Cycling the Hub Trail in Sault Ste. Marie

Today is our last day in Sault Ste. Marie, and we wanted to spend it cycling around the city.  Sault Ste. Marie has established the John Roswell HUB bike and hiking trail, which is a 25 km multi-use non-motorized trail system that connects many significant points of interest including the waterfront walkway, Bellevue Park, Algoma University, Sault College, the new hospital and Fort Creek Conservation Area, which we hiked yesterday.

This trail system provides access to all areas of the City and links together key cultural, historical, and natural areas of the community. In addition, community residents can use the trail as an alternative, environmentally friendly mode of transportation, decreasing auto-dependency within the City.  The Trail provides increased recreational opportunities for residents and visitors to Sault Ste. Marie and attracts many trail-using tourists such as us to the City. As well, the trail serves to promote local, provincial and national cross-country running and cycling trials and competitions.

In 2005, the City commissioned a private organization to prepare a plan for a continuous non-motorized trail around the city linking neighbourhoods and major recreational areas and connecting the existing boardwalk to other walking and cycling trails within the community. The project was a cooperative effort between the City and the Sault Trails Advocacy Committee (STAC), a Sault Citizens’ committee dedicated to the development of a coordinated non-motorized public trail system.

We started our ride at Fort Creek Conservation Area, where we had hiked yesterday.  Here we are setting out on the adventure:

The Trail passes through seven distinct areas or neighborhoods.  The first we encountered was the Fort Creek section.  We had hiked this and it was familiar.  Once we completed the initial section, we pedaled the Northern Corridor, which eventually took us past Velorution Bike Shop, one of the commercial supporters of the Trail.  Kathy thought this would be a cool bike to ride as we finished the circuit:

Further along in the Northern Corridor, we encountered the ubiquitous Sault Ste. Marie Water Tower, which has now been acquired by a hotel and conference center, but is a landmark in the city:

Further along, we cycled by Sault College --

-- which appears to maintain a demonstration project in wind energy:

Soon after Sault College, we entered the Finn Hill section of the City and the Trail.  This is marked by natural wooded landscapes and hiking trails.  Here is a view down the bike path:

Transitioning into the East Neighborhood, we passed Holy Cows Ice Cream Parlour, which boasts some pretty amazing cows:

We got a little lost in the East Neighbourhood section of the HUB Trail, partly because the trail markers seemed to disappear.  But a little map-and-GPS work got us back on track and we wound our way down to the Historic District, where we could see across the St. Mary's River to Michigan:

Near here, we passed through Bondar Square and Bondar Park.  These public spaces, and a sculpture in the area, are tributes to local Canadian hero Dr. Roberta Bondar.  Fulflling her childhood dream to be an astronaut, she was the first Canadian woman and the world’s first neurologist in space. She studied how living things respond when exposed to zero-gravity environments.  Roberta is also an accomplished scientist, physician, photographer, pilot and author. You can see her photography at the Art Gallery of Algoma and learn about her space travel at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre.

We spotted this moose sculpture, which is a memorial --

-- a plaque near the moose states:

"This moose is dedicated to the memory of

four Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources

employees who gave their lives in the service

of our province on January 21, 2003 while

conducting aerial moose surveys"

Soon we passed the Bushplane Museum, which we had visited yesterday:

And we cycled closer to a cargo vessel, the "Yankcanuck," which has been docked here since 2010.  Built in 1963, it sees only occasional service:

Eventually, we found Mile 0 of the HUB Trail, down on the waterfront.  Here, David poses in front of the marker:

Having reached the waterfront, we searched out the second of two restaurants we wanted to try.  This one is called "Low and Slow."  While it boasts Southern-style BBQ cuisine, we were surprised at its connections with Pennsylvania:  not only was their daily special a Philly Cheese Steak, but their one beer on tap was good old Rolling Rock beer from Latrobe, Pennsylvania!  We caught a photo of their sign and triangle dinner bell over the chef's station:

Having quaffed and feasted to our hearts' content, we bicycled on the remaining two miles to our point of beginning.  Along the way, we passed the newly reopened Essar Steel Algoma steel mill.  Essar Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate with investments in the sectors of steel, energy (oil & gas and power), infrastructure (ports, projects & concessions) and services (shipping, telecom, realty and outsourcing and technology solutions). With operations in more than 25 countries across five continents, Essar employs over 73,000 people and has revenues of $39 billion.  Essar began as a construction company in 1969 and diversified into manufacturing, services and retail.  The name Essar is derived by combining the first letter of the Chairman's and Vice-Chairman's first names – Shashi Ruia and Ravi Ruia:  S plus R sounds like "Essar."  The company has been responsible for revitalizing the steel plant in Sault Ste. Marie and restoring many jobs to the area.  Most of the local people we met have, in one way or another, been affected by the steel plant and its employment.

We're going to miss Sault Ste. Marie.  It is a more industrial city than we anticipated, and it has a further way to go economically than we guessed would be the case.  But it has much to interest tourists and its history is the history of this region of the Great Lakes.