to start. Sunny and beautiful by the end.
	Wednsesday, July 25, 2007 Ithaca to Norwich Cue sheet: 76.2 miles, GPS: 76.9 miles, Climb: 3796 feet Followed cue sheet but detour to breakfast diner added about a mile. Sunny with winds from the south (headwinds when going that direction).
	Thursday, July 26, 2007 Norwich to Little Falls Cue sheet: 68.6 miles, GPS: 68.9 miles, Climb: 3927 feet Followed cue sheet. Sunny, hot, and humid. Calm winds.
	Friday, July 27, 2007 Little Falls to Speculator Cue sheet: 75.1 miles, GPS: 74.3 miles, Climb: 4231 feet Folllowed cue sheet, but missed a turn in Little Falls that added two blocks. Foggy and humid in the morning. Sunny in the middle of the day. Rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Deluge in camp!
	Saturday, July 28, 2007 Speculator to Saratoga Springs Cue sheet: 67.6 miles, GPS: 67.9 miles, Climb: 2634 feet Followed cue sheet. Cue sheet missed a turn indicated with road markings in Saratoga Springs, so probably added a mile verifying I was on correct path. Foggy to start with rain (sometimes heavy) in mid morning. Cleared later.
	Sunday, July 29, 2007 Pennington, NJ Dried out and packed.
	Maps and Profiles

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

Oscar's photoshow and album.

Bob's photoshow and album.