Biking in the Finger Lakes, New York…Women’s Suffrage Ride July 23-26, 2021

Well, the planned Woman Suffrage bike tour celebrating 100 year anniversary of the 19th amendment was cancelled last year, of course because of Covid. Rescheduled for this year, gave me the chance to train properly for the multiple day ride and the feeling of accomplishment after completing. My ‘biking chicks,’ so affectionately called, the group of 6 women that I bike with, made sure that I had a plan that included continued elevation challenges and longer distances in preparation, especially Maureen who is not in the photo. They took me out to a birthday dinner and said I was ready for the ride after all my training since April. My friend Cindy joined me for the adventure, which seemed a long time in coming.

We arrived a day early and started on Friday, July 23 at the Woman Tours Office in Rochester, NY, for Orientation and lunch, traveling to Geneva to start the ride. The group was 21 women including two terrific guides, Cy and Sue, and Annette our photographer, who made sure we had a good group shot. A very interesting group of women with different backgrounds from across the country with varied bike experiences.

We took our first bike ride to Sampson State Park and had dinner at the Bejo Seeds Farm, a Dutch company which produces organically produced seed as well as being deeply involved in developments surrounding organic growing. Stayed at the Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel on Lake Seneca and were treated to the full moon setting on the lake that evening. Stunning!

The following day we rode from Geneva to Watkins Glen, a 45 mile hilly ride with lunch along the way winding through Amish and Mennonite farms, beautiful countryside, and a steep downhill into Watkins Glen and the State Park there. Spectacular waterfalls!

Sunday took us on a steep incline out of Watkins Glen to Seneca Falls, a 50 mile ride. Lunch at the Swedish Hill winery and a pleasant ride into Seneca Falls, the birthplace of the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote the Declaration of Sentiments in 1848 to dramatize the denied citizenship claims of elite women during a period when the early republic’s founding documents privileged white propertied males. The document has long been recognized for the sharp critique she made of gender inequality in the U.S. It was modeled after the Declaration of Independence, was the framework for the women’s suffrage movement, as it argued for equal rights for women and men. Lots of interesting conversations about women’s rights and the fact that 72 years later, in 1920 American women finally gained the constitutional right to vote with the passage of the 19th amendment, but black women didn’t get that right to vote until 1964 under the Civil Rights Act. We talked about how that struggle continues today so poignantly evident during the Covid challenges, the MeToo Movement and in many aspects continuing inequities.

Back to Rochester to the Woman Tours office and a bike ride along the Erie Canal to the Hope Cemetery, the oldest, continuous running cemetery in the country…to visit the graves of Susan B. Anthony and abolitionist Frederick Douglass as well as many of the signers of the Declaration for Sentiments. Lunch at the Woman Tours office before heading home.

What a privilege to be able to take this ride, to reflect on our history as women and share our own stories with each other. What beautiful scenery along the Finger Lakes. Seneca, the deepest of the Finger Lakes named after the Seneca Nation that was part of the Iroquois Confederacy, influenced the development of the Constitution of the original 13 colonies including many of the democratic principles incorporated into the constitution itself. Lake Keuka surrounded by fertile farmland and Lake Cayuga, the longest of the Finger Lakes known for the many wineries and microbreweries, with its award-winning dry Rieslings. Yes, we did take several bottles home to enjoy!

Women, Wine, History, Spectacular Lakes, Thoughtful Conversations, great weather, and lots of Biking…can’t get much better than that! What a great way to celebrate post-Covid!!

“I think (bicycling) has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of a free, untrammeled womanhood.” Susan B. Anthony, Rochester, NY

“The bicycle will inspire women with more courage, self-respect and self-reliance, and make the next generation more vigorous of mind and body; for feeble mothers do not produce great statesmen, scientists, and scholars.” Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Seneca Falls, NY