Day 31 - June 10, 2023. Hamburg, NY - Niagara Falls, NY

The smoke and cool temps of the last few days are in the rear-view mirror.  Nice day ahead.  And - people were keen to get going.  I came out at the appointed time for snack table and the only people left in the parking lot were those who were riding in the van to the border.  There were about 8 to 10 of them; they didn't want to have to negotiate Buffalo traffic.  

The navigation was actually quite easy, although some of the roads were a bit rough and the Shoreline Trail was in deplorable shape.  It was pretty much all Buffalo suburbs until we hit the city itself.  It was a much more pleasant route coming out of Hamburg than it was going in yesterday.  

Some fun metal works on display.

We rode past the Buffalo Naval Park, and I had to investigate.

Along the dreadful Shoreline Trail.

And the Peace Bridge to Fort Erie comes into view.

Canadian soil!  So good to be here, if only for the day.

Looking back at downtown Buffalo.

Getting through customs was a breeze.  Pedestrians and cyclists go to the front of the line.  Easy peasy.  Even Tina (who lost her passport on the ride this morning) got through easily.

  

We got onto the "Niagara Recreation Trail" in Fort Erie and rode that into Niagara Falls.  From years ago, I remember this as a pretty poor trail.  Not much has changed!  It's a mixture of service roads and paved (a long time ago) paths.  Some people just rode on the road, and that was probably a better option.  Nice scenery, though.  Niagara River on the right and beautiful homes on the left.  A few points of interest along the way too.  

Coming into Niagara Falls - the water becomes more turbulent.

Looks like the Ride to Conquer Cancer was through here recently.

And finally.............  The Falls.

Some of the folks hustled in to town to take the Maid of the Mist boat tour.  Blue ponchos - American side.  Red ponchos - Canadian side.

Over the Rainbow Bridge to the US again.  Seems silly to do another border crossing, but WT claim they couldn't get lodging on the Canadian side.  Don't think they looked too hard.  But - the upside is that I've never seen the Falls from the US side before .  I took a look at them from Prospect Point and from Terrapin Point (Canadian Falls) on Goat Island.

After a big ice cream, I made my way to the hotel where we had a speaker from the Niagara Falls UGRR museum.  Some of our folks hustled into town to go and visit the museum.  I chose to linger along the parkway and at the Falls.

Great day.  Final day tomorrow.................

Several more WT people at dinner tonight.  Not sure who they were or why they were there.

Niagara Falls, New York

Population 48,671 (2020).  The median household income in 2000 was $26,800, with 23% of the population living below the poverty line.  In the 18th and 19th centuries, scientists and businessmen began harnessing the power of the Niagara River for electricity and the city began to attract manufacturers and other businesses drawn by the promise of inexpensive hydroelectric power.  After the 1960s, however, the city and region witnessed an economic decline.  Consistent with the rest of the Rust Belt as industries left the city, old line affluent families relocated to nearby suburbs and out of town.  Despite the decline in heavy industry, Niagara Falls State Park and the downtown area closest to the falls continue to thrive as a result of tourism.  The population, however, has continued to decline from a peak of 102,394 in the 1960s due to the loss of manufacturing jobs in the area. 

Stats for the day:

Distance:  80.9 km / 50.3 miles

Elevation (Garmin):  316m up / 383m down.  1038' up / 1257' down.

Elevation (RWGPS):  355m up / 414m down.  1164' up / 1358' down.

Weather:  16C - 25C.  Beautiful day although a bit of a headwind.  But - I wasn't in any hurry to get anywhere.