San Rensho 

During the gas crisis in the early 70s, some Scandinavian countries banned driving on Sundays on the freeways to save gas, so people could bike for many many miles.

o-dog

same here, I'd call out and ride all day

ItsJustMe

If they closed the expressways down here, I'd stay home, because all the non-expressway roads would be clogged solid with so many cars I couldn't get to the expressways.

Small chunks of expressway have been closed here during construction for a few hours at a time - during that time it can take an hour to go 2 miles due to the solid pack of cars. I did enjoy filtering to some extent during one of these times; I must have passed 600 cars on one occasion, but it was still way slower than normal, because there's no shoulder and the gravel on the side is pretty rough.

I commute on country roads so I go as fast as I want without stop sign or light for most of my ride anyway. Going to the expressway would be about 6 miles out of my way. Doesn't excite me really. Besides, the surface of the expressways are usually worse than the surface streets here.

East Hill

From where to where?

That would be too cool.

East Hill

al-wagner

If they did that here my ride to work would be a mile shorter ,
but I would take the long way

wheel

Tempe is surrounded by freeways. The 10 on the west 101 on the east, 60 in the middle, 202 to the north.

rajman

The Ride for Heart is always a fun ride - I particulary like riding on the Gardiner over the Lakeshore (though the condition of the roadway leaves something to be desired)...

It's a real buzz to be able to ride for 50 (haven't done the 75 yet - you have to register too early for me to be organised enough to do it) km without stops or cross traffic on a wide roadway.

jyossarian

The Heart & Stroke ride on the DVP? I did that ride just so I could ride traffic free on it. They shutdown the highways and bridges around here for the 5BBT which is tons o' fun if you're not stuck in the back of the pack.

As for riding to work on the freeway, I'd have to go out of the way to get there, but I'd do it just for the hell of it.

Sci-Fi

Considering most of the Los Angeles Freeways have grooves cut in them...not really..the motocyclists have enough problems with the grooves with their much wider tires. If they made some of the emergency shoulders bike lanes and there was a safe way to get past the on-and-off ramps, I might consider it. It would be a straighter shot (and non-stop) to get where I want to go a lot easier.

Bekologist

I've ridden a fair amount of Interstate miles- they'd definetly be a lot more fun without all the traffic and exhaust.

And I've pulled 50 miles per hour off the North Cascades Highway without drafting (heck, even in Seattle proper there's hills you can break 50MPH on a bicycle- Innes Arden Way past ShorelineCC for the locals-)

doing 50MPH on a bicycle you've got to trust the rubber and take the lane!

Tapeworm21

That is a brilliant picture.

jyossarian

mister

I would ride it, but not to work. Taking the freeway would send me way out of my way to work.

I-Like-To-Bike

Along the Rhein in Germany on Auto Frei Tag

Bekologist

car free day-

Americans would have a huge collective coronary! and supporting freedom from oil dependency is just so, unamerican........ (irony)

gwhalin

Sheridan Expressway in the Bronx.

maximan1

There are too many idiots around here. I wouldn't risk going on the freeway, because despite all the cop cars, some DUMbA** would just drive on by and "not notice" the bicycles and the cop cars around him.

Gurgus

I've been meaning to do this ride for the past five years and I somehow never get around to it. I'd wanna do it on my fixed or on a tall bike. Looks like fun.

smurfy

That would be frekin' AWESOME!!!

Interstate 75 would cut at least five minutes off my seven-mile commute (ten with a road racing bike going flat out).

jyossarian

I did it on my fixie. The 2nd half of the ride going downhill on the DVP was where I took my feet off the pedals and rested them on the chainstays and let gravity do the work. A roadie came by laughing and said I made it look easy.

sukram

For what it's worth, here in NY up in Westchester they close off part of the Bronx River Parkway between 10 and 2 on Sundays during the Spring and Fall, or something like that. I think it's only a 7 or so mile stretch but it was a fun ride when I was young.

With all the arteries and highways/parkways and what-not around here in NYC what I'd like to see is a move toward developing separate greenways that act as bike/rollerblade/ped highways. I'd love to be able to hop on a "Grand Central Greenway" out of Queens out to the Island, or something akin to that. If they had a decent and relatively unobstructed greenway up through the Bronx I could ride the 15 miles to visit my folks instead of slogging through the streets of the Bronx between 5 minute rides on the greenways that are only sort of connected... Wouldn't be too hard to create some real bike arteries through NYC, just no pol has the balls to push it.

I-Like-To-Bike

Is that something like coasting down a hill? Riding downhill is supposed to be easy!

Erick L

I rode a small stretch of a freeway once. Traffic was jammed. I wish I could ride there legally. I have to take a long detour just to cross the damn freeways.

ken cummings

I did just that for two weeks. In all but name the 101 between Petaluma and Novato is a freeway. Technically it is an open road with maybe one house or sideroad per mile joining it. Still a divided Hwy with two or three lanes each way, wide shoulders, and thousands of cars per hour going 60 to 75 MPH. Great drafting if you can handle the shock waves near the white line. One day a CHP pulled a guy over in front of me, blocking the shoulder. When he saw me coming he got on his loudspeaker and had the perp move 1/4 mile down the road to where I could pass safely. Going home I always passed hundreds of cars backed up where the road north narrowed from 3 to 2 lanes. Even waved at a CHP car stuck in traffic. He waved miles later when he caught up. He even looked in his mirror to see if I waved back.

As an earlier poster hinted there are several thousands of miles of Interstate and freeway where you can ride on the shoulder. Often the most efficient way to get somewhere. My next tour will largely be on Hwy 12, US 50 in Nevada and Utah, and I-70 in Utah and Colorado.

jyossarian

He had to pedal to pass me so it was easy for me. But I had more gravity than he did.