The Skyway is the popular name for the segment of New York State Route 5 which passes over the Buffalo River, connecting downtown Buffalo with the Southtowns (what Buffalonians call their southern suburbs).  The road has a certain utility, since it provides the most convenient route for thousands of people to get to their jobs each day.  In general, though, it’s reviled here as a massive eyesore, a barrier to the kind of development Buffalo wants, and possibly “structurally deficient” (the government’s words, not mine).  There’s a large camp advocating for the city or the state or whomever is responsible for such things to just tear it down, and that may happen if they can’t find a way to repurpose it into something the city really needs.  (There are other routes in from the Southtowns, so it’s not like ripping the thing out would deprive people of their ability to get to work.)  I heard an idea floated that it should be turned into something akin to New York City’s High Line, which I love, but hubby pointed out that it’s too windy up on the Skyway for walkers.  So I’m back in the tear-it-down camp… except for on this past Saturday, because I discovered one great use for the Skyway: riding my bike over it.

Go Bike Buffalo organized a new bike event this year: the Skyride, starting with an epic climb and hair-raising descent and continuing through 29 miles of Buffalo streets.  I had such a blast at the Five Boro Bike Tour that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do another bike event, especially when it was right in my backyard (seriously, I rode my bike to the starting line) and posed such a cool challenge.  After all, how many people can say that they rode their bikes over this monster?

Before Saturday, probably hardly anyone could have said as much.  But now, about 700 of us claim the honor!

The ride was scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m.  I headed down to the start line a little after 8:00 to make sure I had plenty of time to sign in and hydrate.  To be honest, I wasn’t really feelin’ it – I’m sick, thanks to Peanut who picked something up on the playground and shared it with me.  I took my temperature on Saturday morning and was running a 100.1 degree fever, which is very high for me – I normally run cool and so to run a temperature at all means I’m pretty sick, and I don’t remember the last time I was over 100 degrees.  Hubby and I also had a 2:30 appointment to see more houses with our realtor and I was a little worried that I’d make it back on time.  I knew that riding 29 miles in the blazing sun, with a fever, was probably not the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but I really wanted to do this event.  So I promised myself that if I felt too sick to keep going after the first half, I’d peel off to the finish line early (quite a few people took this option), and if I decided to keep going but either ran out of time or felt sick during the second half, I’d head home early (since part of the ride swung by a point less than half a mile from my house).  I decided to just play it by ear and see how it went.

A little after 10:15, we were off!  The first part of the ride circled a few Buffalo city streets before making for the Skyway, which had been closed for the morning, just for us.

(Accidental snap.)

Annnnnnnd there’s the ramp… up we go!

It was a gorgeous day for riding, and the views over the Skyway were breathtaking.  My snapped-while-pedaling iPhone photos do not do it justice.

Honestly, I found the Skyway to be one of the easiest parts of the ride.  I thought the climb would be deadly, but it was fine – probably because we did it on fresh legs and got it out of the way!  I was enjoying the view and having a fabulous time.

Just as I reached the crest of the Skyway, I heard a cracking sound like a gunshot and then the two words no cyclist wants to hear – “Flat tire!”  I looked over to my left and a rider was hopping down to perform triage on his bike.  Poor guy.  I felt badly for him, but we had a do-not-stop order and I was just about to begin the descent (and I stink at changing tires anyway), so I shot him a sympathetic look and put my phone away for the descent (I’d promised hubby I’d try not to go over the side).

When we reached the bottom of the Skyway, a guy riding near me shouted “Let’s go back up and do that again!”  I couldn’t have agreed more – what a ride.

Sadly, we only got to go over the Skyway once, and now we were on our way toward Tifft Nature Preserve and the Outer Harbor area.

The ride continued through the South Buffalo streets and into the Botanical Gardens, where I waved hello to the beautiful building that houses Peanut’s best friends in the koi pond.  From there, we swung through more South Buffalo neighborhoods and then rolled back into the downtown area.  As we approached, a volunteer was directing riders who wanted to finish only the first half of the ride back toward the finish line, and motioning those who wanted to ride the full 29 miles onward.  I was feeling decent (relatively speaking) and saw on my watch that it was only 11:30 a.m. – I’d done the first fifteen miles in just a little over an hour and had plenty of time before we had to meet our realtor.  So I decided I’d continue on the route.  Go big or go home, right?

We rode up Delaware Avenue and all I could think, the entire time, was “We’re going the wrong way!”  The Turkey Trot runs down Delaware Avenue and it’s a lovely downhill.  Riding my bike up the hill for several miles was considerably less relaxing.  I distracted myself by staring at the gorgeous architecture and looking for the course markings to make sure I was still on the right track.  At this point the crowd had thinned out and there were times when it was just me and Blue.  But we always found other cyclists.  After Delaware – which felt much tougher than the Skyway – we rolled into the Japanese Gardens and Delaware Park.

Delaware Park was my decision point.  It was the last spot where I could peel off and head home if I wanted to.  After a quick glance at my watch, I saw that I still had plenty of time to finish the ride and get home in time to clean up before our afternoon appointment, and the ride was heading for the Scajaquada Creek Trail – one of those mystical bike paths that I’ve heard about but for which I’ve never been able to find an entry point.  Turns out I’ve run and biked past the trail head countless times and never realized it.  Fail.  Anyway, I wanted to see the trail so I kept pedaling.

The views were beautiful!  Especially when the trail popped out next to the river.

The water was a beautiful blue and I enjoyed the views of the Peace Bridge and Canada in the distance.  As we got closer to downtown there were families enjoying the trail and old men fishing (and quite a few of them had something on their lines as I rode by).  I waved to the kids and soaked up the sun.  The trail ended near the downtown area and I continued on my way, rolling into the finish line just after 12:30.

Because I rode so quickly, the party hadn’t really gotten started yet.  I rehydrated, refueled, and chatted with a few other early-finishing cyclists before heading home.  I wish I could have stayed to enjoy the finish line party, but I had to get home and get ready for our house-hunting expedition (yep, that’s still going on, and getting progressively more stressful with each day that we come closer to our lease expiring).

Fever notwithstanding, I loved the Skyride!  I’ll definitely do this ride again next year (hopefully, sans illness).  The ride was well-organized, the volunteers were helpful and friendly, and the course was beautiful.  I was thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in such a cool event right in my own backyard – and especially for the great cause of making Buffalo more bike-friendly.  Riding the Skyway was the perfect way to spend a beautiful Saturday morning – and definitely a cool, unique experience!

Anyone else enjoying the outdoors this weekend?