Bon Ton Roulet 2025 — A Week of Riding My Own Way - Jul 2025

Bon Ton Roulet is a week-long supported ride through the Finger Lakes. Other riders had mentioned it to me over the years, so I finally went.Bon Ton Roulet comes up often when cyclists talk about tours. I’d heard about it enough times that I decided it was worth doing.

I’ve ridden enough organized tours to know how they go. Early mornings. Long days. Cafeteria food. Miles added one after another. Conversations that start easily and end when the road turns.

Bon Ton Roulet runs through familiar country for me. The Finger Lakes. Roads I’ve been on before. Vineyards. Hills that don’t look steep until you’re halfway up them.

I checked in early and spent the first morning at the info desk. Riders arrived from everywhere. Some nervous. Some loud. Some already talking about the hills. It was good to be there before the riding started.

The base was at Hobart and William Smith. Clean campus. Quiet mornings. Riders gathered without rushing. Bikes leaned against buildings. Coffee in paper cups.

When the riding started, it settled quickly.

I kept the assist low this year. Used it when I needed to, not when it was easy. I wanted to feel the work. The steady pull in my legs. The way effort evens out when you don’t argue with it. I rode the hills my way and stayed within myself.

The roads were familiar. The descent toward the lakes opened up the way it always does. Hammondsport came gently, as it should. One afternoon a short rain came through. I waited it out in an ice cream shop and went on.

Meals came and went. You ate what was there. It was enough.

I rode with different people for short stretches. Jan and Ken again. Bonnie for a while—easy to talk to, steady on the bike. Sydney from Connecticut, unexpectedly. We rode together and then didn’t. No one made much of it.

Most of the time I rode alone.

That was the point.

By the end of the week, the miles were in my legs in a familiar way. Nothing dramatic. No breaking point. Just the feeling that comes from showing up every day and doing the work without fuss.

When it was over, I packed up and went home.

I had ridden the week the way I wanted to.

That was enough.