6 Mile Ride Along the Genesee Riverway
Sunday, June 24, 2007
official site for Genesee Riverway
map of the Genesee Riverway (1.5 MB PDF)
Sunday, June 24, 2007
official site for Genesee Riverway
map of the Genesee Riverway (1.5 MB PDF)
Once the race was over and I'd rehydrated a bit, Ann and I walked out on the Ontario Beach Park jetty - a long walk, almost a mile out and back! While we were there we saw a number of boats go in and out of the harbor... no great surprise, it looked to be a pretty busy day on the lake.
After that, we broke out the bikes and headed for the Genesee Riverway. The best part of the ride was when we got to the boardwalk and Turning Point Park. Apparently Turning Point is has a double meaning - it signifies both that the particular area in the river is where large boats used to turn around before reaching the first of the Genesee River waterfalls, and it also refers to a point in the 1970's when local residents fought a plan by the Port Authority to build an oil storage facility on the site, resulting in the city eventually buying the land and turning it into a park. (Rich & Sue Freeman, Take Your Bike, 2003... see http://www.footprintpress.com/ for more info, as usual!)
As I already mentioned in my race report, the boardwalk through the Turning Point marsh is an incredible addition to the area. We actually dismounted and walked much of it, just so we wouldn't miss any of the flora and fauna. Two swans with a white fuzzy cygnet swam toward the boardwalk; I suspect they're used to getting food from people. Further out in the river was a heron, and red-wing blackbirds were all around us in the reeds and marsh grasses. Further along the walkway, the plants growing in the water were thicker, and we started to see turtles. Many, many turtles... some as big as my hand, all the way down to some about the size of a silver dollar. Sunning themselves, eating... painted turtles everywhere. Don't think I've ever seen so many in one place at a time!
After that we headed up the short, steep hill and then followed the path out to Lake Ave... uphill much of the way, though most of it gradual. Faced with a long ride down the sidewalk along a busy street, we opted to head back - a ride made much easier by the fact that we were heading downhill now! At the point where the path splits, we headed down the gradual downhill, the same as when I ran the race. I had hoped to get some pictures up and down the river from the boat tie-ups, but the paths out to each were lined with too much poison ivy for me to risk it, so instead we headed back to the boardwalk and once again took our time, enjoying looking at the birds and turtles and even a couple of very large fish (we'd seen them jumping earlier, but this time we could actually see the fish in the shallow water.)
From there we climbed back up the hill from the boardwalk and had an uneventful ride back to the park. Packed up the bikes, changed clothes yet again, and grabbed some overpriced but quite delicious steak sandwiches, then spent a while walking along the beach (OK, along the boardwalk and out onto the beach at a spot where it was only occupied by a large number of gulls!) before calling it a day and heading home.
JMH
