Riverwalk Ride

On Saturday, Leah and I loaded up the velomobiles in the Aztek and went to ride the Riverwalk bike path. I came up with a simple, yet effective method to get the Alleweder on the roof. Using the sides from an old waterbed stored in the attic Leah and I were able to roll the AW (Alleweder) right up onto the rear windshield, then up over the luggage rack rails, which held the VM (velomobile) in place till secured.

I used wire ties around the front wheels to attach them to the front rail, but they didn't look all that strong, so I added two bungee cords across the cockpit, one through the wheelwell cutouts, and one securing the rear swingarm to the rear rail. Better safe than sorry......

Which is why I also removed the nosecone. Having used velcro to attach the lights externally, I was concerned that the airstream at 60MPH might rip the lights off and proceed merrily to beat the snot out of the nosecone with them till the wires broke off. I also removed the seat, lest it vibrate loose and be sucked from the cockpit......unlikely, but you know.....

Here's the nosecone with it's goofy little eyeball lights. Unfortunately the connectors I got from Radio Shack fit so tightly that I separated two of them from the wires rather than each other.
( The ground worked ok.) Headlights were not required for this trip, so I elected to repair the connectors after our ride. I had some different connectors that didn't fit so tightly that did the trick.

The next order of business was to get the Versatile loaded into the back. Luckily, Leah has strong arms, and if I had remembered to release the rear parking brake before we picked it up, it would have rolled right in. We managed to get it in even with the handicap, and learned from my mistake, so loading up for the trip home was a bit easier.

Here's the Versatile peeking out of the Aztek. I used a piece of foam from the shipping crate between the hood and upper tailgate, and ratcheting tie downs to secure it. The blue bungee cord is to insure that I don't lose the ramps.

We unloaded at Tift farms, and headed down this short piece of bike path, and into the city. On the way there, I was able to watch the shadow of the AW , which seemed motionless atop the Aztek. The bike path ended, and dumped us onto Fuhrman Blvd, which brcomes Ohio Street.

This sign was from Ohio Street. We went over a draw bridge, turned right on Michgan, and left on South Park, which took us past the HSBC arena.

It was here that we turned onto Main Street for a short block, which took us to Marine Drive. The bike path started at Lakefront Drive, just after Marine comes out on Erie Street. I recognized the intersection where it started from studying satellite maps the day before. In the satellite pictures you could see the bikepath winding through the trees adjacent to a couple of upscale, condo- type apartment complexes. The streets in the city were pretty empty, since it was a Saturday morning.

Interestingly. the tops of these biuldings look like LEGO blocks in the satellite view. Next, the bikepath took us through La Salle park. When exiting the park (on Porter Ave. ) the bike path is interrupted, and you have to ride on Niagara Street for a couple blocks. There was a sign indicating where to turn to get back on the Riverwalk.
The bike path follows the 190 as we approach the Peace Bridge. (to Canada) It was very cool to be riding a bike through this area , after years of seeing the area from a car on the highway. Being on the bikepath, instead of fighting traffic is very pleasant. Next, the bikepath crosses under the highway.

Then it climbs up the other side. I had seen this fenced in piece of the bike path, which from the highway seems to come out of nowhere, and leads to places unseen, but I never knew it was a bike path. It was very exciting to actually be on it, as the cars sped by below us.

You can see the Peace Bridge right above the bikepath with the traffic already starting to back up as people wait to clear customs and get back into the USA. This is the view right after emerging from the tunnel that takes you under the highway.

This is above the highway. Again, after years of viewing all this from a car, it was quite thrilling to be here "in person".

This is the drawbridge that took us onto Squaw Island, through Broderick Park. There was a whole bus load of people where we should have rejoined the bikepath, so we traveled on the road through the park for a while. There was a curb, that appeared to be broken down enough to scoot over, but which was in fact just covered with grass, and now the left front wheel on the Alleweder is kind of bent from hitting it at high speed.

This is part of the bikepath on Squaw Island. You turn right, and go back out to Niagara street by the bridge in the distance. We had to take Niagara for two or three blocks till Hamilton, where we rejoined the bikepath once again.

This was a neat section. It shows how little space is really required to provide a safe cycling environment even in an urban setting. Around the corner from here we were presented with a transition that required egressing our vehicles to negotiate the sharp corner and railing.

The Versatile is a little easier to get in and out of than the Alleweder, because of the hatch, but it's also alot hotter inside, since only the top of my head sticks out.

After crossing Hertel Ave. we have " divided highway" for a bit. The concrete posts make the route easier to find, and as we get closer to Tonawanda there are no more sections on the road with cars. The route is also signed better the further you get North of Buffalo.

Soon we reached Vulcan Street, where the Buffalo section gives way to the Tonawanda section of the Riverwalk. The maps I had seen left me in doubt as to the transition, but there was no break in the route. It was very exciting to travel through the city on bike paths, and reminded me of The Netherlands at times. Over there, the whole country is linked with bikepaths (fietspadden) and there are twice as many bikes as cars. At intersections cyclists have their own traffic signals, and go before the cars. I have another blog that covers my trip over there to get Versatile #24: snapmobile.blogspot.com

It looked as though they were having a family picnic at the Chevy plant. While I tend to fixate on the riding surface, and the interesting turns it takes, Leah notices her surroundings more, and captured this colorful scene.......

While traffic was pretty light on the bikepath, we were not alone, and were able to get a curious cyclist to get this picture with both of us in our velomobiles.

This section, along River Road is pretty industrial in places, but still a nice ride.

Along the path in Tonawanda is a little piece of the original Erie Canal. We turned in to check it out, but other than a grassy parking area, the only thing to see was the sign.

I don't know how big a keg of whiskey is, but it sounds like quite an incentive to make the daily goal. Yesterday I spent alot of time researching the Erie Canal bikepath for future velomobile rides. ( As with mtn. biking, there's nothing better than new trails) I did learn that many of the workers on the canal ( called Clinton's Ditch back then ) were Irish.

We pedaled under the twin spans of the Grand Island bridge, and continued North another 2.5 miles on abeautiful section that paralels the shoreline of Grand Island. The area is called Isleview Park, and was the most heavily trafficed section of the bikepath.

Which is not to say that it was crowded. We stopped at Cousin Vinnie's in the middle of the trail, adjacent a cool wooden bridge, just before Veteran's Memorial Park, and enjoyed delicious barbequed pork sandwiches. Apparently we were too tired and hungry to take any pictures at the turn around point. Leah was willing to cross the bridge and go further, but I was already beat, and we had almost 15 miles to ride to get back to the car.

On the way back, Leah found The Eternal Fountain. It is located right in front of the Erie County Water Authority.

The ride back was hot. Even with my SPD sandals on my feet felt like they were on fire. It was pretty enough in places to make up for the pain. This shot shows Leah's view from within the Alleweder of me in my portable torture chamber as we approach the Peace Bridge.

It was cooler here, right next to the water. Leah had gotten alot of sun, so we only stopped where there was shade.

This section was much more fun on the return trip. The fenced in chute takes you downhill near the I-190, then makes a right turn to the tunnel beneath the roadway, and SHADE!! I enjoyed riding on bikepaths rather than streets. For some reason it just seems more fun. At the very end of the bikepath we met a couple of ladies looking for the start point, and one of them got this picture of Leah and myself before they headed to Tonawanda, and we headed through the city back to Tift Farms.

Being Saturday, the streets in Buffalo were almost as deserted as they had been in the morning. We were sore, tired, and hot, but had an excellent time. A bikepath through an urban area is every bit as enticing as a mtn. bike singletrack through the woods. Well, I guess singletrack is more fun, but the discovery of whatever lies aroun the next corner is still there, and the bikepath's separate co-existence with the roadway, especially in such an urban setting, is a testament as to what is possible.

The last picture is of the lake at Tift Farms, from the bikepath in front of it as we head to the parking lot, to load up and head home. I would recommend the riverwalk to Anyone. With the Versatile, it's easy to stay under the 15MPH posted speed limit, but that might be rather restrictive to an avid cyclist on a regular bike. Ofcourse traffic (even on a Sat.) was light, and I didn't notice any radar......so.....