2025 HBC Finger Lakes Trip – Let’s Do It Again in June 2026!

 

The Finger Lakes Trip has turned into one of the annual highlights of the HBC.  As always, we stay in Townhouse Units at Hobart-William Smith Colleges, in Geneva, New York.  Every year is a little different as we explore the variety of rides and activities the area has to offer and get to know HBC members from other bicycle clubs that come to join us. We had nice weather again this year, and no rain interrupted any biking plans.

 

In 2025, there were 86 participants, with 56 from PA and 30 from other states (FL, MD, Ohio, VA, & WV). 32 were first time HBC Finger Lakes participants.  Use of the free WhatsApp phone app was new this year, initially used by about half the participants, which increased to 63, as more people joined.  WhatsApp was very helpful for sending new and last-minute changes in the daily schedule, for interaction between participants, and for photo sharing.  Daily emails were also sent to everyone by Phyllis after volunteer leaders identified the rides would lead on the next day, including direct links to the RWGPS routes. We also continued use of the (tried and true) white boards for volunteer leaders to add rides they were willing to lead.  In 2025, 18 volunteer led rides were offered to participants, and many small groups also rode on their own.  We worked hard to keep everyone informed, especially those staying off campus, especially when new rides were only identified very late on the night before the ride.

 

A Welcome Reception was held on Thursday evening in the beautiful Gearan Performing Arts Center lobby, across Pultney Street from the Scandling Dining Hall where breakfasts are served.  We used an Ice Breaker game to encourage interaction, which was very popular.

 

We also held informal social gatherings on the deck around Townhouse #38 (where check-in takes place) including the Friday Ice Cream Social and Saturday’s Wine and Cheese party, which are always lots of fun.  Brenda Bent provided a Corn Hole Game and we all enjoyed watching the intense competition. Special thanks to the volunteers for their efforts to set up the HBC canopies on the deck for our socials, as well as all the volunteers who help with set-up and clean-up. Susan Tussey had coffee available in the mornings in Townhouse #37 for the early risers, who came to visit regularly. Susan’s Townhouse was also our Community Center, where people gathered after riding, enjoyed snacks and talked about ride and dinner options.  Since the weather was so nice, there was less puzzle activity than in past years. We all had lots of FUN!! Thanks to everyone that shared pictures with us on the WhatsApp photo section. Many have been added to the Finger Lakes photo album on the HBC website. Go to the Home page, then select: NEWS (www.harrisburgbicycleclub.org).

 

We are especially grateful to the many people who offered to lead rides.  There were many choices for everyone on the trip, and we will continue to work with volunteer ride leaders in advance to make even more choices at varying speeds and distances available in the future. Some of the HBC members from other states gave rave reviews to our online Ride Leader training, as well as our many offerings of volunteer led rides.

 

We thank Marilyn Chastek for starting this trip many years ago, for updating all the bike routes in the HBC Ride with GPS Library and for preparing the cue sheets and maps for those that requested them.  We also thank all the people who helped make this year's trip a success, especially the HBC website team for all they do to keep people informed and for making the HBC online registration process so much easier for everyone.  We have sent an Evaluation Survey to participants to help plan for 2026.

 

Let’s do it again!! We are making arrangements to return to the Finger Lakes, expected to be  on the third weekend in June 2026.  We will share the June 2026 dates as soon as soon they are confirmed.

 

2025 Finger Lakes materials are still available on the tabs on the left side (Finger Lakes Special Event pages) for anyone that wants to learn more about this event. 2026 plans are expected to be very similar.

 

 

Phyllis Zitzer, Chair                                   Susan Tussey, Registrar

717-379-3054                                           814-386-8141

pjzitzer@gmail.com                                  srtusseyhbc@outlook.com