Buffalo By Bike

The first night we spent in our trailer in Fort Erie was quiet and calm, NOT! All hell broke loose. There was a thunderstorm that was so close that our whole house shook and our neighbor's car alarm activated in the middle of the night. It lasted pretty much the whole night! I don't mind a little thunder now and then but that was like being in the spin cycle of a washing machine with a stroboscopic light going crazy... just not that comfortable when you are in a home with walls no thicker than a butterfly wings.

The morning after, there were a few puddles but the sun came up and with it; the promise of a gorgeous day.

We decided to go to Buffalo on our bikes. This was not even on my radar, all I knew about Buffalo was it's the home of the Buffalo Sabres. We parked the truck in the same park as the previous day, got the bikes off the rack and pedaled toward the bridge. On the bridge, we were not allowed to ride our bikes so we walked them all the way to the U.S. of A.

At the border, we were greeted by a US Custom and Border agent who spoke French. This was the first time ever that we crossed over to the States and encountered a French speaking agent! It was quite a surprise as we were not even close to Quebec. After making sure we didn't have $10,000 on us and inquiring about the purpose of our trip, he opened the gate and we were in the States. Speaking of US customs, lately, the agents ask us a funny question: “Do you have alcohol?” Why would any one bring alcohol to the US is beyond me! For example a bottle of wine we pay $13 in our overtaxed country is $5 in the States... but being polite and not wanting any problem, I try to keep a straight face and always say NO without showing any sarcasm, but this is testing me pretty bad, I'm telling you!

We didn't have a clue where to go so we biked toward the river and lucky for us we found a bike path. It was a lovely ride, we ended up just beside where the Sabres play. It's summer so there was no hockey game going on but now that I’ve seen where they play, if I'm ever in hockey withdrawal and we are near Buffalo, I’ll know where to go!

After a few hours of biking, we turned back and biked downtown Buffalo (which is uphill, trust me on this, you notice this when on a bike). Other than the bike path by the river, Buffalo was not bike friendly, we often were on the sidewalk. But we were not in a rushed so we took our time and stayed safe.

We stopped at a pizzeria for lunch, it was pretty good. I would have preferred to try a brewery but when we saw one it was too early and then we couldn't find another one later on. Didn't see a place with Buffalo Wings either... just thought I’d mention that!

Surprisingly, we easily found our way to the border. We de-embarked from our bikes to cross the bridge again. We were not too sure where we were supposed to cross the Canadian border with our bikes. We found a marked path for pedestrian and bikers and then ended up right where all the cars were lined up at the custom booths. There were no more indication for pedestrians and bikers lanes. I looked around and tried to find a gate but there was none. I approached one of the booth and the agent told me to use any of the other booths further down.

So we had to use a car lane. We waited and as soon as a car left we walked to the agent, cutting in the line. I was not about to walk back and wait behind cars. The agent was courteous and kept us there for a while talking about biking in Buffalo, meanwhile there were cars waiting behind us but the agent seemed to enjoy himself so why not let him. We had nothing to declare! He asked us where we were staying? Why did he care? We are citizens, we could live underneath a bridge, he had to let us back in, right?

Peace Bridge