I had some errands on the east side of town today, so I hopped on the Trek 820 with a couple of panniers hanging off the rack.
My first stop was at the cable company office to sign up for digital phone service. Unfortunately, it's not as easy I had hoped, so I left with no service. I also stopped at a shoe store down the street, which didn't have anything I wanted in my size. The trip was a bust.
Famous Footwear Has No Bike Rack
But, the big story was the drivers. None of the streets in Lafayette have bike lanes, and I don't really want to use them anyway. However, it would have been nice today to have a refuge. I was on several 4 lane streets, including McCarty Lane and Creasy Lane. Despite having plenty of room, many drivers seemed to want to pass very close, often trying to share the lane when there wasn't room to do so. It happened too many times.
The best muppet was the guy in the brown Tahoe on Main Street. At the intersection with 9th street, I was stopped in the straight lane, and he pulled up in the left turn lane. As the light turned green, he proceed to go straight instead of turning. We both gave each other looks like the other was an idiot. (Of course, he really is one.)
Things got better as I was able to meet my wife and son at Moe's for lunch. I ate a too large serving of nachos.
The strong headwind on the way home, along with the gut full of Mexican food, made the last five miles go pretty slow. However, I felt pretty good once I arrived home.
Miles Ridden: 22.8
We'll Never Know the Rest of the Story
(as seen on Kossuth Street)
My first stop was at the cable company office to sign up for digital phone service. Unfortunately, it's not as easy I had hoped, so I left with no service. I also stopped at a shoe store down the street, which didn't have anything I wanted in my size. The trip was a bust.
But, the big story was the drivers. None of the streets in Lafayette have bike lanes, and I don't really want to use them anyway. However, it would have been nice today to have a refuge. I was on several 4 lane streets, including McCarty Lane and Creasy Lane. Despite having plenty of room, many drivers seemed to want to pass very close, often trying to share the lane when there wasn't room to do so. It happened too many times.
The best muppet was the guy in the brown Tahoe on Main Street. At the intersection with 9th street, I was stopped in the straight lane, and he pulled up in the left turn lane. As the light turned green, he proceed to go straight instead of turning. We both gave each other looks like the other was an idiot. (Of course, he really is one.)
Things got better as I was able to meet my wife and son at Moe's for lunch. I ate a too large serving of nachos.
The strong headwind on the way home, along with the gut full of Mexican food, made the last five miles go pretty slow. However, I felt pretty good once I arrived home.
Miles Ridden: 22.8
(as seen on Kossuth Street)
posted by Dan at 7:30 PM
2 Comments:
OT...What does a small bike rack cost with installation and what percentage of shoppers would need to bicycle to justify the cost? Just wondering.
John, that's a good point, but I think it's more of a chicken/egg thing. As long as we don't have proper facilities for bicycles (or any other type of transportation other than the auto) we won't see very many people using them.
Thanks for reading! Dan
Post a Comment
<< Home