Originally Posted by
nelson249
Fortunately I live near the south end of the Iron Horse Trail so I can get in rather easily (After I get across the cursed Parkway and if they would kindly stop ripping the trail up). Of the other cyclists, one lives in Belmont Village, another near Erbsville Rd and Columbia and two or three others live near Margaret and Guelph Ave. No extra steps are taken by the University to encourage cycling as there are not even bike racks outside the office (due to recent renovations on the exterior). The only real incentive is the high cost of parking even for faculty and staff and the lack of parking spaces.
I'm also just across the Parkway from the south end of the Iron Horse. Eckert St. and the pedestrian bridge near Courtland are both pretty handy from where I live. I'll take Courtland southbound in the evening (well after rush hour) but not northbound in the morning--it's just too stressful to be enjoyable although I'm sure it would still be relatively safe.
I've actually been avoiding the Iron Horse almost entirely this summer--partly due to construction, partly just because I'm taking less direct routes to get a few more miles in. I'll start taking it again once the snow flies and I switch to the winter-beater bike.
Bike racks are almost everywhere at UW, but none of them are secured to the ground. I don't relish the thought of leaving my summer bike out there all day (it's a fairly nice CX bike), so I park it inside my lab where I can keep an eye on it (grad students have to get the occasional perk, right?)
This time of year a fair number of my colleagues bike. Many are close enough to walk when the weather turns nasty.