Over the River LXIV
July 15, 2023
Highlights and lowlights from my 64th two-wheeled trek to the Great State of New York:
1. Someone at the downtown terminal must have been feeling blue . . .
2. Underneath the red paint used to be a mural with the slogan, “Harm Reduction Saves Lives.” Maybe someone finally figured out that getting junkies off the stuff saves even more lives.
3. Waiting nearby at the downtown terminal was a guy dressed up as a woman, complete with a black frilly skirt, purple hair and tattoos around his ankles. I also noticed that he was toting a bag from Niagara College. But I didn’t figure him to be a student there since he was a Caucasian. Nothing against people of different backgrounds, in my many bus trips, I don’t remember the last time I saw a Caucasian there.
4. Before my regional bus came, someone driving a van from St. Catharines Transit drove by and asked if anyone was looking for the shuttle to the GO train. Uh, did I miss the announcement of a new service? Or is it another case of “You’re just supposed to know?”
5. Sitting close to the front, I was able to hear the driver’s radio and noted with interest when another regional transit driver called into dispatch to say someone skipped out on the fare, using the excuse that the technology on his/her phone wasn’t working. In the nearly nine years I’ve been in this part of the world, I could count the number of fare evaders I’ve seen on both sides of the river on the fingers of one hand, yet in the Old Country, it would be easier to count the number who actually do pay.
6. They’re still out for the kill at the Niagara Falls (NY) Public Library. And they want your children too.
7. King J.O.B. is right about one thing. When you’re on Main Street in Niagara Falls, you need to keep going.
8. Yet so few did over the past three-plus years . . .
9. Dear NYS Parks: This just isn’t a thing anymore.
10. Video walkthroughs of the Lewiston Waterfront and along Center Street:
11. The lack of bike racks at Lewiston Landing and on Center Street was palpable. This in spite of the new trail which follows the Robert Moses State Parkway Niagara Scenic Parkway linking Lewiston to Devil’s Hole State Park.
12. Though there were no other cyclists in town, there were plenty of motorists who drove to Lewiston. The coffee shops I passed by at 9:30 on a weekday morning were packed. I didn’t get why. It wasn’t as though there was something special going on, like the Fourth of July.
13. If the mud ain’t flyin’, you ain’t tryin’ . . .
14. The sign on Center Street not far from the Tops welcoming visitors to “Historic Lewiston” was gone. Perhaps Lewiston is no longer considered historic.
15. Scenes at the Power Vista, the last one coming from the observation deck . . .
16. As loyal readers are well aware, having a politician’s name on signs like this is another pet peeve of mine. I passed by three state parks on the day and the governor’s name was on each one of them. Even in Canada Ostdeutschland, you don’t see People’s Commissar Ford’s name on the sign outside provincial parks.
17. Looking down the river from Devil’s Hole State Park:
18. On my way back from Lewiston, I took the brand new trail between Findlay Drive and the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center where the Robert Moses State Parkway Niagara Scenic Parkway once ran. There is one side for cyclists, the other for pedestrians, and plenty of benches. It’s hard to believe the ’hood is just a stone’s throw away.
19. At the entrance to Niagara Falls State Park was a black kid on a bike using his phone as a mirror to check his hair.
20. In what had to be the oddest sighting of the day, I passed by a group of black and Chinese nuns in the state park.
21. In the state park was a guy wearing a T-shirt with the message, “I didn’t mean to offend you. It was just a bonus.”
22. Duh. I never thought I would get wet walking alongside a major waterfall.
23. Don’t rummage through the “recepticles” . . .
24. No cash accepted at the state park. But then again, looking at the exorbitant prices, they’re probably doing you a favor by being so bloody obnoxious.
25. Despite my disdain for all things NFL, the sports historian in me appreciated seeing the AFL logo on the back of this van:
26. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but the people working at the toll booth really don’t like it when you pay with nickels and dimes. Which makes me even more determined to pay with nickels and dimes.
27. I noted the new SHARE THE ROAD signs on the bridge. Perhaps I’ve become a trendsetter in the world of cross-border cycling.
28. Free hot sauce and sugar outside the Niagara Falls (Canada) Bus Terminal . . .
29. Did you know that a 24-hour pass on the sucker bus WEGO now costs $12?
30. On the GO bus I took back to St. Catharines with a big, lighted BURLINGTON CARPOOL sign out front and along the side, a guy boarded and asked the driver, “Are you going to Burlington?”
The driver pointed to the sign and replied, “You gotta look at the sign.”
“I know,” said the passenger. “But I’m not from here.”
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