Seven Turns

A friend had told me about a mountain biking trail at the base of one of the finger lakes. I had recollections of him calling it Seven Sisters ( I pity the parents)...but I wasn't quite sure the conversation even took place.

Scouring the Strava and Garmin web sites for MTB trails at the base of any finger lake was fruitless. An email to the owner of a local bike shop (who I had recollected organized this mythical ride) resulted in no reply. An initial email to the guy who I thought I remembered talking to yielded a kickback email saying the recipient no longer exists. One more try to another email I found for the guy and Voila. He said, "Yes its called the Seven Turns and its a slice of heaven and it at the base of Honeoye Lake". I was jubilant in realizing I was not crazy (If you know me you realize, This is often debatable).

I had the occasion to try the trail. Its nuts. It features 1.3 miles of climbing at an average grade of 14%. To put that in perspective, tour deFrance riders consider 6-8% hard. This is off road which makes it even harder. Well I made it to the top and you get rewarded with a nice view. The decent is nothing short of harrowing. 25 mph off road feels like 45 mph on a road bike. Squeezing the hydraulic disc brakes as hard as I can with one finger. Fortunately I survived the decent. Next adventure...hang gliding .

14% for 1.3 miles.uugh

The Payoff