Any Hamilton, ON Riders Commuting Up/Down the Escarpment?

[Fig_Newton]

Hello,
I going to be starting a new job in downtown Hamilton and I live on Hamilton mountain. I'd like to use my bike to commute to work. Going down in the morning should be an easy commute - it might even be faster than driving. But coming back up at night ... well, there's no question I'll work up a sweat (either carrying my bike up the stairs or riding up an access or rail trail)!

Is there anybody here doing the same thing? Which route do you take? Any good alternatives along the Bruce Trail? Any other advice?
Chris

[pinerider]

Welcome Fig! It all depends on what part of the mountain you're on and what time of day you'll be riding. The rail trails are the easiest, but only make sense if you're extreme east mtn or extreme west mtn. I've found the Upper Sherman to Charlton access the best for roading up and down, but they have the one way stuff in the morning and evening rush hours and the top part going to Upper Sherman is a little narrow.
I live in the East end and ride to Burlington most days, but I bike commuted for a summer about 30 years ago, Upper James and Limeridge to Centennial Pkwy, found the stairs were brutal, the Clairmont Access not quite as brutal.
You can always take advantage of the new bike racks on the busses for the trip up the hill!

[skiracing]

What's road biking generally like in the Hamilton area? Any cool areas worth checking out? I'm not too familiar and bike only in my area which is just north of TO.

Thanks

[Fig_Newton]

It all depends on what part of the mountain you're on and what time of day you'll be riding
True. I'm in the Bruce Park area and will be commuting to downtown Hamilton, so the rail trails aren't really convenient. But I recall there is an old horse-and-buggy trail at the end of Upper James Street that ends at John St. below the escarpment. I'll have a look at how well groomed it is. I'll commute on an old early 90's mountain bike, so that might be an option.

Another option I was thinking about for going down the escarpment was the West 5th Street hill that ends at James Street. Its pretty narrow and I think its the access that cars would travel the slowest down (the Jolly Cut and Clairmont Access are basically highway speeds!!).

For coming up, I think I'll try the horse-and-buggy path or carry my bike up the stairs. I don't like the idea of crawling up one of the accesses when cars are flying by me.

... I was actually hoping someone would reveal some secret path along the Bruce Trail. But I suppose if there was one I would have found it already!!

What's road biking generally like in the Hamilton area? Any cool areas worth checking out? I'm not too familiar and bike only in my area which is just north of TO.


I've never really been a road bike rider insofar as travelling for the day around Hamilton to explore. I've always had a destination in mind.

But, you could ride the same courses as the elite cyclists rode during the UCI World Road Cycling Championships that were held here in Hamilton in 2003 (...boy, that was a great time for anyone interested in cycling). It would be quite a workout - I remember them having to climb the escarpment accesses over and over again during the long courses and then having to squeeze the peleton into the hair-pin turn at West 5th and fly back down the hill again. Or you take a relaxed ride along the waterfront trail that stretches from Cootes Paradise over to the HMCS Haida.

[pinerider]

Hamilton is great for road riding! If you like rural hilly terrain, there are the sideroads of Flamborough and the Dundas Valley. If you really really like hills, you can stay in town and go up and down the mountain accesses all day (Sunday mornings are best, most of the accesses are narrow and busy with traffic). Stoney Creek and Dundas also have a variety of mountain accesses that are always entertaining.
Stoney Creek above the escarpment has some interesting terrain and nice roads, below the escarpment is fairly flat, with the Lakefront Trail and former Highway 8 leading to Niagara's Vineyards.

As Fig mentions, you can do most of the 2003 WCC course, except you'd be going the wrong way on Main St. Last time I rode up the Claremont access, you could still see remnants of some of the WCC road painting by fans

Fig, there's talk of Hamilton making a trail out of the old carriage road, don't know when that might be, though.

[skiracing]

Sounds cool, I will probably check out the area sometime next spring/summer.

I regret not checking out the Championships; I knew at the time they were coming but I wasn't that much into road cycling yet.

[pinerider]

Hamilton's selection of cycling and trail maps is at http://map.hamilton.ca/maphamilton/gallery/gallery.caspx (http://map.hamilton.ca/maphamilton/gallery/gallery.aspx) Choose "Parks and Trails"
The cycling map is scheduled for an update early in 2008

[Malistryx]

What's road biking generally like in the Hamilton area? Any cool areas worth checking out? I'm not too familiar and bike only in my area which is just north of TO.

Thanks

In Hamilton itself there's not too much that isn't either poorly maintained or heavily used (at least that I've seen), but like pinerider said if you head out towards Flamborough there's some fantastic road riding. Pretty much anywhere North and East of Waterdown is great, especially if you want hills. If you're up for a longer ride it's definitely worth it to head out towards Halton, you can check out some of the hills they used for the Ontario Cup road provincials.

[normalnorm]

I commute down the mountain(barton and sanford). I usually take the Jolley Cut when i'm working shifts(using the sidewalk). In the summer I try and use the rail trail as much as possible. Another option for you could be to go down the Bruce Trail(the old gravel road)at the end of West 5th. If you go under the bridge and take the trail down(to your left), you will end up not far from the Hospital. Its abit rough, so you probably want to use your mt bike.

[paulzinho]

True. I'm in the Bruce Park area and will be commuting to downtown Hamilton, so the rail trails aren't really convenient. But I recall there is an old horse-and-buggy trail at the end of Upper James Street that ends at John St. below the escarpment. I'll have a look at how well groomed it is. I'll commute on an old early 90's mountain bike, so that might be an option.

Another option I was thinking about for going down the escarpment was the West 5th Street hill that ends at James Street. Its pretty narrow and I think its the access that cars would travel the slowest down (the Jolly Cut and Clairmont Access are basically highway speeds!!).

For coming up, I think I'll try the horse-and-buggy path or carry my bike up the stairs. I don't like the idea of crawling up one of the accesses when cars are flying by me.

... I was actually hoping someone would reveal some secret path along the Bruce Trail. But I suppose if there was one I would have found it already!!
.

Sorry for digging up this old thread but I was curious would like input from any other locals as well as fig:


So Fig,

If you are still around. What did you end up doing? I'm in the exact same situation and was wondering how you do your commute. I'm in the same exact area too. Right now I have a MTB so before I switch to road slicks for the commute I want to check out what kind of terrain I'm go riding on.

I did a test run and even though the ride down the Claremont was good and fast, the ride up was very slow and I did not feel safe at all.

So what did you end up doing?

[normalnorm]

Not Fig here. But...

I live on the Mt. and commute downtown.

Just my .02. But, I take the Jolley Cut...up/down the sidewalk. Another reason for a mt. bike. Upper James is not very bike friendly and W5th is too narrow. Another option would be walking up the stairs. Not fun though....

[paulzinho]

thanks for your .02

Jolly cut eh? I'll have to give it a try. Accordding to the Hamilton "Bike Routes, Trails and Parks Map - 2008 urban" I noticed that there is some stairs with a trough for bikes, but I have not been able find them. I have to try and find a free weekend to expore this area more. Darn escarpment. though it is great in the morning...

I am total n00bie and have so far done 2 full commutes. I've used the clarmount access both up and down. I drove in today, I though it was going to rain...
Yes I'm such a woose.

Going up the claremount access is not only tiring for me (I was sweating buckets!) but the there is very little or no shoulder to ride on. Vechicles are very close and the curve makes it so that the vehicles sometime do see me early enough.

[injuryjeff]

Personally, I agree with Norman. The Jolly Cut is the best access in central Hamilton as it has a sidewalk. Coming down in the morning, I just ride on the road. Going 45-50 km/hr, I take the entire lane and force people to pass me properly. Seeing as there are two lanes and little traffic, cars don't have an issue with this. In 2.5 years, I have yet to experience any thing even close to an incident coming down. If traffic is backed up, or conditions are bad, I take the sidewalk down, always stopping for pedestrians. In the evenings, I always ride the sidewalk up. It's my own personal bike lane. If I encounter on coming pedestrians, I stop, if I come up behind pedestrians, I simply wait for no traffic and hop onto the road to pass (if they don't see me first and let me by).

The stairs with bike troughs are the Kenilworth stairs, which can be tricky to find (sidestreets off Lawrence). They link east Hamilton to the east mountain. The Dundurn stairs (at the end of Dundurn st) and Chedoke stairs (at the Chedoke golf courses) also have troughs, and link west hamilton to the west mountain.

Alternatives rides to get up the escarpment that I would deem safe. (I only consider the Jolly Cut and Wilson St to be suitable where the rider is 'with' cars)

East to East: Old Mount Albion Road. (From Lawrence/King to Old Mud - east of Red Hill Creek Parkway)This top part of this road is now closed(the last steep pitch), so there is little to no traffic as it's not a through fair anymore.

East to East: Red Hill Trails. (Barton St. all the way to Old Mud St - West of Red Hill Creek - crossed by many major east-west roads) Stone path that gradually goes up the escarpment. You need a hybrid or CX bike to ride this and I suggest exploring as their is a network of trails you may get lost on.

East Mountain to Central: (Mountain brow/Mohawk to Wentworth/Charlton): Old paved rail line. Long (6-10 km) very gentle sloped

Central Mountain to Central: Jolly Cut - as described before

Central Mountain to West/Central: (W5 to Dundurn) Old path, now part of the Bruce Trail. You need to ride a bit of trail, so an MTB is required. Excellent way to come down if you are commuting by MTB, fun descent.

West Mountain to West/Central: (Scenic drive to Chedoke Golf course/Dundurn): Old stone rail line. Hybrid or CX bike.

West Mountain to Westdale: (Upper Filman (Roussoux) to Lower Filman Rd - (Wilson)): Old trail. This is an MTB trail, but ridable with only a little walk at the end.

Ancaster to Westdale: Wilson St: Bike lane the entire way up now.

I think that about covers what I know for easy ways to get up and down while riding. Jolly Cut and Wilson are the only ones that you can ride all year round.

If anyone is new and interested in a guided tour (it's hard to find the best options sometimes) just let me know.

[paulzinho]

Excellent post!.
There is a lot of info there, it will make a good reference in the future.
I'm going to do the jolly cut on the way up after work today. Yep I bike commuted today too. That is commute #3. Unfortunately I still had to use my car this morning to drop off one of my boys to daycare. I'm considering one of those kid bike seats...

Thanks!

[injuryjeff]

Congrats on getting into bike commuting. While others might disagree, once you know the road/routes and are comfortable in traffic, Hamilton is a pretty good city to commute in. (Actually it's a pretty damn good city to be a cyclist in with all the MTB and quality road riding in the area).

I know it goes without saying, but keep the pedestrians happy on the side walk up the Jolly Cut. I've seen a few riders just 'buzz' them if they are given enough room to sneak by, but the pedestrian still isn't expecting it in such close quaters.

[paulzinho]

Thanks, I'm learning the commuter's rules. Stoping at the light just like any other vehicle. Own your lane, gear down when going up the hill, be visible.Lots of fun too.