The temps are in the fifties. More important, the temperature at 7AM is above 33 degrees.
And after a couple of lean-ish years, it looks like biking season starts for me at 7AM tomorrow!
I wrote a lot about biking to work from 2007 through 2010. Back then, I had a job in downtown Saint Paul. It had a locker room and a couple of really fun, obvious routes which – this is important – were alongside or near bus routes. That way, if I had a mechanical problem on the road (always a possibility, when I was riding my early-eighties road bike as I was at the time), the worst case was I’d get to work on time.
It’s been a little tougher since then. In 2011, I worked at a very bike-friendly company – in Minnetonka. It was a 16 mile ride each way – easy enough if you’re in shape, difficult if you’re not. So I spent much of the summer building up to commuting. This involved finding “park and ride” lots at varying distances from the office, a little further each week. Which led to a big leap around mid-summer; from park-and-rides in Saint Louis Park, seven miles from the office, to having to ride all the way across Minneapolis (where there are no park and rides), and do the whole 16 miles.
Which, at long last, I did – once. I rode 16 miles to work in the morning. And then I rode home that night. And as I got to the top of the long, grueling climb up Marshall Avenue, two miles from home, I got a call – my son was in the ER, the beginning of a three month ordeal that had me at the hospital most evenings, living on Jimmy Johns and Cosetta’s Pizza (yum) and losing most of the gains I’d made over the summer.
The next season – 2012, or Season 6 – I worked at a company in West Bloomington. A 22 mile, non-bike-friendly commute to a building that had no locker room. Biking was out. The next two summers – 2013-14, or Seasons 7-8 – I worked at a job that was nominally bike-friendly – they had a locker room of sorts (a shower stall in one of the men’s rooms) and a theoretically manageable distance (11 miles). But it was one of the worst routes in the Twin Cities; from Saint Paul backstreets to the brutal (if you’re out of shape) climb up Pilot Knob. Worse, most of the route wasn’t along any kind of transit; a blowout would mean an hour of pushing a bike to a bus route or to the office. I made a half-hearted go of it in 2013, and didn’t bother last year.
And it shows this year. I’m not in the worst shape I’ve been in, but I can see if from here.
But I have an eminently bikeable job this year, in a great route for getting back into shape (with some easy upgrades when I get my wind and legs back), a locker room, a place to park a bike, and a spring that, so far, is turning out to be excellent; I don’t recall the snow being melted and the tempersatures above 33 at go-time at all in the past years.
So I’ll see you out on the trail!
I’m hoping to ride Thursday–kids’ obligations and such make every day problematic, but gonna get started. Hopefully I don’t break another frame this year like I did last year. (and believe it or not, I had two of the exact same bike–inherited them from my parents, and for whatever reason they were in the exact same bike/frame/everything)
This post should be tagged ‘The Rare Commie Pinko Bike Post’ based on the usual reaction is gets annually. I wish I had a job that I could bike to but the basement steps are tough on frame. Good Luck!
I biked to work today…on and 600cc motorcycle. Suppose I could use the pedal variety, but I don’t have a helmet at this time.
Sorry Mitch, but in my world, only communists ride bicycles for any purpose other than recreation.
The Cities really are good for biking. I used to be able to bike almost anywhere in the Cities from where I lived, though I never did it for commuting. Used to love to cruise downhill over the Smith Ave. bridge or downhill into Mendota Heights and thereby to Fort Snelling/the rest of Mpls. or anywhere, really. The Minnehaha Falls area/Ford plant/bridge area was cool, too. And on the way back – Davanni’s Pizza at Cleveland and Grand! Classic pizza joint.
You worked in West Bloom – hopefully you tried Zeke’s Grill and Tap for their burgers. Old Shak and Bloomington Ferry Bridge Road. Nondescript place in a little strip mall that has the best burgers I’ve had in my life.
It was down this very ranch road (off to the left) where disaster struck, on Oct. 23., 2014. I was about a mile back on the ranch road and took a tumble and broke my left arm. Caramba!
https://www.google.com/maps/@19.443992,-155.3317,3a,75y,238.1h,73.84t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sdWCepDbdLE_kH1AoUh7vuA!2e0!6m1!1e1
This is about where I fractured my skull on a road sign back in 2001:
https://www.google.com/maps/@19.689003,-156.007048,3a,75y,273.61h,89.27t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s4b6cBZamtEM5ih8SLwwdvw!2e0!6m1!1e1
I could never commute by bike. Bikes and cars don’t mix.
You’re right.
Fortunately, the parts of my route that aren’t on striped bike lanes are on off-road bike paths.
I know. Anathema to conservatives. But I paid for them, so I’m using them.
Paul C – never went there. But I may try this weekend, since I’ll be in the area.
MNBubba – well, I don’t completely refute you; my commute is partly recreation. Or at least it will be, when I get my legs and wind back.
Seflores: Sheesh, no kidding. I’m amazed at the fire-breathing conservatives who turn into Roger Moe when bikes come up; wanting to add taxes to biking to pay for stripes and the like (as if most of us don’t pay gas taxes too), and even special units for the police department focused on enforcing traffic laws on bikes (apparently taking cops away from watching for the Facebook-updating bobbleheads in cars who can actually kill people)
I have no problem with biking. Used to do a lot of it myself. What I have a problem with was the City of Bloomington reducing every major east/west roadway (except American Blvd.) in the city to one lane in each direction, to accommodate bike lanes, primarily to appease one company; Quality Bicycle Products in West Bloomington. Obviously, they are a bike friendly company with locker rooms and showers for their employees, as well as free bike parts and other perks. I guess that one form of subsidy is as good as another.
I have to admit this though; except for the few of these people that violate traffic laws and/or wear all black clothing with no lighting/reflective materials when riding in the dark, I admire the few that ride all year, rain or shine. That said, the sanity of those few that try to ride in a snowstorm could be questioned.
Cars and bicycles don’t mix. Bikes are too slow, too poorly lit and drivers are so conditioned to look for auto-style head and tail lights, they barely notice Harleys, much less Schwinns.
If society decides it MUST support alternative modes of transportation, fine, but separate them. Don’t run a train down the middle of a busy street and don’t run bicycles down the edge of it, either. Charles Avenue is the first half-step toward making an East-West bike lane, take the next step by banning auto traffic, changing stop signs, etc.
Joe, if bikes and cars don’t mix, let’s not forget which group agitated for paved roads a century ago. Bicyclists–they were tired of getting thrown by the cobblestones used before.
I think we can coexist. All we really need is a decent shoulder that isn’t covered with glass.
Maybe the problem will solve itself, bikebubba: the streets in St. Paul soon will revert to gravel through neglect.
A decent shoulder with no glass would work if cyclists stayed on the shoulder but often they can’t and not their fault: busses stopped in the bike lane at the bus stop and cars parked on the street force bikes into the traffic lane. 30 mph meets 15 mph, from behind, in the dark, causing abrupt braking and swerving. Physical separation is safer for everybody.
Don’t want Charles Avenue dedicated for bikes? How about tearing out the bumpy cement sidewalk and replacing it with a seamless asphalt bike track?
We don’t want powered wheelchairs, tricycles or skateboards in the traffic lane because it’s just too dangerous. We shouldn’t let the moral superiority of bicyclists chloroform our common sense when it comes to traffic safety for all.
I shouldn’t have to point this out, but men and spandex do not mix.
Joe, notice what you’re saying; other users force cyclists into the traffic lanes by parking in the bike lanes. Well, yes, noticed that a few times, but that makes cyclists culpable exactly how?
No argument that some cyclists, like some drivers, are idiots, and that we ought to be smart about how we ride. I personally tell people who are riding without lights or reflective/bright clothing that they are being fools. But given the bike paths I’ve seen–Eden Prairie is notorious for laying the asphalt paper-thin and doesn’t plow them–I’m reluctant to buy into separation.
Just a minute there, Professor. I didn’t say moving into the traffic land made bikers culpable; I specifically said moving into the traffic lane was not their fault precisely because the present system mixes bus, car and bike traffic on the same piece of pavement. The solution is separate pavement. If Eden Prairie’s bike lanes are too narrow, build a bigger bike lane. And maybe invest in a Ford Ranger with a 4-foot Blizzard plow and a sand spreader attachment on the back.
The point is that every time a bicyclist gets hit by a car, we blame the driver when we ought to be blaming the politicians who told the traffic engineers to build it that way.
Nah, just enforce the laws we have and give tickets to those who don’t share the road. Most of the streets are paid for with the property taxes I’m paying, so I should be able to use them and not add 30% to them so we can build a decent bike lane alongside each road in the city.
Besides, if a driver cannot avoid stationary or slowly moving things in the road–things like pets, children, stalled cars, wild animals, garbage cans–should he really have a drivers’ license? I don’t think so–that’st he kind of guy who should take a cab or the bus.
BikeBubba +1.
Swiftee, nothing wrong with spandex.
Swiftee, nothing wrong with spandex.
On girls! Well, some girls.
The people marching down I-35 because Black lives matter, pay taxes. Some old guy in a motorized wheelchair pays taxes. A kid on a skateboard has parents who pay taxes. Paying taxes has nothing to do with traffic safety. It’s a bad idea to put them all in the traffic lane where busses and commuters are driving.
Marchers, wheelchairs and skateboards should be physically separated from vehicle traffic. And so should bicycles.
By the way, I’m all in favor of ticketing. Spandex Boy who drove up the dotted line between cars as we were waiting at the red light yesterday afternoon, then pulled into the right lane when the light changed – thereby holding the entire line of cars down to 5 mph – would be the first one.
Agreed, Joe. Get those who did not agitate for the removal of cobblestones OFF THE ROADS. Problem solved. :^)
But seriously, no. You can run along the road, bike on the road, and if drivers cannot avoid them, then revoke their licenses. It’s worth noting that the hazard really isn’t that great, considering the size mismatch, too. 1% of trips are taken by bicycle, and 2% of deaths on the roads are cyclists. Factor out the guys who are riding late at night home from the bar, and it’s really not statistically discernable from deaths by drivers.
Spandex Boy! Ooooo. Shot across the bow.
In addition to spandex, any activity that involves the manly shaving of legs is a deal breaker for me.
Bicycling; a lot of baggage when you think about it.
BTW, I-35 is paid for not with property taxes, but rather with taxes on trucks and fuel. Try again, Joe. I submit to you that if the primary means of funding roads is property taxes, as it is for everything but interstate highways, then those roads ought to accomodate a variety of users.
Since these same roads also are host to other slow and immobile hazards like livestock and wild animals, not to mention “things that fall off vehicles”, I would also submit that the roads would ironically be MORE dangerous if we segregated them according to user type. Not “inconvenienced” by seeing runners and cyclists, you’d have drivers being even more idiotic on the roads and running into the other slow and stationary things you’ll find there.
Oooh! Bubba returns a spandex flexing Chuck Norris style roundhouse retort!
Maybe my experience differs from yours, BikeBubba. I drive from Como Park through downtown St. Paul, across the river to Plato Blvd. There are few alternate routes because of the limited number of streets crossing the train line, I-94 and the river.
My morning commute is 5 miles and takes 25 minutes, from 7:00 a.m. until 7:25 a.m. At 7:00 a.m., it’s pitch black outside. My eyes are watching the traffic lanes for on-coming headlights and automobile-intensity tail lights.
I think it’s unwise to sprinkle dimly lit and slow-moving bicycles into that mix because the difference in speed and visibility between cars and bikes creates a lethal traffic hazard. You think it’s wise to sprinkle dimly lit and slow-moving bicycles into that mix even though it creates a traffic hazard to kill bike riders . . . because they paid taxes? Or am I misunderstanding your reasoning?
Joe, you don’t understand. While the spandex is just for teh awesumz, those little helmets give them Ninja powers. They embrace the challenge. Bring on your dead dinosaur burner!
(Now I’ve done it)
Joe, my somewhat judgmental view is that if a motorist cannot see cyclists who have working reflectors, his ability to safely pilot a car is in question. If he cannot see cyclists who have working tail and head lights, he should turn in his license. God help him seeing pedestrians, wild animals, and other obstructions in the road.
And if a cyclist does not have these, and optimally reflective/brightly colored clothing, he needs to take the bus or cab with the former motorists who aren’t safe drivers.
Sorry, I’m a driver, too, and the only problem I’ve had is when cyclists wear dark clothing and don’t take care of reflectors/lights. And that’s a ticketable offense, not a reason to evict cyclists from the roads.
https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=169.222
You’re talking about driving the backroads of Deephaven or rural Stearns County. The traffic density is much lower there so the risk is lower, too. The next bicyclist in St. Paul who gets a ticket for disobeying traffic laws will be the first.
I’m all for enforcing existing laws, but even if we did, the visibility standards for bicycles are set too low. Bicycles operated in the vehicle traffic lane should be equally as visible as autos so they can be seen far enough away for other drivers to safely avoid them. Any bicycle that doesn’t meet that visibility standard should be banned from the road whenever other unlighted vehicles are banned from the road (night, bad weather, etc., it’s in the statutes).
And Swiftee, you’re enjoying this entirely too much.
I see I’ve picked up a supporter. Quick, call for a referendum!
Seriously, though, bikebubba, I concede that auto drivers ought to be attentive. But I think it’s bad policy to intentionally mix autos with bicycles, especially in dense traffic and bad conditions. Where society can safely separate them, it should.
Nate, I’ve ridden in LA, suburban Chicago, Lansing MI, Boulder/Denver, Twin Cities, and more. I’ve never had trouble spotting a cyclist with reflectors, let alone reflective clothing or lights. Ever. I can usually even spot those in all black without reflectors because they show up as a silhouette.
Since pedestrians, pets, children, and the like don’t have reflectors, I further suggest to you that if you cannot spot a cyclist with reflectors and lights, you need to consider your driving habits or even stop driving. At normal city speeds of 30-40mph, cyclists are pretty visible compared to other hazards that you need to deal with.