Chief Joseph Brant Bike Regatta

with map and notes

This event is held on the last Sunday in May every year, rain or shine.

Some 2008 photos.

Some 2007 photos.

Some 2004 photos.

Chief Joseph Brant

Chief Joseph Brant

portait by Romney of Chief Joseph Brant

Chief Joseph Brant

Planning a bike trip of with a group of your own?

To get things organized what you need is http://www.pbwkiki.com

Check out the PBwiki tour!

Get a free wiki at PBwiki.com.

In the winter we cross country ski up to Jack Salo's family camp at Beaver River along the Stillwater Reservoir in the Adirondack Park in New York State.

We keep in touch via a wiki that we set up. Setting up this interactive WWW site where you can have friends contribute and interact is as easy as making a Peanut Butter Sandwich, which is where they get their name pbwiki. Check out our wiki or make one of your own, quicker that you can type huckle buckle beanstalk or Rumpelstiltskin!! Salo Camp

The Bike Regatta follows by road the route on the Susquehanna River taken by canoeists in the General Clinton Canoe Regatta., ie from Cooperstown NY to Bainbridge NY.

The route begins at the beginning of the Susquehanna River, which is at the mouth of Otsego Lake. The lake was very calm the morning of May 27, 2001 as the picture taken that morning shows.

photo by Marsha Stock

Jump down to the bottom for some history from one of the founders. To get an idea of the commitment of the core of longtime riders to the event let me offer this actual conversation:

"Michael, will you be doing the Bike Regatta this year?"

"I never knew there was a choice! Of course I'll be there."

The following route description is the work of Bob Thomas. He will be doing the ride this Sunday as has been done either Sunday or Monday on Memorial Day weekend for at least 25 years. Memorial Day weekend culminates with Memorial Day, which is on the last Monday in May each year in memory of American men and women who have served and died in the armed forces in all wars. For more information on the Bike Regatta you can email Bob Thomas at BobThomas@escort.org.

Of course you can do the ride any time that it suits you. If you need a bike shop along the way there is one in particular that comes to mind.

If you are in Oneonta and need help with your bike a great place to find what you need is:

SportTech
166 Main Street Oneonta, NY 13820 (607) 432-1731

Above you can see the 2002 group at the photo opp.

We usually meet to ride at 8:00 am on the Sunday before Memorial (this year that is May 26th, 2002) in Doubleday Field Parking lot off Main St in Cooperstown. Parking in the lot is free. Bathrooms at the field are usually open - (they have been for the past 20+ years!). There is a diner across Main St where you can get coffee if you need some.

12 of the 13 cyclists at the start of the 2006 Bike Regatta -
the 13th one is taking the picture.

About 8:30 we will mount up and head to Otsego Lake for a quick photo travelling there as shown below via Main St to the flagpole in the center of the street - make a left onto Pioneer- go one block to stop sign on Lake and make a right - Stop at the park and walk down the stairs to the lake for a group photo (use fill in flash to compensate for backlighting from the lake).

Leave park on River St - go straight across Main after stopping and then 3 blocks to stop in front of Bassett Hospital. There is an ancient bone shaker bicycle in a case in the medical arts building on the left at the stop, if such things interest you have a look - no matter what you are riding - a few seconds spent looking at that torture device will have you appreciating your current bike a lot more. Take left on Mill St and swoop down the hill and cross the Susquehanna River. Make the first right onto Brooklyn Ave. after crossing the bridge. Take Brooklyn Ave. until it ends. Make a left onto Otsego County 52 (aka Susquehanna Ave). Go until you cross another bridge and make a full right onto Otsego County 33. Go down to next map.

One of year 2001 Chief Joseph Brant Bike Regatta photo op photos by Marsha Stock

Follow Otsego County 33 about 8 miles until you come to a stop sign at the intersection with NYS 166. Along this stretch you will pass the Brewery Ommegang. It is open for tours and tastings later in the day and they do a really good job. The group usually waits for stragglers at these stop signs - unless we know that the trailing group has a person with it who knows the route.

Pavement quality varies, but traffic is pretty light. - photo by Marsha Stock

Make a left onto NYS 166 and proceed about 1000 ft to the first right, go across the bridge and take your first right onto Otsego County 35. If you have an interest in beer making you could make a right here instead and visit The Cooperstown Brewing Company which is on the left just as you get into Milford, NY. They also offer tours and tastings.

Follow Otsego County 35 until the stop sign on near Portlandville. If you look across the road as you approach the stop you will see a lumberyard. At the stop go left and continue on Otsego County 35.

Otsego County 35 ends at a stop sign when it interects with NYS 7 at Cooperstown Junction. There is an auction house here with an outside Port-a-John that they have let cyclists use in the past. We make a left onto NYS 7

Stay with it all the way into downtown Oneonta where we stop for an early lunch at Gina's just past where NYS 7 (aka Main St) turns right on Chestnut. After the lunch break we continue on Main St across the viaduct to River St, where we take a right. We follow River St. until we take a left onto the Access Rd, aka River St Extension.

The Access Rd goes up a incline to a traffic light on NYS 205. We make a left at the light and follow NYS 205 across I-88 and then across the Susquehanna until NYS 205 ends. At the end of the NYS 205 we make a right onto Otsego County 48. Follow 48 up and down hill as it winds its way to Wells Bridge. There is one stop sign along this route, go straight after the stop and there is a diner on the right if you need anything.

There is another stop sign in Wells Bridge - where there are actually two bridges, the new and the old. We frequently wait for folks to catch up here, since a couple of the few hills on the route are in the section approaching Wells Bridge. We leave Wells Bridge on County 44 and climb slowly toward I-88 but make the right on Covered Bridge Rd just before passing under I-88.

At the end of Covered Bridge Rd we make a right onto NYS 357. We take that until we are almost to a bridge across the Susquehanna River, but we don't cross the bridge, instead we make a left onto Crookerville Rd.

We follow Crookerville Rd as it becomes River Rd and makes a short jog downhill on Cemetary Rd and goes on as River Rd again. They'll be a stop at the ramp to I-88 but we just continue on.

River Rd ends and we continue on County 23.

County 23 brings us into Sidney. After a stop at the bottom of the hill entering the village go straight across the tracks and follow Main St. At the corner of Main and River is a convenience store that has been kind to us in the past. We stop there for a cold soda or juice, whatever. We leave Sidney by making the left onto River St and following River St straight at the light on NYS 8.

We follow River St as it becomes County 39. 39 intersects with NYS 206. Make a right on NYS 206 and cross the Susquehanna. When NYS 206 intersects with NYS 8 you may go right to go to the Clinton Regatta festivities or continue straight until you come to the railroad tracks and the police station on the right.

The 2001 Bike Regatta is history! Packing up in front of the old train depot which is now the police station and village of Bainbridge office. Be sure to scroll down to see some more photos.- photo by Marsha Stock

If you find that you liked riding that route there is a whole book full of great bicycle routes in the area that has been put together by a Cooperstown doctor. "Cranks from Cooperstown" got good reviews and is a wonderful resource for both the beginning and the experienced cyclist.

Another ride that takes place in the area is the Magical History Tour a village to village bicycle tour. This year it is slated for Saturday August 3rd, 2002.

Subject: Re: hey... where's your Regatta stuff?
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 13:23:54 -0400
From: mmillner@vitale.com
To: Bob Thomas <bobthomas@escort.org>

OK, I'll muse.

The Joesph Brant Bicycle Regatta was the brainchild of, among others,
Michael Millner, a New York City escapee who moved to Oneonta in the spring
of 1975. He was most impressed with the General Clinton Canoe Regatta, that
being the area's major outdoor event and a source of great pride to the
hosting communities. His desire to participate in the weekend's excitement,
however, was stymied by the fact that he could neither row nor swim, being
paralyzed with fear when immersed in water greater than six feet in depth
(he was 5'11"). The solution was to cycle the beautiful, quiet backroads
that meander along the banks of the Susquehanna from Cooperstown to
Bainbridge. A bit of historical research uncovered the story of Joseph
Brant, a Native American from the Mohawk tribe. Brant, who worked
both sides of the street as a mercenary in those years (and died a wealthy
man as a result), led the band of raiders who harassed Clinton's forces
from the shores of the river. Hence, the Joseph Brant Bicycle Regatta.

This Regatta first took place in 1976 and was populated by a ragtag
assortment of about a dozen riders and their equally ragtag bicycles. By
the early 1980's, Brant's forces had grown to over 70. A Greyhound bus and
several trucks were rented to carry riders and their equipment from Oneonta
to Cooperstown for the 6 a.m. start and then from Bainbridge back to
Oneonta. A Brooks BBQ-catered party was held at College Camp replete with
music, dancing and pained stretching motions. The Ride was, and remains, a
social event where old friendships are renewed, favorite haunts revisited,
and racing, even hurrying, is just not done.

Over the years, many of the principals have left the area but the ride has
nonetheless continued without interruption, celebrating its 25th
anniversary in 2000. The Regatta, as in the early years, is populated by a
ragtag assortment of about a dozen riders and their equally ragtag, but
very hi-tech, bicycles. For those who travel hundreds of miles to be part
of the Joseph Brant Bicycle Regatta, the ride is a wonderful opportunity to
renew friendships, experience springtime in upstate New York (for better or
worse) and to work up a healthy appetite.

Please fact-check, embellish, self-aggrandize.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx next message xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I don't know what I can add that you wouldn't already remember. Perhaps that the ride was "revisionist" before historical revisionism became trendy. The ride has been accomplished by a variety of pedaled machines: 3 speeds with lambswool seats, recumbents, two wheelers with blind rider, etc., etc. Oldest and youngest riders, foreigners, etc. It has been a diverse group." says Jack Salo longtime participant from Greene, NY

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

photo by Marsha Stock

Thinking back to the beginning of the day. Some time we should follow the Susquehanna all the way to Havre de Grace, Maryland, where it meets the Chesapeake Bay. - photo by Marsha Stock