Lowry Bridge Update–Work Must Continue
Hennepin County has agreed to put bike lanes on the new Lowry Avenue Bridge but should go one step further and add “slip ramps,” so bikers who aren’t comfortable near 40+ mph traffic have a safe way to get on and off the adjacent sidewalk trail.
Riding on the Shoulder
In case anyone missed it: Jake Mohan’s Twin Cities Runoff article about “The Marginalized Cyclists of the Twin Cities” is good.
In the summer every bike ride was a joy, but now it isn’t; it isn’t even pleasant, really. With every day that’s colder than the day before, getting on a bike seems increasingly dumb. But I’m still smiling, so far, and I think it’s because it’s an opportunity to tell Nature, “You’re not the boss of me!”
But someday soon Nature will incontrovertibly assert that yes, it is.
Cold Weather Bicycling: Minneapolis Issues Forum
Good advice on winter biking (along with some digressions), some of it specific to Minneapolis. Me, I’m still undecided.
How to Look Over Your Shoulder
As a cyclist who also drives, I’m often amazed by how careless I can be when I get behind the wheel of a car. I know what it’s like when some idiot opens his car door directly into the path of my bike, and I have to swerve into traffic to avoid it. Yet somehow I often open my own door without checking for bikes. What a jerk!
That’s why I get excited about ideas like this, from Sheldon Mains over on e-democracy.org:
Just found out a little piece of driver’s education in Amsterdam. The teach people to open the drivers door with their right hand. That forces you to turn around so you can look over your shoulder (which you should be doing).
If I can train myself to do that, then I won’t be risking that particular act of negligence anymore! I think driver education is an important component of bike safety. So what other driving tips am I missing?
Update: I actually queued this up like a month ago, and since then have briefly tried and then completely forgotten about this.
New Downtown Bicycle Routes Opening
This looks like an interesting ride, starting at Loring Park and proceeding through the new “advisory bike lanes” and the new Hiawatha Trail connection. I’m skeptical of, well, anything “advisory,” and I think the Hiawatha connection is deeply compromised by the lethal detour a few blocks later. But maybe I’m wrong! I’d love to be wrong! Anyway, there’s a group ride tomorrow (Wednesday) at 4:30.
… and another one Thursday for the aforementioned 5th St. NE bikeway!
At 5th & Broadway NE I happened upon a crew putting up Minnesota’s first bicycle signal.
fall, the reason people live here
I’ve lived in New York for four years now, and this much I know is true: the reason people stay here is because they know fall is coming.
For a few years I’ve thought September is my favorite month here in Minnesota. Not too hot anymore, not too cold yet, and so many new colors to see. (The Cedar Lake Trail is beautiful right now, except for the concrete stockpiles maybe, which unlike the leaves haven’t turned.) I probably didn’t appreciate it growing up, when “first month of school” overshadowed September’s other qualities. Now I’m back, and it doesn’t.
I don’t know when I stopped biking. I don’t remember riding a bike in college or high school. That doesn’t mean I didn’t do it. I bike a lot now. What I’ve been thinking this week is how every good biking day in fall is one to cherish, because you know it won’t be long before biking is somewhere between bearable and not, so today you’d better get out there and enjoy it, you never know, this could be the last one.
Cats don’t know. Cats don’t know it’s going to get cold again, they only know how it is now. I don’t know if that’s better or worse. In any case, our cats don’t go outside, and our downstairs neighbors pretty much keep our apartment warm all winter. Plus, cats can’t ride bikes.
