Bike Trails Spur Tourism

I read an editorial today advocating building bike trails to spur tourism. The commentary mentioned that hundreds of bicyclists visit the small Pennsylvania town of Jim Thorpe because it's on a great rail trail and that the same could apply to Buffalo, New York. Since I've been on a bike tour that accidentally included Buffalo, I decided to share my experiences bicycling through Buffalo. Here's what I had to say.

I'm writing in regards to your editorial in today's Buffalo News titled "Bicycles can put Buffalo on tourism path". I do a lot of long distance bike trips; here are some comments regarding a bike tour I did that included Buffalo.

Several years ago, I flew from New Orleans to Buffalo for the weekend to ride the Erie Canal Towpath from Fairport to Niagara Falls and on into Ontario. On the second day of the tour, my riding buddy had a mechanical failure between Lockport & Tonawanda. The nearest bike shop was in Buffalo so we rented a van taxi to the bikeshop and spent several hours awaiting the completion of the repair.

Once we were ready to ride again, we decided to continue riding to the falls directly from the bikeshop. We biked through pleasant residential neighborhoods and 2 beautiful parks but ended up on a nerve wracking stretch of highway with no shoulder and heavy traffic. Twice, cars passed us with inches to spare, zipping by far faster than the posted 45 mph speed limit. The highway led us through a desolate industrial area which was also a bit unnerving; however, we did make Niagara Falls without incident.

Not including airfare, the taxi ride to the bikeshop or the cost of repairs, we easily spent $175-200/day on this trip. We did not stay in Buffalo but would have, provided that Buffalo had better bike trails.

For a great example of a bike tour friendly city, try Portland, Oregon. Their airport has a bike trail that starts right at the terminal. For some bicyclists, there's no better way to begin a bike trip than to unload the bike from the suitcase & go. I've done this on trips to a variety of cities including New York, London & Paris.

Take it from me; done right, bike trails are tourism gold.

Respectfully,
Larry Lagarde
RideTHISbike.com
Urging bicycling for recreation, commuting, health and a better future.