Jane and I participated in the eighth annual FANY ride, July 20-26, 2008. 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!

We gave Jim a ride and Jim, Jane, and I drove to Niagara Falls on Saturday, July 19, and set up camp and registered. 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 26.

This is the eighth 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! In 2007, about 150 riders participated. The hotel option was back (I'm not sure how many did the hotel option) and the Sore FANY was back, but only a small number participated.

This year about 190 or so people participated. A number of people took advantage of the hotel option but only a small number did the Sore Fany.

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." Starting in 2006, we've 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 19, 2008 The day before the ride at Niagara Falls Downpours during the day. In fact we had heavy rains Saturday through Thursday. The last two days turned out to be nice.
	Sunday, July 20, 2008 Niagara Falls to Brockport Cue sheet: 88.0 miles, GPS: 83.4 miles, Climb: 991 feet Downpours most of the day. Some headwinds. Went straight to 63 on 18 (no excursion to the light house) Went straight to Brockport from Medina on 31 (no excursions off 31). Estimate it saved about 5 miles on the cue sheet.
	Monday, July 21, 2008 Brockport to Penn Yan Cue sheet: 77.2 miles, GPS: 77.9 miles, Climb: 2836 feet Followed cue sheet. Drizzling in the morning, downpours in the afternoon.
	Tuesday, July 22, 2008 Penn Yan to Baldwinsville Cue sheet: 68.7 miles, GPS: 70.6 miles, Climb: 1877 feet Followed cue sheet. Fog when breaking camp, downpours in the afternoon. Cleared for a nice evening.
	Wednsesday, July 23, 2008 Baldwinsville to Verona Cue sheet: 62.4 miles, GPS: 63.0 miles, Climb: 2004 feet Followed cue sheet. Awakened between 3 and 4 am by downpours and high winds. Evacuated to police station due to tornado warning. Returned at 4:30, but then heard there was a severe thunderstorm warning, so broke camp and go going. Rain held off to the afternoon but then had showers.
	Thursday, July 24, 2008 Verona to Speculator Cue sheet: 78.7 miles, GPS: 80.3 miles, Climb: 3508 feet Followed cue sheet. Downpours in the morning, then some sprinkles, then more downpours in the afternoon.
	Friday, July 25, 2008 Speculator to Lake George Cue sheet: 67.4 miles, GPS: 69.8 miles, Climb: 2536 feet Folllowed cue sheet. Rain overnight. Very wet with heavy fog in the morning. By late morning, fog had burned off and it became a nice day.
	Saturday, July 26, 2008 Lake George to Saratoga Springs Cue sheet: 47.8 miles, GPS: 48.2 miles, Climb: 1425 feet Followed cue sheet. Humid with some headwinds, but basically a nice day.
	Maps and Profiles

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