This week, we’ve got a contributing writer, Kelsey Hanks! She’s a lover of all things Buffalo and WNY, especially by bike, and would like to remind you that the weather we have left shouldn’t be wasted!
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The snow is fast approaching… is it here? After a couple of crunchy leaves non-jacket wearing, crisp-but-almost-too-crisp, above all – pumpkin spice latte threatening – days, it seems winter is just around the corner. And after the shitsnowstorms we witnessed last year, we must soak up all that our potentially short and sweet autumn has to offer.
Hit those farmers markets while you can. Roam whichever festivals are left – But for the love of Peter Griffin, just get outside.
The days of walking hand in hand down Grant Street (buzzy neighborhood alert!) to toss your weekly Guercio’s (product placement!) produce in a basket slung under your arm are nearly behind us. In a few short weeks, that basket is going to be skating across an icy intersection as you tiptoe gingerly behind it, searching for the nearest support group telephone pole to grip in a “Hey, what’s that flyer advertising?” way, but really an – impending slip into oncoming traffic and which limb am I going to break this time – kind of way.
We shouldn’t can’t all bike in the snow. That’s borderline absurd. But we CAN savor what’s left of this season by hopping on two wheels and exploring routes that take us from point A to point B on a tour of another great summer for development – buildings, districts, and the bike-laned roads in between.
Richmond / Porter / La Salle Park / Canalside / Ohio Street / Outer Harbor (and the Botanical Gardens):
• Begin riding south on Richmond; bear right at Symphony Circle to repaved/biked laned Porter Avenue
• Cross over the 190
• Follow the bike path through LaSalle Park
• Follow the water. At the end of the park, the path continues through a residential area on Lakefront Boulevard. Again, follow the direction of the water until you reach Canalside
• Take a R before hitting HarborCenter. Follow the train tracks. You’ll see the old NFTA Metro Station straight ahead. Continue on the bike path behind the train station and emerge at the Edward M. Cotter Fireboat
• Go past the Swannie House and take recently repaved Ohio Street to the Outer Harbor, intersection at Furhmann Boulevard/Dug’s Dive
Option 1 – shorter route
• Take a R at Dug’s Dive and follow the path. There will be several parks to explore on your right, including Wilkenson Point and Times Beach
• At the very end there you’ll find the marina and new Queen City Bike Ferry
• Head back towards Dug’s Dive, then exit Fuhrmann Boulevard. Take a L on Ohio Street again, but this time take another L on Ganson Street
• Pass Riverworks, General Mills, etc. and take a R on South Michigan Ave.
• Take a left at the Swannie House by the Edward M. Cotter Fireboat, and go back the way you came
Option 2 – much longer route!
• Take a L at Dug’s Dive and follow the path. You’ll pass the entrance for Tifft Nature Preserve (no bikes allowed)
• Take a L on Tifft Street, and go over the bridge before taking a R onto Hopkins Street
• Take a L on Reading Avenue, then a R onto South Park Avenue
• Take South Park to the Botanical Gardens and ride through South Park itself
• Exit on South Park Avenue – and take it all the way back to Canalside, Richmond, etc.
