Across a fast, deep stretch of river, the Buffalo skyline sits so close you can almost read the signs. Fort Erie faces it from the Canadian side at the point where Lake Erie pours into the Niagara River, and the Peace Bridge, opened in 1927, connects the two countries in a long curve of arches over the current. This is a border town of about sixteen thousand people, and for riders it is often the first or last taste of Canada on a trip around the Great Lakes.
History here is about borders and the fights over them. Old Fort Erie, a stone fort on the riverbank south of the bridge, was the scene of a long and bloody siege in 1814 during the War of 1812, when American troops held it against British attacks, and thousands of men died in the fighting around it. The fort has been restored and is staffed in summer by people in period uniform. Half a century later, Irish-American veterans of the Civil War, the Fenians, crossed the river here in 1866 to strike at British North America, and fought a battle at Ridgeway, a few kilometres inland. Fort Erie was also a crossing point on the Underground Railroad, where escaped slaves reached freedom in Canada.
The town is the southern end of the Niagara Parkway, a road that follows the Canadian bank of the river for about fifty-six kilometres north to Niagara-on-the-Lake. Winston Churchill is supposed to have called it the prettiest Sunday afternoon drive in the world. The stretch from Fort Erie north toward Chippawa is quiet and lovely, running along the water past parks, old houses and trees, with views across to Grand Island on the American side. It is flat and gentle, with low speed limits and many cyclists on the parallel path.
Fort Erie has plenty of fuel, food and accommodation, and a famous horse racing track. If you are crossing the border, have your documents ready and expect delays on summer weekends. Lake Erie can be windy, and the air off the water is cool even in July. Early morning, before the traffic, is the best time to ride the parkway north.