Man, I love our city. Not only do they have a trail that goes for miles that I can get on 2 blocks from my house that I can get off of 2 blocks from work, they plow it all the time, too!!! I think we got 6 or 7 inches in the last 24 hours, and they're still working on the emergency snow routes for the cars. Yet the 'Bike Super Highway' as we call it had at most 2 inches anywhere I rode on it today. The typical amount was from nearly bare pavement to 1/2 an inch!!! Anways, here's the pics:
I stopped under 35W to take some shots of my bike in the snow that was pushed to the side, off the trail:
http://www.werstnet.com/site_images/blog_images/12_15_05/Day_Bike.jpg
While I was stopped, a plow came by, not plowing. His window was down, and I was able to give him a thumbs up and say thanks:
As I was putting my camera back in my bag, another plow came by, and I was able to thank him too. They both waved. This one was plowing, and a few hundred feet in front of me when I took off. I was able to ride bare pavement behind him until I crossed the second street I have to cross on the way. After that, there was about 2" for the last short part of my commute (which ended up with a detour to the LBS that put me on city streets anyways.) Some guy on a MTB with big fat knobies had been weaving back and forth over pretty much the whole width of the trail, and the ruts were starting to harden. My skinny little 23c folding tires kept trying to pull the bike out from under me when I hit them. Idiot. I wish he had of been able to hold a line.
After work, there were a lot more tracks, but a lot less snow. Easy going. I took some shots of the number of tracks and my bike:
I stopped at the third cross street on my way. Actually, it's the last one :D The most major one is a really major street, Hiawatha (shots above are about 2 blocks past it.) It took about 45 seconds for the light to change to green since I pushed the button for the crosswalk, which counts down the seconds remaining once it starts flashing. There were no cars on the other side. The only thing I didn't really like there was that whoever put in the button put it on the opposite side that you're on when you ride up to the post. The last street isn't on the emergency route schedule. This is the stuff that most of the drivers in town were getting home on tonight:
My exit requires a sharp 180 turn, and I wasn't able to get traction uphill at that low of a speed, so I walked it. Maybe 50 feet? It too only had 1/2" of snow. If I was coming from the other direction, I would have had no problems.
Anyways, there's the horror of a snow day in Minneapolis! The only time I felt even remotely close to falling over was when I got to the parking lot at work. It still wasn't plowed when a fire alarm forced me to leave at a little after midnight. I wish I could have changed my socks and stuff inside :mad:
BlastRadius
12-15-05, 01:01 AM
Great pics. Thanks. Interesting headlight arrangement too.
HereNT
12-15-05, 01:16 AM
Great pics. Thanks. Interesting headlight arrangement too.
It's been really great for keeping the hand positions, and the cars/peds love it. At least a couple of times a week someone makes a comment thanking me for them. Super bright may work, but in the city it's not always the best thing. You don't need to light up the road too much, you just need to be seen. These say exactly where I am and how wide I am and scream BIKE! For when I'm riding in really dark areas, I have a helmet LED that seems to do the trick.
And after looking a little closer at the pics, I just realized that I need to charge the batteries in one of them. Oops...
absntr
12-15-05, 07:31 AM
Nice J. Thanks for posting those. I read your site about the experience as well.
And thanks for the lights idea. I'm still rockin' that configuration when I saw them last.
Out of curiosity -- how safe is the Greenway? The lakefront path here in Chicago is pretty safe but occasionally there have been reports and incidents of small groups of well, let's say, thugs, who decide to mess around with peds, runners, cyclists.
nicomachus
12-15-05, 08:55 AM
nice shots and write-up. thanks for posting them.
makes me miss living in a place that gets real snow. we got precipitation with an identity crisis this morning... couldn't decide if it was ice or rain.
Nice J. Thanks for posting those. I read your site about the experience as well.
And thanks for the lights idea. I'm still rockin' that configuration when I saw them last.
Out of curiosity -- how safe is the Greenway? The lakefront path here in Chicago is pretty safe but occasionally there have been reports and incidents of small groups of well, let's say, thugs, who decide to mess around with peds, runners, cyclists.
I've only ever had on incident, and I was past the guys so fast I'm not sure if they were actually going to do anything or just kidding around. There are lit up emergency call thingies spaced along it in the more urban areas. Once it gets out into Hopkins, I don't think they have any. But out there there's not much of anything but warehouses and stuff along it. It's also fenced on both sides, so it's not easy for someone to dissappear once they're on it.
rule
12-15-05, 12:12 PM
Nice pics! Yeah, I skipped the ride on an ice day that we had last week. The parking lot at work was the worst, even with 4-wheel.
CastIron
12-15-05, 01:45 PM
Meanwhile on Franklin Ave. I was covered head to toe in slop. Yeah me. As to your light arrangment I think I saw you a little while back and I gotta say it flat works. I run two (same two as you?) near the stem and was still amazed at the difference.
kuan
12-15-05, 04:49 PM
Nice pics. Thanks :)
kuan
12-15-05, 04:53 PM
Meanwhile on Franklin Ave. I was covered head to toe in slop. Yeah me. As to your light arrangment I think I saw you a little while back and I gotta say it flat works. I run two (same two as you?) near the stem and was still amazed at the difference.
You guys who head down Franklin Ave. and all up and down Nicollet are crazy, especially in the snow! For some reason folks just drive all crazy on that street. They still haven't figured out those suicide lanes yet.
HereNT
12-15-05, 06:39 PM
As to your light arrangment I think I saw you a little while back and I gotta say it flat works. I run two (same two as you?) near the stem and was still amazed at the difference.
I used to run them there, and moved them because I liked having my hands there and wanted room for a computer. I don't know why but everyone seems to really notice it...
You guys who head down Franklin Ave. and all up and down Nicollet are crazy, especially in the snow! For some reason folks just drive all crazy on that street. They still haven't figured out those suicide lanes yet.
Don't know about Franklin these days - it's been awhile since I've taken it. On Nicollet, the trick is to ride down the center, in the turn lane. It even kind of looks like a bike lane. I wouldn't ride it off to the sides now that the cars have moved over. There is NO way to avoid the door zone...
naisme
12-15-05, 09:44 PM
I love our city. Three days of snow. I got out in the slush the past couple days, but didn't get pics. Went riding just before the snow, with someone who'll remain nameless, because he wimped out with cold fingers. I take it serious though, as I've been cold and it isn't fun.
Still working on gear to wear for the mile commute to work. When I rode 15-25 miles one way it was easy to get dressed up in Am Fib tights, woolies, and all that, but it's way too much for a mile. Have thought of doing the Greenway just to get the miles up and wear my gear.
HereNT
12-16-05, 12:39 AM
A mile commute almost doesn't need gear. Mine almost doesn't. I don't know if you can come up with the right gear for a ride that short - you're done before you can even start generating heat...
If you're close to the greenway, a 5-10 mile ride on it before doing the last mile to work might be just the trick...
Big K
12-16-05, 11:31 AM
Nice pics.. have you tested how far west the grooming is done regularly? I am coming from the other direction on the northern spur of the Southwestern trail. I start near Victoria and the only "grooming" done out there is by snowmobiles that pack the snow down enough to make it ridable (on an mtb with studded snow tires). Depending on the snow depth, this can be really hard work & slow going. As I go east, I reach a spot (just west of Excelsior) where somebody regularly plows from that point toward town. I normally work so hard getting through the rough stuff that I don't have energy to go much further than where the trial goes under 494 (round trip of about 30 miles). If I went another 4-5 miles (through Hopkins) I'd hit the west edge of the trail you've taken pics of. Is it groomed (regulalry) all the way into Minneapolis? In the summer I ride that route (connecting with Cedar Lake trail) and turn around down by Dunwwody (about 50 miles round trip).
iceratt
12-16-05, 11:43 AM
All the bike trails are plowed well, by the parks dept. I ride along the greenway to Bryant, then scoot around Hariet, to get home, and the only trouble have is on the poorly plowed side streets. Thanks for the pics!
Zin
12-16-05, 12:17 PM
Great pics! They almost make me want to move back to Minnesota. (almost) Thanks for sharing!
It'd be great to have a trail system like that to commute on.
CastIron
12-16-05, 02:50 PM
Still working on gear to wear for the mile commute to work. When I rode 15-25 miles one way it was easy to get dressed up in Am Fib tights, woolies, and all that, but it's way too much for a mile. Have thought of doing the Greenway just to get the miles up and wear my gear.
My commute used to be a mile. I tried to bike it, but it was more trouble than it was worth and amounted to the same time as my walk to work once you factored the fuss.
Zin
12-16-05, 03:22 PM
You know, I really miss reading NAISME's winter commute reports and photos!
I think he needs to move out to Savage, Shokopee, or Prior Lake so the rest of us can read his adventures again! :D
HereNT
12-16-05, 06:23 PM
Nice pics.. have you tested how far west the grooming is done regularly? I am coming from the other direction on the northern spur of the Southwestern trail. I start near Victoria and the only "grooming" done out there is by snowmobiles that pack the snow down enough to make it ridable (on an mtb with studded snow tires). Depending on the snow depth, this can be really hard work & slow going. As I go east, I reach a spot (just west of Excelsior) where somebody regularly plows from that point toward town. I normally work so hard getting through the rough stuff that I don't have energy to go much further than where the trial goes under 494 (round trip of about 30 miles). If I went another 4-5 miles (through Hopkins) I'd hit the west edge of the trail you've taken pics of. Is it groomed (regulalry) all the way into Minneapolis? In the summer I ride that route (connecting with Cedar Lake trail) and turn around down by Dunwwody (about 50 miles round trip).
Actually, I've never ridden out that far even during the summer. Sorry I can't help you. Typically if I ride out that direction, I turn in Hopkins and take the Cedar Lake trail back into downtown and have a beer... Maybe I'll have some time to ride out as far as Hopkins this weekend, but work's not making it look very likely. Oh well, I could use the OT.
naisme
12-16-05, 09:39 PM
I used to ride all the way to Plymouth, but the trail doesn't go that way. I did a century a couple years ago, when the Challenger blew up coming in for a landing, that I traveled out to St. Bonifacious. I took the trail that runs out from Hopkins along Minnetonka Blvd (hiway 5) it was plowed, er groomed most of the way, till about Baker Park, and then I hit the roads, got through to Victoria, then turned north and came back on the Luce line riding the snowmobile tracks, but that was brutal (I was riding a fixed gear). I hit the roads again and made it back to Saint Paul. I was five miles short of 100 miles so I road through the streets, around the block until I'd gotten my 100. Ugh. I can't wait to do that again.
I have a gripe about the plowing. Man, there are some real dillholes with the way they park their cages. Instead of getting towed so the street can be plowed, they got ticketed and plowed around, so there are these crapy mounds of snow spilling into the streets, which with a nice snow pack, slush and dirty crap. I just wish we could all ride.
specq
12-18-05, 12:56 PM
hey! I think I see my tire tracks! Cool pictures.
This is my first year doing the year-round commute thing. I do 20 miles each way from Saint Paul out to Eden Prairie. It was actually a pleasant surprise to see how promptly (and how thoroughly) they plow.