Over in the Lighting topic of the Electronic's section, Nightturkey describes his idyllic commute through the Carolina woods. Trying to be a comedian, and having everyone believe I've got it much rougher in the big city, I described my own commuter ride through the early morning streets of Phoenix in much more ... colorful ... terms.

Actually, my bicycle commute beats driving any day. So, because of my guilt and to set the record straight, I thought I'd work up a post describing my commute in REAL detail and commenting on what I have learned about bicycle commuting. I'll break it into several posts under this topic, so folks get a chance to respond and I get an idea about whether y'all are interested in my continuing to the end, or if you think we all should just move along to another topic.

(Admin: I'll include a few pictures, linked to uploads at servimg.com; I don't think the links will chew up any resources for the forum, but you let me know if the ISP for RRSC has any issues with it and wants me to take another direction.)




I have to admit, venturing out on a bicycle on the 8 mile journey to work filled me with the same trepidation and excitement I often felt on hiking trips into the Grand Canyon. Simply riding my bike around the neighborhood gave me an appreciation of how insulated and safe we feel in an automobile. I have a long history as a backpacker, and anybody who has ventured out far from the comforts of hearth and home knows the truth of the Boy Scout motto "Be Prepared."

A pretty important rule of backpacking preparation is: Maps are indispensable. I Googled "bike" and "maps" and "Phoenix" and found an excellent map, printed on tough Polyart stock, by a private outfit called The Wide World of Maps; it is a real bargain at $12.95. I found similar maps for a lot of places at the site store.maplink.com.

Familiarity with an area is another plus for being prepared. On my way to work in the car one day, rather than zooming up onto the freeway, I followed the route I would take by bicycle. I got a lot of good information, but I also saw there was no substitute for actually scouting the route on my bike. The next weekend I packed a lunch in the panniers on my trusty Giant Yukon mountain bike, packed my map and my camera, and set out to find the best route.

The first mile and a half takes me west along a major collector road towards a crosstown freeway. Here's picture of that road, looking back east towards my house:





I have only one real objection to this road, and that is the asphalt in the bike lane is breaking up and it gets a little rough. At 5:30 AM (much sooner than when this photograph was taken) there is even LESS traffic on it than you see here. This picture was taken just after I crossed the bridge over the canal, if I turn ninety degrees left, toward the north, this is what the paved path looks like:





With the post barriers, no motor vehicles can use this road. This is a very nice, quiet ride free from traffic of any kind. Yes, I have seen some vagrants and homeless types here, sleeping in the bushes on the left, but only one guy has ever approached me. He asked for some spare change and I told him "No."

Next: Part 2 - The Big Arterial

BluesCat,

So far it seems like you have a pretty nice route.

Walt

I see palm trees and water, so it must be good.

After I pass through the post barriers on the canal path, I have a very serene ride northwest for a little less than a half mile. That is when I run into this:



I call this little number IOD #1, which stands for The Intersection of Death #1. This is a major arterial; it is one of two north-south routes heading directly to airport about 2-1/2 miles south. It has two lanes headed south (towards the left in this photo), a designated left turn lane in the middle, and three lanes headed north. When I reach this on my morning commute, the traffic is almost nonexistent, and crossing the entire roadway usually does not require any wait to get to the continuation of the multi-use path on the other side.

In the afternoons it is a different story. The nearest traffic lights are approximately a half mile to the north and south. By the time traffic reaches this canal bridge from either one of the lights, they are going full speed (supposedly a maximum of 35 MPH, but of course everybody knows they are probably trucking along at closer to 50 MPH, or more). The traffic is much greater in the afternoons, and the lights are timed to keep traffic moving as much as possible. For the poor bicyclist trying to cross, this means that just as the last of the cars coming from the north pass this bridge, the traffic from the south is just reaching it. And, of course, when the traffic from the south finally clears, the traffic from north is just starting to pass.

I have waited for over five minutes for a break in order to get safely across. Most other bicyclists play a real life game of Frogger: wait for the traffic from your left to pass, ride out to the left turn lane, sit there until the traffic from your right passes and then ride to the other side. It is a deadly game because I have seen impatient drivers --- stuck behind two cars driving side-by-side in the southbound lanes --- decide to use the center left turn lane as a passing lane. If a bicyclist is sitting in that lane waiting to cross ...

As I said, in the mornings there is no problem, and I continue on for about another quarter of mile. That is when I reach IOD #2:




IOD #2 is not as dangerous, because of the stop light that you can see on the left hand side of the photo. This traffic light plays a key role in Alternate Realities, the art of finding a safer route, which I will discuss later. Although there is more traffic at IOD #2, being this close to the stop light causes the break in traffic to be much greater, and even in the afternoons I usually can get across safely without delay.

Next: Part 3 - The Wall of Safety

Egad. As soon as it greens up a little bit more around here, I'm going to post some pics of my commute route - Methinks I have it pretty idyllic in comparison...
.....except for one thing - is your entire commute this flat? Looks like the riding itself must be a piece of cake.

Those IODs really need a crossing light for the cyclists. In my mind, this is nothing more and nothing less than a cross walk. It should be striped and a light installed... Even if it's a light you have to push a button for, or, better yet, a sensor in the pavement far enough up the path it trips the light as you arrive.

I'm not sure how the laws are in Arizona, but in California, pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks. You are required to stop, even it there is no light. I think this is something you (and I mean all the local cyclists) should band together and take to the powers that be. They can't anymore than say "no". It really should be a safety concern for them; I'm really surprised they overlooked this when they paved the path. It's almost to the point of being stupid.

I like the pics.... I think the gauntlet has been thrown down. I'm going to have to take pics of my ride.

Mark

I cross IOD #2, continuing northwest on the multi-use path for a little less than a half a mile. At that point I reach The Easy Dogleg:



I turn right here, cross the canal bridge and turn left on the other side where another multi-use path begins. It heads straight towards the freeway overpass you can see as that beige structure on the left. Once I reach it, the multi-use path makes a right to parallel the freeway straight north. Before I make that right, if I look back towards The Easy Dogleg, this is what I see:



You can see the canal bridge I just crossed in the background. If the camera were to pan ninety degrees left so I see what is before me when I make the turn, this is the next quarter of a mile:



The berm rises on the left up to the noise abatement wall of the freeway. It truly is a wall of safety because --- at this point at least --- it blocks anything like UFOs thrown from cars, or the cars themselves, from winding up on the multi-use path. On the way home in the afternoon during the summer months, that wall is high enough that this entire path is in the blissful shade.


Next up: Part 4 - The Nice Crossings