I’ve often been accused of (and sometimes happily pled guilty to) being a Great Lakes bioregional chauvinist. But you still can take my word for it that the north shore of Lake Erie is one of the best chunks of creation, and one of the most pleasant parts of the “sweetwater seas.” And this is especially when you get out in the more remote stretches of road and beach – far from Fort Erie/Buffalo on one end and Windsor/Detroit on the other.

Note the precedence of the Canadian place names in the above. That’s only fair, since all of Erie’s N shore is within Canada, and also because I think that country as well as the Province of Ontario have generally done better by the lake than has the US, which peppered the S shore with more industry and fewer public parks than the lakeshore deserves. Of course, the US side is dominated by an industrial history long as your brawny arm: steel, autos, chemicals, alloys, you name it, in metro areas from Buffalo to Erie, Pa., to Cleveland and Sandusky and Toledo. By contrast, the Ontario shore is a string of small port communities, including Port Colborne at the S end on the Welland Canal, Nanticoke (home to that humongous coal-fired power plant that’s now pumping ozone our way during the heat wave), and Leamington (tomato capital of Canada, and just about the southernmost point of that eminently boreal nation).

Try Long Point Provincial Park when you get the time; it also could be justly be called Long Beach: a truly impressive stretch of bright sand littered with just enough driftwood to be decorative, and something resembling real surf when the wind’s up, as it generally is. The day we were there was refreshingly chilly at waterside; I spent an hour snoozing under some weather-stunted trees that provided just enough shade to keep me from getting cooked under the strong sun. I was a wimp about getting all the way into the cold water – what happened to shallow Lake Erie’s reputation for warming up quickly? Must have been one of those wave-driven temperature inversions.

The region’s got history and social issues, too: my obsessions, in other words, the stuff that always keeps me from having an unalloyed good time. But anyway: legendary liberal Keynesian economist John Kenneth Galbraith grew up in Iona Center, an Essex County hamlet just a stone’s throw from our route. And today, the excesses of globalized capitalism that JKG warned of (and that his son Jamie, of the U of Texas, warns of even more strongly and radically today) have brought many no-doubt-underpaid Latin American workers to the greenhouses that now provide Canada with cheap tomatoes and flowers, etc. Turns out Leamington, a lot closer to post-industrial Detroit that Iona Center ON in more ways than one, has Canada’s highest density of Latinos; we saw many obviously low-income workers getting around the rural roads and village streets by bike. We should have connected more directly with them in a gesture of solidarity, I suppose. But we were perhaps too fixated on heading west for the start of the Social Forum. Such are the contradictions…

July 1, Canada Day – the beginning of the crossborder holiday madness, what with July 4 in the offing stateside. Liz and I and our friends in Waterloo ON are headed for Niagara Falls this morning for a picnic and a farewell as the two of us bike somewhere over the Rainbow Bridge toward the Land of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. But it will be good to get home again after two weeks on the road.

My mind is still back in Detroit. Somehow I got more out of the Tent City experience there of solidarity amidst the urban decay-slash-renaissance. Official Detroit is American capitalism writ small – and the smallness is moral as well as geographical. The city has been left to Smith’s invisible hand pretty much, though I’m persuaded after my Michigan visit that, just as Joe Stiglitz says, the hand isn’t invisible, it’s not there at all. The “surplus populations” of the US are being left to rot, and you can see real live human evidence of this every morning, afternoon and night along Woodward and other downtown Detroit arterials.

Case in point: We were having breakfast in a greasy spoon one morning when a woman came by, obviously mentally ill, and took off practically all her clothes, uttered some curses to persons unseen, dressed herself again and went about picking up litter along the sidewalk. When a crew from the restaurant pushed a loaded coffee cart out the front door, probably heading to some catering gig, the woman approached them. In a short drama we watched from inside the place, a drama that obviously has gone through many rehearsals, the guy pushing the cart drove the woman away by spritzing her on the face with what I hope was only water. In a civilized country, women in such distress get real social services that keep them from being “refreshed” in such a manner. Maybe our nation will someday be civilized. But the way things are going, don’t hold your breath (or do hold your breath as you get spritzed politically).

In my next post – after I can mentally break away from the contradictions and conundrums of Detroit – I’ll jump to our biking experience in Southwestern Ontario, specifically the route from Sarnia to Stratford and beyond.

Walt Whitman famously wrote of “Blue Ontario’s shore” and just as famously never saw that lake outside of his endlessly colorful imagination – but by the goddess, he should have been biking with us along true-blue Erie’s shore. I’ve never seen the second smallest (in surface area) of the Great Lakes in better hue. It’s a testament to the success of the clean-water laws and programs that were inspired by Lake Erie’s moribund condition forty years ago (some say it was actually dead, except for algae, etc.) and sideshows like the combustion of one of the lake’s most infamous tributaries, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland.

It’s not just the blue water, though, that makes for beauty. The shoreline between Fort Erie and Point Pelee is verdant, slightly rolling (unlike the back country here, which is quite flat), and festooned with new wineries, apparently prosperous small farms, and patches of hardwoods. hardwoods, including deep-rooted old oaks, were taken down by microbursts and tornadoes recently; the towns around Leamington are still dealing with cleanup, and it’s remarkable how selective the wild winds were: you’ll see a few acres of trees devastated, and acreage nearby almost untouched – hardly a twig torn off.

There are far too many lakeside cottages cluttering up the fringes of beach, but still enough openings to preserve the viewscape, that sometimes underappreciated part of the public domain. Speaking of views, Ontario and regional municipalities here have been installing wind farms at a rapid pace. Parts of the region reminded me on northern Germany, with white-shafted and _bladed windmills dominating the skyline. They look a lot better here than they do, say, in the hilly Southern Tier (NYS) town of Cohocton, where they seem like vertical insults on the ridgelines, and banks of intrusive red warning lights at night. (You might have guessed my support for wind development is qualified.)

One thing’s beyond debate: the Ontario windmills should presage the long-awaited shutdown of coal-fired electric plants like the one at Nanticoke, a major source of ground-level ozone, etc., that plagues a wide swath of points east, including Toronto, Buffalo, Rochester, and the rural areas between. I seem to recall that Toronto now gets more than 100 ozone alert days per year, thanks not just to Nanticoke, but to other obsolete, poisonous coal plants like Huntley in Tonawanda and the Dunkirk plant on Erie’s south shore. So the US is doing its part, too!

Nanticoke is also ugly as sin. What a contrast it makes with so many other features of the north shore.

Next post: I’ll finally get to the US Social Forum and its biking connections – not to mention the eminently bikeable city of Detroit and its eco-transportation potential.

-Jack

I was so busy sweating and churning (aka pedaling) that I neglected to report daily or even weekly on our BikeIt group’s westward progress. But here it is in a bunch of nutshells.
If you haven’t ridden the canal trail from Rochester to Lockport, do it asap. 70 miles of absolute flat – not even a lock to break up the elevation – but great for cruising, unless you hit a big headwind. (Way out west they call the wind Mariah; in Western New York, we call it lots of other names, unless it’s at our back.) The group had a couple flats, but generally it was an easy go. I bypassed the beautiful, historic Lockport high locks, but after 70 miles I was ready to get to pt. B as fast as possible. We took Bear Ridge Rd. down to Tonawanda Ck. Rd. N., where I checked out my Uncle Ed and Aunt Eleanor’s old place (childhood memories aplenty) and told Liz a bit of family lore as we rode. Then came the Buffalo Riverwalk, starting in the city of Tonawanda – about 12 miles along the great Niagara River (some call it a strait, but never mind) to the Queen City. The next day we crossed the Peace Bridge with minimal bureaucratic delay, then found the lakeside trail that leads west from Fort Erie – natural bliss again, though I have to emphasize my love for Buffalo and its bikeability.
More later…

Here I am a at usual destination on a Spula-style bike-trip: a bar. Yes, sipping a pint of local pale ale lubricates the blogging process better than teflon oil does a drivetrain. The bar, as luck would have it, is around the corner from the BiketIt tent city, and folks here are very positive about the Social Forum, and attitude not universally reflected in the local media (the ironically-named Detroit Free Press recently published an extended insult by some local columnist, who referred to, among other things, the aromatic quality of Social Forum participants – and he wasn’t talking about Chanel No. 5. But the low-income neighbors here off Woodward, the main arterial, are more welcoming; I’ve had several good conversations at the fence with folks who are trying to weather the economic storms that have hit southern Michigan especially hard. Today is check-in day the Forum itself – I realize now I don’t have the right armband to get back into Tent City tonight – so I gotta rush down to the extravagantly capacious Cobo Center and get my credentials. The tent city is definitely a work in progress: showers going in (solar, of course), more tents going up on plots reclaimed by mulch infill. Quite a project – and even the Detroit MSM are taking notice! More later, Rocbikers… The Forum officially kicks off in an hour or so, and I’ve still gotta find a shower and a clean shirt.
-Jack, from Motor City

That’s the updated version of the old Erie Canal song text: today most of the traffic is bikers, walkers, etc. on the towpath. And among the bikers yesterday was our stalwart BikeIt crew, headed to Buffalo via Lockport (and soon on to Detroit). It was great getting to know this energetic crew from Ithaca, Binghamton, and other Upstate locales – though as usual, I’ve been slow in learning everybody’s name. There are old folks like me, a couple of pre-teens, and a large group in between, and different levels of experience on a bike, to match. We did get strung our along the 90-mile route we chose (I mean strung out geographically, not emotionally), but the ride, under the capable facilitatorship of Claire Stoscheck, kept together pretty well. Luckily, the infamous west wind, which of ten makes the westernportion of the canal trail a challenge if you’re going in the “wrong” direction, was gentle yesterday, though the sun was strong. I was hoping to see much wildlife, but not a single water snake or migrating snapping turtle crosse my path. Nary a heron – but lots on Canada geese – and two chipmunks. Maybe other riders had more good fortune in this department. We had pleasant stops, too, for snacks and conversations with support vehicle drivers. Just flat tires – one of them mine. I stopped in Tonawanda at Dick’s bike shop (not to be confused with megastore of similar name) and got a replacement tire before the next flat could arrive. Lesson to all- make sure your wheels and tires are in mint condition before you leave on a 400-miler. Well, more later… We’re working with the Massachusetts Ave. Project in the city of Buffalo today (check them out online), then off to the Peace Bridge and beyond tomorrow. Here I can take the opportunity, too, to thank my brother Richard, who lives very strategically near the bridge entrance – great to be cloase to family members (emotionally as well as geographically)!

Dear RocBike and friends: I’ve been away from the site for so long, you must think I was uploaded to a UFO. Well, that’s close; I’ve had some health issues to contend with, but those are now under control pretty much. More to the point, I’ve got an announcement: Liz and I and hopefully thousands of others are biking to Detroit next week in prep for the US Social Forum to be held there the following week. Liz and I will be joining a group that’s starting in Ithaca and eventually will be among the proud residents of a massive Bike Tent City in the erstwhile Motor City – and hopefully will be plugged into many an interesting event. I plan to concentrate on – cue the drums, please – bike transportation. Anyway, I’ll also be blogging (and posting to rocbike) as we make our way to Buffalo and across the Ontario Panhandle to Windsor and Detroit and (somehow) back. Hope the posts will be edifying, etc., etc. See y’all online very soon. And check out BikeIt.org as well as the USSF site for details – or maybe you’ve already done so (as I said, I’ve been UFO’ing more than surfing the last months). Take care!
-Jack

I’m now securely in “Old Guy” mode, ready to brag about the longevity of my beautiful old steed, the Miyata 618 tourer, circa 1988. Roger Levy at Freewheelers is getting hold of some fine replacement wheels that soon will grace the Miyata – and get me ready for a planned tour through NE Pennsylvania and Downstate NY (i.e. big hill country). The wheels now on the bike are 20 and 23 years old, respectively, and they’ve experienced too many ruts, potholes and cobblestones to recall, and without a broken spoke or rim, but not without a repairable dent or two. Still, I don’t feel confident enough that they’d hold up for another long, remote ride, so I’m shelling out for some nice lighter-weight newbies: 36-hole Alex rims with Quando hubs, etc. But actually, though all wheels are mortal, 20 years is only early middle age for a decent bike. It’s easy to forget, especially as one is bombarded with ads for the latest and greatest techno development (or more often, marketing ploy), just how good the touring bikes of the 1980s were – and remain. I’ve test-ridden some really fancy uprights and recumbents of recent vintage, but none is more pleasant and efficient than the ole 618, all things considered (especially real-world pavement conditions). It pays to stick with a good thing. But hey, if anybody wants to donate a Surly or Cannondale or Trek or Fuji or Rivendell tourer, etc., to yours truly, I won’t bar the door. One can’t have too many examples of this design, probably the best all-round bike configuration of our era.

Sometimes the explosion of interest in bicycling actually saddens me. How so? How can a fanatic two-wheel advocate and activist feel or say anything negative about our beloved mode of transport, which is exceeded in holiness only by the canoe (only one moving part – and it doesn’t get any better than that)? Well, consider what many of our local brethren and sistren, as the late Molly Ivins would have called them, are up to.

An organized group of off-road cyclists, the product of years of passionate but disorganized efforts, seems determined to open a couple, and perhaps eventually all of the Monroe County Parks trails to “shared use” by mountain bikers. A draft Master Plan regarding the county parks around the rim of Irondequoit Bay is rapidly moving toward adoption – so rapidly as to arouse suspicions of insider influence. Among other things, the plan would legalize mountain biking, within stated limits, in Tryon and Irondequoit Bay West parks. I say “legalize” rather than “introduce” because rogue cyclists long ago invaded these and other county parks. I regularly see these “enthusiasts” in Highland, the most urban park in the system, where I’ve come close to being run over by off-trail slalom freaks. And just last week, on one of my regular strolls there, I paused to tamp down a gash left in the wet soil of the Pinetum by a lugged tire powered by some Lug Nut. And as for Tryon Park – why, to hike there is to enter a laboratory of off-road-bike-wrought destruction.

Well, my purpose here isn’t to rant, though a little bit of that feels mighty good. No, I want to enlist bicyclists of conscience in an environmentalist campaign to limit mountain biking in the parks, preserve the fragile park habitats and ambience, and prevent unpleasant or even dangerous interactions of hikers and bikers on narrow trails. Bikes are vehicles, and they’re not appropriate “sharers” of walking trails, even on durable soils. It should be possible to create special-use areas on appropriate sites (newly purchased parklands, anyone?) for mountain bikes, but that’s not what the Master Plan is focused on, nor is that what the off-roaders seem to desire. In any case, the county may take irreversible, or at least difficult-to-reverse, action on the plan very soon. So get plugged in, and let me know if you need more information. For starters, read the letter below, then check out the environmentalist website www.parkspreservation.org, which has considerable background material and a link to the text of the Master Plan. Thanks to all.

March 13, 2009
TO: Hon. Maggie Brooks, County Executive, et al.
RE: Ellison Park Area Master Plan Update

Dear County Executive:

The thirteen undersigned organizations find the draft Master Plan for parkland around Irondequoit Bay to be unacceptable. The proposed Master Plan does not represent the interests of the residents and park users of Monroe County, but instead, the interests of a small, vocal user group. It does not meet its stated goals of conservation and sustainability. In short: mountain biking does not belong on existing, often narrow and winding, park trails.

Please consider:

• A ban on off-road bicycles was written into our park code for good reasons that remain valid today. It was based on concerns for the safety of the public, and the care of our environment. Political winds should not compromise proper park stewardship.
• Safety is a major concern. Trail walkers must not be placed in harm’s way by cyclists traveling on the same narrow dirt trail. The experience of walkers is greatly diminished if they must be looking over their shoulders for oncoming cyclists. “Shared use” is a myth on existing, narrow park trails.
• Numerous public statements have been made, and letters written, both from individuals and prominent environmental organizations, that express serious concerns about opening our parks to cyclists. The draft Master Plan ignores these concerns.
• The Master Plan states, “public comment indicated that this [shared use trails in Tryon Park] is something that is highly desired by the community.” This is a misrepresentation of the public comments. The comments of members of the undersigned organizations, representing some 6000 citizens, indicate a lack of support for shared use on existing park trails. A single, small special interest group of mountain bikers does not represent the community, or most park users.
• There were major, unacceptable changes introduced in the Master Plan presented to the Parks Advisory Committee (PAC) in February 2009, despite representations by the Parks Director and Consultant at the January 2009 PAC meeting that there would be no substantial change to the preliminary recommendations.
• These major changes included the use of existing trails in Tryon rather than carefully designed sustainable trails, the addition of a second park (Bay Park West) for mountain biking, and proposed shared use trail loops in the Ellison Wetlands.
• We are concerned about environmental impacts caused by cycling on steep, erodible trails. Simply allowing use on existing trails without considering impacts is not good stewardship.
• With the many miles of recently constructed multi-use trails (Genesee Riverway, Genesee Valley Greenway, Lehigh Valley, etc) there are ample bike paths in the county to help cyclists stay healthy. The county park trails are a unique domain without faster traffic where walkers can safely do the same. To claim that mountain biking on park trails is necessary to stem the epidemic of childhood obesity is to distort the facts.

All the above concerns cause us to ask: Is there an unstated agenda to open all trails for shared use in the Ellison Park Complex? Will Ellison Park Complex be the first falling domino in the county park system, as we open each park to off-road cycling? That is the stated goal of the mountain biking organization.

This is a cause for alarm for all park users, for all of us who cherish our parks as one of our County’s greatest resources, and pay for them with our taxes.

Finally, the master planning process has not been inclusive. We recommend that a citizen participation group comprised of diverse representative user group organizations work with the consultant and Parks officials in order to contribute ideas and review and discuss each successive draft in the process.

We urge our County Executive and our Legislators to continue to be proper park stewards and to resist the political pressures so that we, our children and grandchildren will be able to have access to safe, environmentally sound, park trails. We urge you to reject this draft Master Plan at this time – there are too many important issues that must first be addressed.

Respectfully submitted,

Burroughs Audubon Nature Club, Center for Sustainable Living, Federation of Monroe County Environmentalists, Genesee Valley Audubon Society, Genesee Valley Hiking Club, Living in Harmony, People for Parks, Rochester Area Mycological Association, Rochester Birding Association, Rochester Butterfly Club, Sierra Club (Rochester Regional Group), League of Women Voters (Rochester Metropolitan Area), Wednesday Hikers

People tell me I’m nuts when I say I look for black ice to ride on with my studded tires. But it makes perfect sense, in a kind of loony way. The studs grip the ice perfectly – though you still; have to ride conservatively, especially when descending a steep hill or taking a hard turn. But smooth ice provides a very quiet, pleasant ride, one made more pleasant by the fact that the motor vehicles are either going more slowly than usual or staying off the streets altogether. There’s a rub, of course, or actually a harder form of potential contact: cars and trucks slippin’ and slidin’ and maybe plowin’ into you. So make sure you give them lots of space. Even get up over the curb, if necessary, until the coast is clear.

And while you’re standing there in the snowbank, pause to pity the poor pedestrian. I keep telling people not to shower sympathy on winter cyclists but on the winter walkers who have to negotiate unshovelled sidewalks and perilous mini-glaciers at many corners. Residents, homeowners and businesses mostly do a lousy job of clearing their walks, and the municipalities do an even lousier job of educating and policing. It should be obvious that many folks become in effect housebound by the conditions. And many others struggle: the other day in my neighborhood, I saw a young woman trying to push a double kid stroller over a mass of crusty snow between her and a crosswalk. Amundsen never had it so bad. And I frequently see people operating wheelchairs in the street because the walks are impassable. I think we bikers need to organize some kind of solidarity with our transportation cousins. I guess we can always call City Hall… and then wait for spring like everybody else.