Psydotek

...but open only to bicycles, would you ride to work?

It's a "cycling fantasy" i've had for a while. If the freeways here in southern california were closed to motor vehicles for a day and open only to bicycles, i would totally love to ride the 35 miles to work. I think it would be pretty fun to go shooting down the interchange ramps (and they'd make for some interesting "hills" too on the way up).

Cromulent

Absolutely. I'd totally go play on the freeway. It would take me completely out of my way, but it would be fun.

ghettocruiser

We do this but once a year here, on a Sunday. It's a charity ride, but also a thinly disguised excuse to ride as fast as you can on a highway.

It would be real nice to be able to cycle across town anytime at a decent, steady speed without just crawling from red light to red light.


Odd how motorists have come to take this completely for granted.

substructure

Man. The time and miles I'd shave if this would happen.
Plus the fun factor would be like a gazillion er something.

ModoVincere

I would skip work and just ride...ride...ride

noisebeam

My route to work basically parallels two freeways. If freeway was lower speed 25-35mph the whole way and not congested I'd take if legal regardless if restricted to just bicycles or not.

One morning I did get to take the freeway for 2mi. I ride on the access road - it was temporairly closed, the flaggers were waving all traffic onto the (bicycles prohibited) freeway, including me - not a problem I figured as it has a wide shoulder until the next exit, which turned out to be closed too, so I went a 2nd mile and exited back onto the acess road.

Al

JeffS

The "freeways" here wouldn't get me to work so no... if they did, then maybe...

I think the long open stretch of road would be demoralizing, killing my sense of speed.

fenester

I'd still ride to work.

I got to ride my skateboard down a long windy highway (Hwy. 17 near Santa Cruz) when it was closed for a protest (first Iraq war). Super sweet carving.

N_C

Hell yes! The interstate would pretty much take me right to my office door. As it is with out being able to ride on I-29 I have to go at least 4 or 5 miles inland then north or south depending on if I'm commuting to or from work. I-29 runs right along side the Missouri River.

kemmer

It would be really weird and not much fun, but faster and safer than surface streets. I'd do it but I wouldn't enjoy it all that much. Now if they allowed a few slow moving buses and trucks for bikes to draft, that would be fun. They could have some specific areas for them to slow down to allow cyclists to tuck in behind and then speed up to 50mph. I could get to work in 20 minutes! Imagine slingshotting out from behind the truck onto your off ramp at 50mph, weeeeeeeee!

spqla

i'd have to ride the 101e/110s/10w/405n to get to work on the freeway. the strip of the 110 through downtown would be fun, the rest would be kind of boring.

but for non-commuting freeway biking, i would love to ride the start of the 101n (from the 60w) all the way to echo park. its rolling and twisty and would be a ton of fun.

and if i live long enough to see light speeders built and sold (ala return of the jedi) i would love to ride those things on the freeways.

JohnBrooking

My wife remembers when I-90 went through the west side of Cleveland. First all the homeowners were bought out and the houses torn down, then the land sat vacant for a few years, then there was a while between the time it was paved and when it was opened for use. During that time, the neighborhood kids would all go play on it, ride bikes on it, whatever. I would have thought they'd try to keep the kids off it, but it was so huge, I guess they couldn't possibly patrol it all. Plus they probably weren't quite so liability-conscious then (early 60s?) as they are today. Sounds like fun.

Bklyn

I'd love it for a day, but I'd miss the nooks and crannies of the streets. And boy, would you be winded without the enforced stops to catch your breath!


OT: All these cyclists quietly racing along an interstate would be like some Mad Max scenario, I started to think. And then it hit me, why in all these dystopian future moves are there no bicycles? They're killing each other over gas to ride around in the middle of the outback? Nobody has a mountain bike?

I-Like-To-Bike

Like this on the Lake Shore Drive in Chicago?

pinkrobe

If it was free of snow, sure thing. Other than that, the freeway doesn't go anywhere near downtown, so it would be a bad choice for me.

kemmer

Cromulent

That might be a bit too far out of my way, but yes.

CrosseyedCrickt

done it already!

CastIron

Damn right.

mtnwalker

WOW! 3 questions: When? Why? How?

WickerParkRider

I do that Bike the Drive ride on Lake Shore Drive here in Chicago every year, so long as I'm in town. Once a year they clear the road for a few hours on a Sunday morning. You start and end at Buckingham Fountain downtown in Grant Park. From there you have your choice of two 15 mile routes---one north to the end of the Drive, the other south to the Museum of Science and Industry in Hyde Park---or one 30 mile route. Of course, no one will stop you if you decide to do it all again and shoot for 45 or 60 miles. It's a great deal of fun.

https://www.bikethedrive.org/

Steev

Not quite the same, but when the Sydney Harbour Brigde turned 50, they closed it to traffic one Sunday and let everyone walk across it. 8 traffic lanes is a huge space when you don't have bumper to bumper cars filling it. Felt really strange to be out there in the middle of the road.

buzzman

a dream come true.

Bolo Grubb

In Phoenix Az, they have been building new freeway sections like crazy. Often on a saturday or Sunday just before it opens to car trafic they let bicycles, roller bladers, etc on it.

It is a blast!

MikeR

That did happen around here once. It was great!

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday, but the river went over flood stage because of previous rains up river. Two short sections of the freeway (about 100 yards each) were under water. They were 6 or 8 miles apart so that section was closed. I walked my bike on the high ground around the flood and cycled to the city in the passing lane of a 4 lane freeway.

It was so coll. It’s the only day I cycle commuted all 76 miles round trip to work (because I didn’t have to work that day). Because that freeway and 2 other roads were closed due to the flooding I was the only vehicle in our entire 3 valley (6 town) area who was not stuck at home that day.

One of the most unique rides I was ever on.