The Chainlink

I drive down Damen from the Ike to 21st Street to visit my son in Pilsen. I have to go through a pair of extra long train-viaducts, and I am always surprised to see bikers make a go of it, on the street side instead of the walkway. If anyone down there wanted a new cause to get behind, it might be for a bermed bike egress for those viaducts, with better lighting. I'm sure the train companies own the bridges, so they'd be the ones to petition to. I'm just sayin'...

Views: 848

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Adam-- I think you misunderstood my response. Re-read?

Adam Herstein said:

Wow, really? You don't even know me yet you are apparently judging my riding skill? Taking the lane is far safer than riding far to the right and having motorists come within inches of hitting you with their cars. Riding in the middle of the lane makes you more visible; collisions from behind are rare. I ride in the middle of the lane frequently when I deem it unsafe to ride to the right and typically don't have any problems. 

h' said:

Adam, be careful sitting behind your keyboard in the warmth of your home imploring others to take the lane. You don't know who you're dealing with on the other end in terms of skill and comfort level, ability to keep one's composure in tense situations, etc.  "Take the lane" works wonderfully, except for the times you get killed.

I apologize – I did misread your post. I read "who" as "what" thus changing the whole subject of the sentence. I take back what I said to you. I probably shouldn't be checking Chainlink first thing in the morning before coffee!

h' said:

Adam-- I think you misunderstood my response. Re-read?

Adam Herstein said:

Wow, really? You don't even know me yet you are apparently judging my riding skill? Taking the lane is far safer than riding far to the right and having motorists come within inches of hitting you with their cars. Riding in the middle of the lane makes you more visible; collisions from behind are rare. I ride in the middle of the lane frequently when I deem it unsafe to ride to the right and typically don't have any problems. 

h' said:

Adam, be careful sitting behind your keyboard in the warmth of your home imploring others to take the lane. You don't know who you're dealing with on the other end in terms of skill and comfort level, ability to keep one's composure in tense situations, etc.  "Take the lane" works wonderfully, except for the times you get killed.

Actually, I don't think it's been swept since Big Bill Thompson won his first term.

Ace Mann said:

The reason cyclist don't take the sidewalk is that the sidewalk is full of glass & hasn't been cleaned since the 1st mayor Daley was in office.

New project: Brooms for the South Side. 

A call to Solis' office would get it cleaned. Although it could be a long while until it was cleaned again.

Is that the reason cyclists don't ride on the sidewalk though?

Bill Savage said:

Actually, I don't think it's been swept since Big Bill Thompson won his first term.

Ace Mann said:

The reason cyclist don't take the sidewalk is that the sidewalk is full of glass & hasn't been cleaned since the 1st mayor Daley was in office.

I take the lane pretty frequently especially the loop where traffic is moving slowly. But on Damen, there are some pretty treacherous stretches where I would not do so. For example, the entire length of the bridge over the river on the south side. That is effectively a four lane highway for motor vehicles. It is not uncommon to see people driving well over 60 MPH on that thing. 


Adam Herstein said:

Wow, really? You don't even know me yet you are apparently judging my riding skill? Taking the lane is far safer than riding far to the right and having motorists come within inches of hitting you with their cars. Riding in the middle of the lane makes you more visible; collisions from behind are rare. I ride in the middle of the lane frequently when I deem it unsafe to ride to the right and typically don't have any problems. 

h' said:

Adam, be careful sitting behind your keyboard in the warmth of your home imploring others to take the lane. You don't know who you're dealing with on the other end in terms of skill and comfort level, ability to keep one's composure in tense situations, etc.  "Take the lane" works wonderfully, except for the times you get killed.

Taking the lane in that bridge is dangerous, I've been honked at, harassed and, effectively, "driven at" by motorists who are frustrated with remaining behind me for the duration of the tunnel. I'm a relatively speedy cyclist, and quite confident, but with news of crashes and the nature of the majority of South Side drivers, I usually keep to the right, which, provided there aren't puddles or 30 packs of beer (this happens) gives me almost enough room. Sometimes I just don't feel pig-headed enough to stay in front of five angry trucks. I've lived in Chicago a year now, and have encountered far too many drivers here who think rushing at cyclists is a fun game. Solution? Not sure. If there's a lot of traffic, I slow it down and let the speedier vehicles pass before I enter the tunnel. 

That bridge... my trip to Target takes all of ten minutes if I take it but I think sometimes it's best to add the extra 15 or 20 and take Western to Archer. I've had some close calls and seen some nasty almost-accidents on that thing. People really do go about 60, faster at night. 

Tony Adams said:

I take the lane pretty frequently especially the loop where traffic is moving slowly. But on Damen, there are some pretty treacherous stretches where I would not do so. For example, the entire length of the bridge over the river on the south side. That is effectively a four lane highway for motor vehicles. It is not uncommon to see people driving well over 60 MPH on that thing. 


Adam Herstein said:

Wow, really? You don't even know me yet you are apparently judging my riding skill? Taking the lane is far safer than riding far to the right and having motorists come within inches of hitting you with their cars. Riding in the middle of the lane makes you more visible; collisions from behind are rare. I ride in the middle of the lane frequently when I deem it unsafe to ride to the right and typically don't have any problems. 

h' said:

Adam, be careful sitting behind your keyboard in the warmth of your home imploring others to take the lane. You don't know who you're dealing with on the other end in terms of skill and comfort level, ability to keep one's composure in tense situations, etc.  "Take the lane" works wonderfully, except for the times you get killed.

I don't get this.... apparently you live somewhere north of Blue Island and Damen?

If you were to take Western, why not swing over to Target on 33rd than rather than going all the way down to Archer? That's what I always do.



Dovah Cat said:

That bridge... my trip to Target takes all of ten minutes if I take it but I think sometimes it's best to add the extra 15 or 20 and take Western to Archer. I've had some close calls and seen some nasty almost-accidents on that thing. People really do go about 60, faster at night. 

Tony Adams said:

I take the lane pretty frequently especially the loop where traffic is moving slowly. But on Damen, there are some pretty treacherous stretches where I would not do so. For example, the entire length of the bridge over the river on the south side. That is effectively a four lane highway for motor vehicles. It is not uncommon to see people driving well over 60 MPH on that thing. 


Adam Herstein said:

Wow, really? You don't even know me yet you are apparently judging my riding skill? Taking the lane is far safer than riding far to the right and having motorists come within inches of hitting you with their cars. Riding in the middle of the lane makes you more visible; collisions from behind are rare. I ride in the middle of the lane frequently when I deem it unsafe to ride to the right and typically don't have any problems. 

h' said:

Adam, be careful sitting behind your keyboard in the warmth of your home imploring others to take the lane. You don't know who you're dealing with on the other end in terms of skill and comfort level, ability to keep one's composure in tense situations, etc.  "Take the lane" works wonderfully, except for the times you get killed.

Well, if you had to take the sidewalk, you'd chance un-shovelled walks in the winter, and gang bangers in the summer, so I get that you'd want to use the street.  But the street sucks.  The right shoulder southbound is all pot-holey.  I don't have a solution to the current setup, but there has to be one out there, don't you think?

P.S. to Adam H, don't take offense to h's comment - he/she's just concerned for the greenhorn who might think they can do as well as yourself, but will eventually get squashed for their lack of experience.  There are a lot of readers out there that a too susceptible to suggestion for their own good.
 
Dovah Cat said:

Taking the lane in that bridge is dangerous, I've been honked at, harassed and, effectively, "driven at" by motorists who are frustrated with remaining behind me for the duration of the tunnel. I'm a relatively speedy cyclist, and quite confident, but with news of crashes and the nature of the majority of South Side drivers, I usually keep to the right, which, provided there aren't puddles or 30 packs of beer (this happens) gives me almost enough room. Sometimes I just don't feel pig-headed enough to stay in front of five angry trucks. I've lived in Chicago a year now, and have encountered far too many drivers here who think rushing at cyclists is a fun game. Solution? Not sure. If there's a lot of traffic, I slow it down and let the speedier vehicles pass before I enter the tunnel. 

I initially misread his comment and thought he was accusing me of not being experienced enough to take the lane. Upon re-reading, I realized that this was not the case, and apologized.

John Farris said:

P.S. to Adam H, don't take offense to h's comment - he/she's just concerned for the greenhorn who might think they can do as well as yourself, but will eventually get squashed for their lack of experience.  There are a lot of readers out there that a too susceptible to suggestion for their own good.

you can take the sidewalk, it's just annoying and you have to go slow, avoiding glass, slimy sidewalks, dripping water and people slowly pushing shopping carts.

I always took the time to stop and turn on my red fender light before I went through that underpass. I always stayed to the right and never "took the lane" as I think that's asking for trouble from either a road-raged driver or someone who's eyes hadn't adjusted properly to the darkness.

A separate bike lane would be nice, though.

RSS

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service