Tour de Chenango County Challenge 2016
CHENANGO COUNTY – In honor of the Tour de France, the annual cross country cycling race which is taking place currently - which began on July 2, and is scheduled to end on July 24 – Chenango County now has their own version of the Internationally famous race, The Tour de Chenango County.
Rob Baker, a Sherburne-Earlville graduate and retired United States Marine of 25-years, now lives on his farm in Plymouth. When not home, Baker finds himself headlining local movements toward increased participation in Mountain Biking and the outdoors – most recently, this trial run in the summer of 2016, in hopes of generating enough interest to create, maintain, and grow this event for years to come.
Baker, a Mountain Biking enthusiast, most recently started The Chenango Composite Team, a team of middle and high school athletes from all across Chenango County, who participated and completed their first season in the New York Mountain Bike League of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA).
Currently the Chenango Composite team is only recognized as a club sport, something Baker and fellow coach, Boris Trifunovic, from Greene, hope to change for future seasons. With his first season of coaching under his belt, The Chenango Composite Team, Baker explained how he has now set his sights on yet another goal in the Mountain Biking realm.
“I'm a huge Tour de France fan, or anything to do with bicycles. I started talking about doing something similar last year with some of my buddies here who like to ride. I actually rode three of the four days last year, but instead over separate months.”
2016 now marks the first year that Baker has successfully taken his idea and transformed it into something his own, a localized bicycle tour of every town in Chenango County.
“It was a proof of concept year, to prove that it can be done,” said Baker. “Four days in a row was a challenge for myself, day four was the hottest day and the hills between Norwich and Coventry via Guilford was a real challenge. I was a hurting pup.”
Baker explained that, unlike the Tour de France, which obviously stretches over a larger span of time and distance – The Tour de Chenango County does not run as a consecutive race with stopping points along the way. Instead, The Tour de Chenango County starts and finishes at the same point each day, with Baker taking a different route each morning he departed.
“My goal was to hit every town in the county. So I studied some maps and broke the county up, and figured the best point was east park in Norwich,” said Baker. “The tour was split up into four days, each day covering a quadrant of the county.
Each morning, starting on July 1 –one day before the start of The Tour de France– and continuing until July 4, Rob Baker departed from East Park in downtown Norwich, the county seat, at around 8 a.m., excluding the final day which began at 2 p.m. The tour was split up into four days, each day covering a section of the county.
“The first day I had a broken spoke, never got a broken tire. But I would stop, get some pictures, refuel and get some fluids in me,” said Baker. “Our area is beautiful for cycling and I think it would be a good thing to bring people into the county.”
Baker did take the time to compile a basic rundown of his travels on the tour during each of the four days, which are listed below.
Day one: started in Norwich, traveled out State Route 23 through South Plymouth and Pharsalia, turned right onto Pitcher Hill Road up and over into Pitcher, then up County Route 12 to Lincklaen, over Lincklaen Center Road hills to County Route 13 back into South Otselic, up State Route 26 to Otselic, then east on State Route 80 to Smyrna, down County Route 20 to County Route 21 up over the hill into Plymouth, down County Route 16 to Adams Road, to Bates Wilson Road to County Route 44 (Country Club) to State Route 12 and back south into Norwich to East Park. The statistics for day one are: Total distance 72.1 miles, Total elevation: 4258 feet, Average Speed: 17.0mph, Total time: 4:14:34.
Day two: started at the East Park in Norwich, traveled north out of town up State Route 12, to North Norwich, up County Route 23 to County Route 20 into Sherburne Four Corners, turning right up the West Hill to Lawrence Road, to Butts Road and onto State Route 80. Once in Sherburne, traveled north up State Route 12/12B into Earlville, then turned onto East Main Street, up over Castle Hill Road to State Route 12, then south turning onto Knapp Road to Shawler Brook Road, to Casey Cheese Factory Road, right onto Bingham Collins Road, left onto Dewey Road, onto State Route 80 into Columbus, continuing onto County Route 25 to State Route 8. From there went north on State Route 8 to the county line, turned around and took SR8 south back through South Edmeston, New Berlin and South New Berlin, turning right onto State Route 23, onto County Route 28 to Humphrey Road pedaling up to Chenango Lake, turning onto Lake Road, then right onto County Route 31, bearing right onto Cooley Road town to SR23 and back into Norwich and the East Park. Totals for day two are: Total distance: 70.8 miles, Total elevation: 4086 feet, Average speed: 16.5mph, Total time: 4:18:33.
Day three: traveled the southwest quadrant of the county. Starting in Norwich at east park, the route traveled west on West Main street out County Route 10A, through Preston and East Pharsalia via County Route 10, then turned left onto County Route 7 heading south to McDonough. From there, the tour turned right onto County Route 5 through the town of German, turning to the south once again on County Route 2, traveling through Smithville Flats, down to State Route 12, south to Chenango Forks, then onto State Route 79, and left onto County Route 32, north up into Greene, turning left onto 206, to State Route12 up through Brisben, Oxford, and back into Norwich. Totals for Day three are: Total distance: 73.5 miles, Total elevation: 3745 feet, Average speed: 16.5mph, and Total time: 4:27:07.
Day four: traveled the southeast quadrant of the county. Starting in Norwich at East Park, the route traveled out of Norwich on Birdsall Street then left onto Hayes Street, down County Route 32 to County Route 33, to County Route 36 over the hills, then turning right onto County Route 35, into Guilford. The route turned left onto County Route 38 over through Yaleville. It then turned right onto Cooper Schoolhouse Road, to County Route 17 to State Route 206 to Coventry, turned left onto State Route 235 to State Route 7 in Ninevah, up State Route 7 through Afton, Bainbridge to Sidney, turned left once again onto State Route 8 and traveled north through East Guilford, Rockdale, Mt. Upton, Rockwell Mills, turning once again left onto County Route 33 over Polkville Hill back into Norwich, traversing County Route 32 to East Main and back into East Park. Totals for day four are: Total distance: 77.6 miles, Total elevation: 4340 feet, Average speed of 15,9 mph, and Total time: 4:53:21.
Baker would successfully complete the trial run of The Tour de Chenango County on July 4, in the afternoon, after having traversed some 294 total miles, and climbed approximately 16,429 feet of elevation.
“Mentally you’re at like mile 280, the cumulative mileage is just tough. And when you do it by yourself it is pretty mentally draining. When I do this next year, I am going to try to do it much bigger. My plans are for it to be an annual thing hopefully. And what is neat is that the Tour de France is that it is a different route each year,” explained Baker. “So I have the routes planned out now, but every year I can make day one be day three next year, or reverse the routes. I can vary up the routes enough, either way it is going to be challenging.”
Regardless of just completing a roughly 300 mile cycling expedition in just four days, Baker shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, as just around one week after he already has plans for his next expedition, as well as next years Tour de Chenango County.
“My next goal is to ride all the way around the county in one day, 147 mile day and 8,000 feet of climbing, it'll be the Circle de Chenango route,” said Baker. “When I do this (Tour de Chenango) next year I am going to try to do it much bigger, I invited quite a few bike clubs (this year), but this year it was just me. I have also got some buddies from North and South Carolina who want to come up and do it next year. I am looking to make this a huge reality for our county and bring a major cycling event to central New York. Our area offers some of the best road and mountain biking in the northeast.”
Notably, Rob Baker has said that this Thursday, July 14, that he will be meeting at the Norwich Airport for a 10 mile time trial, up Route 12 to North Norwich and back down East River Road to Woods Corners and back to the Airport. Anyone interested or seeking for information is instructed to contact Rob Baker at: 334-4960 or contact him via email at: Airstreamnut@gmail.com.
Rob Baker, a Sherburne-Earlville graduate and retired United States Marine of 25-years, now lives on his farm in Plymouth. When not home, Baker finds himself headlining local movements toward increased participation in Mountain Biking and the outdoors – most recently, this trial run in the summer of 2016, in hopes of generating enough interest to create, maintain, and grow this event for years to come.
Baker, a Mountain Biking enthusiast, most recently started The Chenango Composite Team, a team of middle and high school athletes from all across Chenango County, who participated and completed their first season in the New York Mountain Bike League of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA).
Currently the Chenango Composite team is only recognized as a club sport, something Baker and fellow coach, Boris Trifunovic, from Greene, hope to change for future seasons. With his first season of coaching under his belt, The Chenango Composite Team, Baker explained how he has now set his sights on yet another goal in the Mountain Biking realm.
“I'm a huge Tour de France fan, or anything to do with bicycles. I started talking about doing something similar last year with some of my buddies here who like to ride. I actually rode three of the four days last year, but instead over separate months.”
2016 now marks the first year that Baker has successfully taken his idea and transformed it into something his own, a localized bicycle tour of every town in Chenango County.
“It was a proof of concept year, to prove that it can be done,” said Baker. “Four days in a row was a challenge for myself, day four was the hottest day and the hills between Norwich and Coventry via Guilford was a real challenge. I was a hurting pup.”
Baker explained that, unlike the Tour de France, which obviously stretches over a larger span of time and distance – The Tour de Chenango County does not run as a consecutive race with stopping points along the way. Instead, The Tour de Chenango County starts and finishes at the same point each day, with Baker taking a different route each morning he departed.
“My goal was to hit every town in the county. So I studied some maps and broke the county up, and figured the best point was east park in Norwich,” said Baker. “The tour was split up into four days, each day covering a quadrant of the county.
Each morning, starting on July 1 –one day before the start of The Tour de France– and continuing until July 4, Rob Baker departed from East Park in downtown Norwich, the county seat, at around 8 a.m., excluding the final day which began at 2 p.m. The tour was split up into four days, each day covering a section of the county.
“The first day I had a broken spoke, never got a broken tire. But I would stop, get some pictures, refuel and get some fluids in me,” said Baker. “Our area is beautiful for cycling and I think it would be a good thing to bring people into the county.”
Baker did take the time to compile a basic rundown of his travels on the tour during each of the four days, which are listed below.
Day one: started in Norwich, traveled out State Route 23 through South Plymouth and Pharsalia, turned right onto Pitcher Hill Road up and over into Pitcher, then up County Route 12 to Lincklaen, over Lincklaen Center Road hills to County Route 13 back into South Otselic, up State Route 26 to Otselic, then east on State Route 80 to Smyrna, down County Route 20 to County Route 21 up over the hill into Plymouth, down County Route 16 to Adams Road, to Bates Wilson Road to County Route 44 (Country Club) to State Route 12 and back south into Norwich to East Park. The statistics for day one are: Total distance 72.1 miles, Total elevation: 4258 feet, Average Speed: 17.0mph, Total time: 4:14:34.
Day two: started at the East Park in Norwich, traveled north out of town up State Route 12, to North Norwich, up County Route 23 to County Route 20 into Sherburne Four Corners, turning right up the West Hill to Lawrence Road, to Butts Road and onto State Route 80. Once in Sherburne, traveled north up State Route 12/12B into Earlville, then turned onto East Main Street, up over Castle Hill Road to State Route 12, then south turning onto Knapp Road to Shawler Brook Road, to Casey Cheese Factory Road, right onto Bingham Collins Road, left onto Dewey Road, onto State Route 80 into Columbus, continuing onto County Route 25 to State Route 8. From there went north on State Route 8 to the county line, turned around and took SR8 south back through South Edmeston, New Berlin and South New Berlin, turning right onto State Route 23, onto County Route 28 to Humphrey Road pedaling up to Chenango Lake, turning onto Lake Road, then right onto County Route 31, bearing right onto Cooley Road town to SR23 and back into Norwich and the East Park. Totals for day two are: Total distance: 70.8 miles, Total elevation: 4086 feet, Average speed: 16.5mph, Total time: 4:18:33.
Day three: traveled the southwest quadrant of the county. Starting in Norwich at east park, the route traveled west on West Main street out County Route 10A, through Preston and East Pharsalia via County Route 10, then turned left onto County Route 7 heading south to McDonough. From there, the tour turned right onto County Route 5 through the town of German, turning to the south once again on County Route 2, traveling through Smithville Flats, down to State Route 12, south to Chenango Forks, then onto State Route 79, and left onto County Route 32, north up into Greene, turning left onto 206, to State Route12 up through Brisben, Oxford, and back into Norwich. Totals for Day three are: Total distance: 73.5 miles, Total elevation: 3745 feet, Average speed: 16.5mph, and Total time: 4:27:07.
Day four: traveled the southeast quadrant of the county. Starting in Norwich at East Park, the route traveled out of Norwich on Birdsall Street then left onto Hayes Street, down County Route 32 to County Route 33, to County Route 36 over the hills, then turning right onto County Route 35, into Guilford. The route turned left onto County Route 38 over through Yaleville. It then turned right onto Cooper Schoolhouse Road, to County Route 17 to State Route 206 to Coventry, turned left onto State Route 235 to State Route 7 in Ninevah, up State Route 7 through Afton, Bainbridge to Sidney, turned left once again onto State Route 8 and traveled north through East Guilford, Rockdale, Mt. Upton, Rockwell Mills, turning once again left onto County Route 33 over Polkville Hill back into Norwich, traversing County Route 32 to East Main and back into East Park. Totals for day four are: Total distance: 77.6 miles, Total elevation: 4340 feet, Average speed of 15,9 mph, and Total time: 4:53:21.
Baker would successfully complete the trial run of The Tour de Chenango County on July 4, in the afternoon, after having traversed some 294 total miles, and climbed approximately 16,429 feet of elevation.
“Mentally you’re at like mile 280, the cumulative mileage is just tough. And when you do it by yourself it is pretty mentally draining. When I do this next year, I am going to try to do it much bigger. My plans are for it to be an annual thing hopefully. And what is neat is that the Tour de France is that it is a different route each year,” explained Baker. “So I have the routes planned out now, but every year I can make day one be day three next year, or reverse the routes. I can vary up the routes enough, either way it is going to be challenging.”
Regardless of just completing a roughly 300 mile cycling expedition in just four days, Baker shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, as just around one week after he already has plans for his next expedition, as well as next years Tour de Chenango County.
“My next goal is to ride all the way around the county in one day, 147 mile day and 8,000 feet of climbing, it'll be the Circle de Chenango route,” said Baker. “When I do this (Tour de Chenango) next year I am going to try to do it much bigger, I invited quite a few bike clubs (this year), but this year it was just me. I have also got some buddies from North and South Carolina who want to come up and do it next year. I am looking to make this a huge reality for our county and bring a major cycling event to central New York. Our area offers some of the best road and mountain biking in the northeast.”
Notably, Rob Baker has said that this Thursday, July 14, that he will be meeting at the Norwich Airport for a 10 mile time trial, up Route 12 to North Norwich and back down East River Road to Woods Corners and back to the Airport. Anyone interested or seeking for information is instructed to contact Rob Baker at: 334-4960 or contact him via email at: Airstreamnut@gmail.com.
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