East Hill/Brooktondale to DeWitt Middle School:
On May 16th sixteen cyclists traveled in the general direction of Brooktondale to DeWitt Middle School. 2 adults (Dave Buchner and Ron Acerra) and 2 middle schoolers left at 6:50 from the Brooktondale market traveling north up Lounseberry to Thomas. They met 3 others (Wayne Gottlieb, Martha Robertson and Jack Rueckheim) along Ellis Hollow and 6 others (Steve Powell and 5 kids) at East Hill Plaza. From there we went through Cornell along Judd Falls to Warren road. The middle schoolers voted to ride up the hill instead of walking. Everybody made it. We took over the entire lane here to dissuade cars from trying to pass. Fortunately, no cars came up the hill. We made it to DeWitt by 8:10. Jack Rueckheim went on to parts North (Bolton point). In the meantime, 2 other middle schoolers and Laurie Cuomo were traveling from the same vicinity, but at a different time. Laurie accompanied them along part of the route. We’ll have to get details from her. On the way home, Steve Powell and I accompanied 5 students home to the Snyder Hill area in the rain. They were real troopers with nary a complaint through hills, 7 miles, stuck chains and rain. I’m hoping we can do this again soon. Great fun. I hope motorists were not too inconvenienced.
May 12th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Hello from Brooktondale.
My son’s Josh and Eric Andersson are planning on biking to school (DeWitt) from Brooktondale, on 5/16. My husband Rich may also join the ride. Can they hook-up with Ron, Wayne, and all of the others leaving from BDale?–Mary
May 12th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Mary, I believe Ron will be leaving at around 7:00 to meet the rest of us at East Hill Plaza at 7:30. Join us. The more the merrier. Wayne
May 13th, 2008 at 1:31 am
Latest Brooktondale to DeWitt Update. This ride keeps on growing. The Anderssons will join us in Brooktondale at 7:00, meeting at the new Brooktondale store. From there, they will go over Thomas road to Ellis Hollow down to East Hill Plaza around 7:30-7:40.
May 13th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Thanks Wayne, we’ll be at Brookton’s Market at 6:50 a.m. Josh is sure he will bike. Eric is unsure about his endurance and hasn’t decided on cycling. Rich is sure that the boys are able to manage the trip. Do you have a number on mileage? I can shadow, (or plan on parking at a halfway point, using my van which has a bike rack, and fits bikes inside, as well as people. -Mary
May 13th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Ron says it’s about 12 miles. By the way, I can ride home with them after school if you’d like. If they want to ride home with me (I’ll go back to Brooktondale), have them tell me in the next couple of days. Wayne
May 14th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Helen and Jay Hamilton bike to DeWitt fairly often from East Ithaca (corner of Slaterville Rd and Burns Rd). It takes them about 40 minutes, including rest stops for drinking water. Eric and Josh have a few miles longer to ride from Brooktondale, but starting so early will give them plenty of time to stop for short rests along the way. Tell Eric not to worry! Bring water and not too many pounds of books, and plan to rest at the top of hills. Hope you ALL can go on bikes, and leave the van at home!
May 14th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I’ll be riding with my daughter and 2 of her friends and will meet the group at East Hill Plaza around 7:30 . Meet us outside of the Collegetown Bagels store at the plaza.
May 15th, 2008 at 12:29 am
Hi Di. Okay. I’ll leave the van at home, take my bike and encourage Eric. The boys said they will leave their backpacks at school on Thursday and just bring homework home. Im not sure if we will be taking BDale Rd. to Rt. 79 to Pine Tree to East Hill Plaza, or Loundsberry to Thomas to Ellis Hollow to East Hill Plaza. In terms of endurance, Eric and I would like to take the less challenging of the two. I understand that we may appear lazy or lacking in confidence, but truly it’s just a preference (LOL). – Mary
May 15th, 2008 at 12:48 am
Because of the large number of students and teacher who will be on this ride, we’re calling it a Rolling School bus route.
May 16th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Our ride in from Ellis Hollow (and others we joined from Brooktondale) numbered 5 adults and 7 middle schoolers. I was surprised at some of the traffic issues that we encountered.
1. Along Ellis Hollow, cars often slowed when passing or waited until it was clear to pass. This was encouraging. Perhaps we’ve finally discovered a way to reduce speed on Ellis Hollow.
2. There are a lot of intersections where there is no clear consideration for cyclists (eg,. Judd Falls crossing 366 to get on the bike path, getting off the bike path in Cornell.
3. Warren road going up the hill is clearly not wide enough to safely accomodate cyclists and cars.
4. Cars seemed to have more patience when kids are on bikes.
5. Even thinking carefully about what route to take, we had no choice but to ride on busy, narrow roads.
6. For some reason I felt like an eco terrorist.
I’m hoping that some of these kids and adults will want to have regular rides to school. Wayne