Bishop Bike Adventure Day 54 August 23, 2010

After our one evening in Niagara Falls, it was time to go back to the States, but not before we rode by some more interesting features in the Niagara Falls region. Here is another shot of the Falls, taken this morning. The American Falls are most prominent in this shot, with the left side of the Canadian, or Horseshoe Falls, on the right side of the picture. You’ll also note the heavily overcast skies. The weather was downright raw, prompting a change in biking apparel.

On our way out of town, we rode through the Clifton Hill area, which offers the tourist an excessive dose of quick entertainment, competing for their every last dollar. I think you’ll get the picture, to the right. Further north on the Canadian side, we passed by the Whirlpool, which offers tourists a ride across the gorge in an aerial cable car dubbed the “aero car” or a ride across the rapids in a jet boat, shown below. Yet further north, as we approached the border crossing at Queenston, a power company many years ago created a “floral clock,” which is maintained today by the Niagara Parks Botantical Gardens. The Gardens are located on this stretch as well.

After passing through the attractions, we were then challenged to find the bicycle access to cross the border. After a few extra (and unnecessary) miles, we talked to the Canadian Toll Captain at the Canadian customs house and he told us to simply ride our bikes between the cars until we reached the guard stations on the U.S. side. There were many people waiting in line to cross into the U.S., perhaps 5 lanes of vehicles a half mile long, yet he told us that they may honk and yell at us, but just to ignore them. And so we did just that, but were treated well. It was fun passing through all of the vehicles on our way to the front. Once there, clearing U.S. customs was very straightforward.

Once on the American side, we now concentrated on getting some miles knocked out. We faced a stiff headwind out of the east with continually overcast skies. As we spoke with various people, we learned that we had averted much rain earlier in the day. We arrived at Friendly’s in Lockport for an early evening meal and a warm-up. The picture to the left tells the story of the day. As dark clouds persisted around us, we found ourselves heading toward brightness in the east. We had been spared rain again today while it had downpoured earlier in the day in many of the areas that we visited .

The bike map now sends us along the Erie Canalway Trail. The canal is no longer commercially viable, but is maintained by the State of New York as part of the culture and tourism attraction of the area. There is a path that runs along the canal that is commonly used for bicycles. Although we did not use it today due to a late day dash for the motel, we will no doubt use it in the days to come. Pictured here is a lock of the canal in Lockport.