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Maps Updated!
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Bike Train makes St. Catharines debut MATTHEW VAN DONGEN STANDARD STAFF
Gabriel Araya has a mountain bike and an avid interest in canal history. The Toronto resident doesn't have a car, however. That normally keeps him out of Niagara, plentiful historic canals notwithstanding. But on Friday, the 37-year-old and his bike travelled to the Garden City by train for the start of a three-day cycling tour of canal country. He was among the first to step off the Toronto-Niagara Bike Train at its inaugural stop in St. Catharines. "This is a great idea. It's convenient, it's cheap, it's environmentally friendly," said the grinning cyclist after his red 21-speed was handed down from a specialized Via baggage car. "And besides that, it's the only way I could get here." The Bike Train Initiative is a partnership between a group of cycling advocates and Via Rail, which last year began making space on trains for cyclists to travel back and forth between Toronto and Niagara with their bicycles. Last summer's pilot project attracted close to 300 cycling travellers, said organizer Justin Lafontaine. But cyclists had the option of getting off and on only in Niagara Falls or Toronto. Feedback from those two-wheeled visitors convinced Lafontaine to arrange another experiment this summer: four Bike Train stops in St. Catharines. "It's a challenge logistically because the stop in St. Catharines is supposed to be only a few minutes," said Lafontaine. "We'll test it out this summer, get the timing down and hopefully we can expand it in the future." For now, only six cyclists per trip can get off in St. Catharines-- and they'll still have to travel to Niagara Falls to catch a ride home. The majority of cyclists will go to Niagara Falls again this year. Lafontaine is hoping to double or even triple the number of riders. It's hard to explain the attraction of the Bike Train to a non-cyclist, said Ken Allen, one of four riders who arrived in St. Catharines Friday morning. "Convenience is the big thing," said the 42-year-old. Normally, if you want to travel by rail with a bike, you have to break it down into pieces and stow them in a luggage box. Allen has done it before, chugging to Brockville before cycling to Montreal. "So you're sitting in Union Station (in Toronto) with your tools, taking apart your bike, taking off the handlebar and then the pedals so everything will fit in the box, then you put it back together again. "It's a big obstacle," he said. "This is so simple: you hand your bike to someone up on the train, they hand it back at your stop and you're on your way." Allen did the trip to Niagara Falls last year, so he was keen to try out another area this summer. On Friday, the four men planned to explore the old canals in St. Catharines, check out Port Dalhousie and stay the night in a Garden City hotel. They intended to travel the Welland Canals Parkway trail to Port Colborne today and spend their final day in Niagara Falls before the trip home. But first, the startled men received loot bags of maps and tourism pamphlets from city representatives who showed up Friday to welcome the first Bike Train. "We're just so happy to see them," said city tourism manager Kim Hundertmark. "We didn't think we'd get the train this year." Hundertmark is hoping the first Bike Train was the first of many. "It makes so much sense," she said of the Garden City stop. "We're a hub for incoming cyclists. You can go west to the Twenty Valley from here, you can go to Niagara Falls." The eventual goal is to have two or three stops on a regular Bike Train service, said Lafontaine. "I don't know when we'll get there, but I think we're opening people's eyes to a new way to travel," he said. "You can travel sustainably, and have fun, too." The Bike Train costs $59 round trip, or $35 one way. For schedules or more information, visit www.bike-train.ca
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