Prettyyyy Pretty Good: Riding Route #3 Harbour & Lakeshore

As per the Hamilton website - this is a 16km route that is expected to take 1.5 hours and goes between Aldershot Go station and Confederation Park. 

From the city website:

Connection points

• Aldershot: Aldershot GO/ VIA Station at Waterdown Rd./ Highway 403

• Confederation Park: QEW/ Centennial Pkwy

Route design

• Easy: Paved; half of the route is a paved trail (Waterfront Trail) or optional on-street (Beach Blvd.)

• Take care crossing under the QEW on North Shore Blvd. and crossing the lift bridge

City transit access

• Aldershot: Route 18, Burlington Transit 1

• Confederation Park: Route 56 (seasonal), Route 11 nearby

Inter-city transit access

• Aldershot: GO/ VIA Station

• Confederation Park: Stoney Creek (Nash Rd.) GO Transit

Our Ride:

Ridden by: Meredith

Meredith is a long-time New Hope staffer. She works as a mechanic, Ride Smart instructor and teaches our Bike-packing 101-weekend course. She is an avid cyclist and recently completed the cannonball 300 (so she definitely likes long and challenging rides). She is also probably the only one of us who is still nice to people on the phone at the shop.

Our name for this route: prettyyyy pretty good

This ride ended up being 14.2km with about 44m elevation (Aldershot to confederation). Done in the other direction. It looks like you might end up around 150m of elevation. Making this route a loop almost triples the distance, but besides a couple awkward spots, it was given an 8/10 overall by Mere, so it's definitely pretty good!

Difficulty Rating:

Welcome to the danger… er construction zone.

This route scored 8/10 for easiness and accessibility. There are only a couple turns on the route, so it's easy to stay on, and the majority of it is on quiet streets or the lakefront trail, so it's a very chill time. There are only two spots that lower the rating of this route. (1) the awkward start/end across from Aldershot Go station and (2) navigating the weird (and never-ending?) bridge construction on North Shore. Having this route stop/start at Aldershot automatically increases the difficulty of the ride because it pretty much starts you in the middle of a bunch of on and off-ramps, which seems rather unnecessary for a lake shore ride. Additionally, the construction on the highway bridge at North Shore Blvd is such a mess with traffic that Mere ended up actually going off the road and behind a concrete barricaded walkway for pedestrians because it just felt safer. Otherwise, though this route was lovely and relaxing and would be an excellent ride for people new to cycling and looking to go on a longer ride that still maintains a leisurely vibe. 

Is It Easy to Stay On?:

Breathe in that fresh Lake Ontario air.

Mere rated this section 9/10 because it's generally well marked with lots of great bike lanes, signs and sharrows. There are also only two really major turns to take, so it is pretty easy to memorize. The only confusion comes from the age of these routes. Because they were made around 2003, they were planned with little to no existing bike infrastructure. Now that both Hamilton and Burlington have been investing in cycling infrastructure, there is a bit of route confusion because these routes keep you off newer bike paths. For example, when turning from Waterdown Rd onto North Shore Blvd, there's now an option to either stay on the road, marked by a sharrow, or to ride into the city park where a paved path and green bike sign mark a different way down the big hill (Mere had ridden that path before, and said "it's really fun! It connects to the bottom of the hill through the woods on a dirt/gravel path, which is very enjoyable and still pretty easy to ride on.")

How Was the Infrastructure?:

Does Burlington even have potholes?

So overall, the infrastructure on this ride was really great. There were lots of bike paths, lanes, and sharrows to choose from. When there weren't, you were on fancy pants Burlington residential neighbourhood streets, so you know they were well maintained. The primary spot that this route lost points on was the overpass, as mentioned earlier, where Mere described it as "confusing signage, mashed pavement and random concrete barriers and pylons to throw you off from finding a straight way through." There is lots of infrastructure along the waterfront trail portion that makes this an especially beginner or family-friendly route. Notable mentions go to the plentiful benches, good stuff to lean your bike on during a break, places to grab snacks, and a giant row of bike racks beside the Barangas patio. 

Overall Takeaways and Recommendations:

The main takeaway from this route is that if you axe the Aldershot Go station section, and if that bridge construction ever finishes, this is/will be a really nice and easy bike route. It includes just enough elevation to improve beginner fitness without being impossible to complete without risk of failure. 

1. Make the routes easier to update when new infrastructure becomes available. This way, you don't have to worry about entirely overhauling them every 10-20 years when traffic and infrastructure have inevitably changed. 

2. Find a nice way to make it an actual lakeshore loop that can be done starting and ending in Hamilton. It will definitely require adding some km's but would probably be worth it as this is a pretty standard way for people to ride to the beach from downtown. 

3. Don't start/stop cycling routes at the Aldershot Go station. Depending on the time of day, the bike racks on the buses back to Hamilton can be pretty full, and the cost of the go bus is $4, which probably won't break the bank but may act as a barrier. Additionally, sometimes you end up waiting a while between buses which can be an annoying deterrent to using this route. 

4. Please finish that underpass/bridge construction. It sucks. 

Escarpment Rail Fail: Riding Route #9 The Escarpment Rail Trail

As per the city website, this is a 9km, 1hr easy ride that goes between Corktown Park and Mountain Brow Blvd, sort of across from the Albion Falls viewing platform.

From the city website:

Connection points

Downtown: Corktown Park at Ferguson Ave./ Young St.

East Mountain: Mountain Brow Blvd./ Limeridge Rd./ Arbour Rd.

Route design

Easy: Paved trail, gradual slope

Take care crossing Wentworth St.

City transit access

Downtown: many HSR Routes

East Mountain: Route 21, Route 22 nearby

Inter-city transit access

Downtown: Hamilton GO Centre (GO Transit, Coach Canada, Greyhound)

Our Ride:

Ridden by: Rebecca

Rebecca is “too cool” for social media so here’s Ron, her dog.

Rebecca pretends to be in law school, but we all know she's a New Hope lifer. She has been a programs coordinator and mechanic for 6 years.. or 60. We've lost count at this point. Rebecca likes riding gravel bikes, mountain bikes and climbing big rocks.

Our name for the route: The Escarpment Rail Fail

This route is 8.3km each way. It can be made a "loop" if you continue on Mountain Brow Blvd for about 100m to the Rail trail access. This isn't so much a loop as just riding back the way you came while avoiding the stress of getting passed by cars going 70 in a 30 zone. This route so far has the most minor climbing at 95m of elevation when done Corktown to Albion. It took Rebecca about 30 minutes.

Is it easy?:

This route would be genuinely easy with 10/10 for leisure, commuting and accessibility if it stayed on the rail trail the entire way to Albion Falls. The rail-trail portion of the route is excellent for families and beginner cyclists. Starting from downtown, it is predominantly an uphill ride. Still, the slope is relatively gradual. Going slowly and taking breaks at one of the numerous lookout spots will make it enjoyable for all skill levels. It is one of Rebecca’s favourite sections of city biking. Additionally, the Rail Trail also often acts as a nicer way to commute between downtown and the east mountain by bike. The city website says to take care crossing Wentworth street; this is now easier with the new pedestrian crossing they installed last year but do take care as cars coming down the mountain still regularly run that red light.

A very nice ride up the escarpment.

One of the main things impacting whether this is an "easy" route is the routing choice made to take Mountain Brow Blvd rather than the Rail Trail to get to Albion itself. As an experienced downtown cyclist, even Rebecca felt her stress levels rising as cars close passed her, going well over the posted speed limit. Mountain Brow Blvd has only a partially paved shoulder for bikes and pedestrians to share. If cyclists decide to take the lane, their curvy and narrow shape with speeding cars tends to harsh the mellow obtained on the Rail Trail. Rebeca felt it would be unsafe to take kids or beginner cyclists onto that portion of Mountain Brow Blvd, especially if it was a busy waterfall time like evenings or weekends.

Was it well marked and easy to find/stay on?

That’s the end. Its literally a small sign in the middle of a road.

If starting at Corktown park, the beginning is straightforward to find. The turn off the rail trail onto a side path that leads you to Mohawk at Mountain Brown isn't marked, but it's also the only major turn, so it's easy enough to figure out looking at the map. The end of the route and the beginning at Albion are just small green bike signs on the shoulder that say "start" and "end," so if you aren't looking for them, you might miss them.

How was the infrastructure?

“Paved”

Calling the rail trail a paved trail is somewhat generous as the path requires serious maintenance in several spots. It's still a reasonably comfortable ride with a hybrid or a bike with larger tires, though. The infrastructure for anything but cars on Mountain Brow Blvd is entirely missing. The shoulder is inconsistently paved and also has pedestrians in it. At the same time, the lanes for traffic are incredibly narrow and winding, with a solid yellow line dividing the lanes for the majority of the road. The speed is lowered from 50-30 over that stretch. Still, cars were aggressively overtaking Rebecca, who was averaging 25km/h on that stretch of the ride. For infrastructure and infrastructure maintenance, Rebecca scored this ride a 4/10. The Rail Trail likely needs to be switched to gravel since most of the pavement is torn up and parts are splitting and sliding down the escarpment.

OK but no shade I love this crossing light.

Additionally, if cyclists are going to be routed on to Mountain Brow Blvd, it needs infrastructure to ensure the road can be shared safely between cars, cyclists, and pedestrians. Everyone in the shop agreed that they would never take that road to get to Albion Falls. The four points were primarily given for the pedestrian crossing light installed across Wentworth street. Still, there does need to be a red light camera installed there since cars run it frequently.

Overall takeaways and recommendations: 

Draw how you felt at the end of this ride, Rebecca.

One of the primary takeaways of this route is that the Rail Trail is a treasure of cyclist and pedestrian infrastructure in the city. The ride is picturesque in every season. This is unfortunately dampened by the nightmare that is riding on Mountain Brow Blvd, especially when the Rail Trail continues along beside it to the same destination. This route had the feeling that it had never actually been ridden before it was posted.

1. Invest in putting better pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure on Mountain Brow Blvd. It is a beautiful road to ride on, but if you are not keeping up with traffic going 60-80km/h, it is a somewhat stressful experience. Or simply keep the route on the Rail Trail the whole time.

2. Spruce up the Rail Trail. She deserves it. But by spruce up we mean probably switch it to just gravel like the Chedoke Radial Trail since that seems to be the better medium for surviving on the escarpment.

Che-Okie-Doke: Riding Route #10 The Chedoke Radial Rail Trail

Chedoke Radial Rail Trail #10

As per the city of Hamilton this is another “Easy” route. It's a 12km ride which goes between Corktown Park and Ancaster at Jersey Road and Lovers Lane [a lot of the rides start or end here and we can't figure out why]. Also again the city does not specify which of these is the ideal starting point. The city says it should take about an hour.

From the city website:

Connection points

• Downtown: Corktown Park at Ferguson Ave./ Young St.

• Ancaster: Wilson St./ Fiddler's Green Rd./ Lovers Lane

Route design

• Easy: Combination of paved on-street and unpaved on Chedoke Rail Trail; stairs with trough crossing Highway 403. Northbound: no paved option west of Dundurn St.

• Take care on Charlton Ave. westbound or on Herkimer St. eastbound and at Wilson St.

City transit access

• Downtown: many HSR Routes

• Ancaster: Route 16, Route 5C/ 5A nearby

Inter-city transit access

• Downtown: Hamilton GO Centre (GO Transit, Coach Canada, Greyhound - lol RIP)

OUR RIDE 

Ridden By: Jack 

Last Known Image of Jack

Jack is a New Hope Mechanic who was described by a customer as "a gentleman in a cycling cap and rather short shorts." He likes under-biking, bikepacking, and bespoke Finnish hammocks. 

Our name for the route: Che-Okie-Doke

This route is 12 km each way. When done East to West, it has 193m of climbing [aka entirely uphill]. When done West to East, it has around 60m of climbing. There is no nice way to make this route into a loop without tripling or quadrupling the KM's, so for this one, Jack just turned around in Ancaster and rode back downtown. Riding East to West took about 45m.

Is it actually an easy ride?

We should also mention its not just “a couple steps”

The ease of this route is highly dependent on direction. If riding East to West, Jack scored it at a 4 out of 10 for "easiness" because the entire ride is uphill from this direction. It also includes riding up Dundurn street, which is a notoriously steep hill with a 16% grade that most beginner cyclists have to walk. If riding East to West, the route got an 8 out of 10 since it is predominantly downhill. Although regardless of direction, you have to carry your bike up and down the stairs at the bridge that crosses the 403, so some physical fitness is required. 

Was it well marked and easy to find/stay on?

If you guessed dont fully turn but go straight into that little unmarked pathway.. you’re right!

The start points of all of these routes are easy to find. This route got a score of 5/10 for navigation, with the downtown portion being relatively well marked and the Ancaster section being poorly marked. One significant issue was at the Mohawk/Filman intersection. Here, the lights don't change for cyclists, so you have to dismount to press the walk button or run the light, and the path you are supposed to get on isn't marked and looks like someone's driveway rather than a cycling path. Jack initially missed this turn and ended up lost in a suburb for 10 minutes before realizing the little path was part of the bike route. 

How was the infrastructure and routing?

WHO IS SHE

Jack gave the maintenance level of the infrastructure a 5/10. Most of the roads were well enough maintained, with the Charlton bike lane desperately needing to be repaved [other staff who commute on this, and their butts agree]. The gravel section up the Chedoke radial trail is fairly average maintenance wise with one particular area of extremely deep loose gravel before the golf course parking lot. The top of the trail into Ancaster has also apparently been ripped up by quad bikes riding it when muddy with other washed-out sections to be aware of. The star of the infrastructure show on this route is the public fountain, which you’ll need after that ride up Dundurn.

The routing choices were the primary issue on this ride. Riding East to West, you are immediately routed the wrong way on Forest street. Additionally, if you are riding West to East, you are expected to know to hop up to Herkimer for the bike lane in the proper direction even though the map does not reflect this. It is noted in the "things to watch out for" portion by the city but is not adequately explained in our opinion. In addition, Jack indicated some abysmal routing choices when it came to road crossings, with the example that the ride has you make a sketchy left turn from Halson to Wilson in Ancaster when there is a gravel road path that connects those roads without requiring that on-road turn. Jack said this turn would be OK if you were alone or with other experienced riders but would be extremely unsafe with kids or beginners. Routing an "easy" ride up Dundurn is also unnecessarily aggressive, especially since the bike lane on Dundurn ends at Aberdeen (where the hill starts to get steep), and cars turning right on to Aberdeen have a tendency to cut off cyclists going straight through the intersection. 

Draw how you felt about this ride, Jack.

Overall takeaways and recommendations: 

Similar to last review, there are some genuinely beautiful parts of this ride. Primarily the time spent on the Chedoke Radial Trail, and the Radial Right-of-way Trail in Ancaster. With better signage, and route planning (lookin at you highway 403 overpass stairs) this could be a super nice family ride. For a family outing we would definitely suggest cutting out the Ancaster section, and going from West to East to avoid spending an hour riding up hill with the kiddos.

1.  Same as last time, MAKE IT A LOOP. Having routes being unidirectional adds the requirement of transportation from the ending spot or requires the rider to double the length to get back to the start. 

2. Ride the routes before posting them; this would allow for better routing. For example, instead of going straight up Dundurn, you could route cyclists through Kirkendall south and access the Chedoke Radial Trail via the gravel path between Hillcrest and Dundurn, which allows for a less steep climb. Additionally, instead of turning from Halson to Wilson, stay on the radial right-of-way trail you were already on because it links up to Wilson in a safer way a block later. Finally, when route planning for downtown specifying the route going east vs going west is essential as there are a ton of one-way streets. 

3. Give a warning about the stairs crossing the 403 or cut the end of the ride at that bridge; the trip into Ancaster made no sense, especially since, same as the last ride, it drops you in a random residential neighbourhood. Our current theory is that the person who made the routes lives in the area.