Trail Report: Irondequoit Bay Park West, Rochester, NY

I had some work to do in the Rochester area, so I booked a hotel near some bike trails, and wedged my bike into my tiny work car. After a day of driving all over the state, I got back to the hotel and got my biking gear on. The closest hotel I could find was 2.5 miles from the trailhead, so I got to ride around the streets of Rochester for a bit.

The shoulder was good the whole way, and the road riding was pretty easy (I still have my lightweight, low rolling resistance tires on from the Black Fly).  It had rained a little bit during the afternoon, but it was starting to dry out just as I left the hotel.  The entrance was tough to spot:

Here's a link to the trail map.  I came in from the Homewood Lane entrance and hopped on the "Blue" trail.  Once I got in the woods, everything was really well marked.

The singletrack was nice too.

Eventually I got into a nice stream.

I saw some fauna.

And flora.

I road the blue trail until I hit the red trail, I rode the red trail all the way around its loop, and then I played around on the orange and blue trails until I hit the road, the more official entrance off of Bay Front near a fish and game club.  There was even a map at this entrance.

I had been riding around for about an hour an a half at this point, so I thought I should start making my way back to the hotel.  I looked on the map and saw the green trail. It was really tough to find, and it wasn't marked out like the other trails, which led me to believe that it wasn't quite done yet.  If you look close in this picture, you can see the little orange flags that they used to mark the trail out.

After a technical start with roots, rocks, and stream crossings, this trail started getting really good.

Even if it wasn't completely done:

When I got back to the stream, I hopped back on the blue trail to start the trip back to the hotel.

On the way out, I got one more glimpse of that deer.  I might not be as good of a nature photographer as this guy, but at least I got the shot (albeit with my crappy point & shoot).

Back in the hotel, I figure my bike is safer in here than out in the car.

I generally don't enjoy riding alone (sort of like how I don't like skiing alone), but today was pretty fun.  I like exploring new areas, and it's good to have something to do instead of sitting around in my hotel room watching golf (although I didn't realize that Ozomatli was playing a concert for $2 in downtown Rochester - that might have been fun too).  If I have to do a lot of traveling this summer for work, I should always try to find a hotel with some riding nearby.  I generally feel much better about myself when I'm not being a fat slob, and I'm stoked to check out new riding spots.

And unlike skiing, it's free!