Wyatville Loop

Wyatville Loop: 27.23 miles
TANDEM Pedal Time: 2 hours 23 minutes, average speed 11.3

We needed a morning break from resume writing so decided to bike the Wyatville Loop. We packed a lunch, remembering that stops on this route were non-existent. We found a grassy patch to break after climbing the category 5 hill found on this loop. It’s amazing how good a simple sandwich can taste after a challenging incline.

Lunch was cut short when we found a tick crawling up Dennis’ leg. We brushed ourselves off and hopped back on the bike to pedal towards Lewiston. The sky was beginning to fill with dark clouds so we called our daughter, Jill, and asked her to meet us in Lewiston with the van. Some rain did fall after we reached home but we escaped the threatening thunderstorms occurring in surrounding areas. We will have to try completing this loop another time when the weather is more acceptable for cycling.

Early Spring Wyatville Loop

Wyatville Loop: 40.58 miles
Stats: Ride Time was 3 hours 27 minutes, average speed: 11.7

We set out into the SW wind knowing that the route would not get the best of us today but the wind sure might. The Wyatville Loop was quite a challenge on our spring legs so we did some modifications via gravel roads to shave 5 miles off the loop. At mile 10 we encountered a lengthy chase from two German shepherd dogs and the Halt spray had to come out to keep them from crossing our path and flipping the bike. We did out run them and enjoyed the rest of the route until the winds picked up for our last 10 miles.

We decided to cut across the gravel road to make a more direct route back home as our legs were running out of power. We made it back home after 3.5 hours of cranking with minimal breaks. The weather was beautiful on this early spring day with temperatures ranging from 51-81° making it hard to adjust our clothing for comfort but it’s all good and we are enjoying the opportunity to bike the extra miles this spring.

Tandem 2012 Miles: 98.76              Rans Tandem Total Miles: 15952 Singles 2012 Miles:  40.33              Bacchetta Total Miles: 1177

A New Neighborhood Route

Wyatville Loop: 45.57 miles
Comments: Ride Time was 3 hours 44 minutes, average speed: 12.1

This was a beautiful new route. Many scenic views from atop each hill we climbed. We even experienced 2 category 5 climbs on this route and travelled on a newly paved surface that took us down a steep hill that ended at CR 25. Dennis rode the breaks down the complete hill—this must be what a mountain pass is like. I had the camera in hand snapping pictures as we glided down this mountainside. What an awesome feeling.



We cranked for 30 miles before resting for lunch at Brewskies in Utica and then decided to make this route a loop by biking towards St. Charles along Hwy 14. While mapping this route on MapMyRide.com, we realized that the climb out of St. Charles is also classified as a category 5 climb—never realized that. No rain today just puffy white clouds and temps in the low 80’s making for an excellent day out on the tandem.

Information about Climbs

For any climb to be rated (receive a climb score/category) it must be at least 500 meters in length with an average grade of 3% or more.

All climb scores are based on distance, grade/elevation change, and maximum elevation. The combination of these factors drives all final climb categories and there is no subjective analysis used in the final scoring of any climb score. All other climbs that do not meet the criteria for HC to Cat 5 are simply too small to rate. The original concepts for the categorization of all climbs came from the categorized climb ratings given by the UCI for races like the Tour de France and other professional cycling events.