Back to normal, at last. Or at least close. I rode to the shop yesterday for the first time in more than two months. My back finally feels good enough that the extra pressure from my bag isn't uncomfortable.
And I had a good ride, other than being out of shape, on a heavy bike and fighting a pretty stout headwind. It was nice to get back out on the road and leave my car at home.
Earlier in the morning, when attempting to get groceries, I saw another bike commuter. I was pumped at first, but then I just kind of shook my head. He was riding on 132nd Street.
For those who don't know Omaha, or beyond-the-beltway West Omaha, 132nd Street is busy. It's sometimes two lanes, sometimes three, sometimes four -- all within two miles. It's a main arterial from beyond 132nd/Fort Streets to West Dodge Road. So at 8 a.m., it's busy -- and fast.
And it's a horrible, horrible place to ride a bike. Watching this guy lumber up the long, two-lane hill on his mountain bike made me hope for his safety. And it reminded me of one of the first things I learned when I started riding to work a couple of years ago: choose a good route.
Omaha is built for cars. There are wide swaths of east-west roads that connect to big north-south roads (like 132nd). They're designed to get people to where they're going faster.
Unfortunately, the rest of the grid is a total mess. Dumb, curvy, non-connecting subdivisions dot the area west of I-680, making east-west travel on something other than a main street difficult at best.
But it can be done. You just have to study. I tried to find an alternate way from 120th to 95th or so, but didn't have any luck when I glanced at the map real quick yesterday. There are two subdivisions side-by-side that connect to Fort Street (four lanes, busy) but not each other.
Nice job, Omaha.
So, to the guy on 132nd and to you, please choose your route carefully. Consider traffic flow at certain times of day, consider safe riding space. People aren't generally against bikes -- they're against bikes that are in the way.
And that's when they get mad and you get buzzed. Sometimes you have to take the busy street, but everything works better -- and perhaps more safely -- if you don't.
5 comments:
I ride 132nd street rather often if I have to stop by the shop on the way home. I usually get on around Pacific (exiting residential) and ride till just a smidge North of Maple (where I get back into residential). That's mostly 4 lane accept for the section between Blondo and Maple. But that section is downhill going north, so I can keep up with traffic there. Going south would be a different story.
I find that people are usually pretty respectful when passing bikes on 4 lane roads. I actually feel safer during rush hour because everyone is going slower anyways due to traffic, and they don't buzz me at 55mph.
Anyways, I've had little or no issues going NORTH on 132nd. With this one exception.
looks like you've found the right time to be on that route in that direction.
I've had mixed results with four-lane. On Fort, I've been buzzed numerous times ... on a Saturday morning at about 8:45.
But near downtown/midtown, I've been fine, always. Just depends on how angry the drivers are that day, I guess.
I actually ride the sidewalk, yep that's right the sidewalk from just north of Dodge on 132nd until Blondo, and then gun it to get to Maple when I'm riding to the shop ride on Wednesday nights. I found a better way last time I rode was to either take the trail on 144th to Maple and then over or stay on Maple till 156th and hit the trail to go south.
Yeah, when I ride from UNMC to HighGear every Wed. and Thursday, I hop onto the sidewalk of 84th for about a half mile. I'm happy that Scott has become such a resource of cycling info, as I used to assume that riding a bike on the sidewalk was prohibited.
I feel a little weird in riding "off-road" until 20-ish cars going 50mph fly by while I'm putzing along the sidewalk.
Technically, it's illegal to go more than 10mph on a sidewalk (I think I read that somewhere). But, sometimes you have to do it to stay alive. Just watch out for stray pop bottles. I took one on the chin one morning, much to the delight of a car full of high school boys.
When I commute to Papillion, I have to take 132nd to cross the RR between Center and L. Going south in the morning, I use the road. Going north in the evening, I use the sidewalk. You just have to figure out what is safe.
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