Slow Roll through the Heart of Hertel

BUFFALO — The Hertel Business Association has teamed up with Slow Roll Buffalo to bring the increasingly popular leisurely bike ride to North Buffalo.

Participants in the the “Heart of Hertel” event are asked to gather on Norwalk Avenue at 5:30 p.m., with the ride beginning at 6:30 p.m. Slow Roll Buffalo’s Facebook Event Page note the support of Buffalo Common Councilman Joe Feroleto as well as the HBA, saying “… for this week, there’s no single highlighted afterparty venue, as we’re encouraging everyone to hop around the Hertel to their heart’s content!”

Numerous Hertel Avenue businesses are participating in the event. Food and drink specials are being offered by Craving Restaurant, Gramma Mora’s, and Mes Que, while shops such as Savory Sips, New Buffalo Graphics, and Daisy’s Dog House are staying open later than customary. Also participating is The Antique Lamp Company where the official Hertel Ave T-Shirt is available live and in person, although they can also be ordered online through the HBA website.

The Slow Roll is to kick off at 6:30 p.m. sharp, led by a Buffalo PD motorcade. According to the Slow Roll event page, it is to be a “…10-mile North Side ride through Delaware Park Buffalo into the Parkside, Central Park and North Park neighborhoods and back.” In the spirit of cooperative nature of the event, Co-Founder and Director at Slow Roll Buffalo – Anthony Caferro – notes in the Event page comments:

We want to make sure Hertel is kept open to traffic, so please line up on Norwalk Avenue. If you must arrive by motor vehicle, I’d urge you to consider and respect the stress that we place on the neighborhood and avoid parking on residential streets around the starting point. We’ve secured the OK to park at nearby St. Margaret’s Church, Kmart, and North Park Academy (School 66). Delaware Park is also only a half-mile bike ride up Colvin. “

Meanwhile, other commentors on the Slow Roll main FB page suggest parking at the NFTA’s LaSalle Station on Main Street, then biking to the event, with a route outlined on this Google map, while some North Buffalo residents warn neighborhood visitors to be aware that some streets have opposite-side parking that changes at 6 p.m. tonight.

One final note, however: if there exists a map of the full ride route, it is not easily located online, leading some Facebook users to express concerns on Slow Roll’s page regarding accessibility of streets in the neighborhoods for residents. As of Sunday evening, no additional information was available. AllWNYNews will update when the route information is obtained.

EDIT: According to Slow Roll’s Seamus Gallivan, tonight’s roll will take the following route: “We’ll start at Hertel & Norwalk and head down Hertel to Delaware, through Delaware Park and around Forest Lawn Cemetery, up Main Street into the Central Park neighborhood and over Hertel to the edge of Shoshone Park and back.”