they need to put some orange flags on that shit.
2010-10-26 21:54:38
14
headhunter!
yesterday in my "no brakes" thread I mentioned I'd done 3 dumb things in the past week... well, make it 4 - this one left me on the pavement although thankfully unhurt.
just after i left work to flee the tornado of certain death, as always, i go straight from ELB into the school driveway and make a left on to the path there. except today, there was a minivan leaving the school and apparently going straight, so i planned to cross behind it, and was taken off guard when she stopped (in retrospect, likely turning left with no signal, grrrr...). so, she's basically blocking my access to the path, but i thought i still had enough room to get around behind her if I cut it close. so, i make the turn and OMG THERE'S A BIG METAL BAR THAT'S GONNA TAKE MY HEAD OFF! Some sort of self preservation instinct took over and made me hit the ground FAST, at which point I let out a loud "WTF?" and reconstructed what just happened.
so, it turns out the minivan had a bike rack on the back and although it was devoid of bikes, the arms were left sticking out right at my head level. I really don't know how I managed to get on the ground so fast to avoid it, but I think that was the more pleasant option. i think the moral of the story is - patience is a virtue...
2010-10-26 21:52:30
wouldn't have helped, i couldn't see them at all until i cut the corner. maybe if the *%&*&^%(%* windows weren't tinted black.
2010-10-26 21:57:39
btw, regardless of that, it was still a dumb move by me because i couldn't see peds, etc. on the other side of the van either. in fact i ended up a few feet from one of my coworkers who was walking home, he was also like "wtf" and didn't seem to buy my minivan-guillotine story... lol.
2010-10-26 21:59:43
Glad you are okay. I nearly played chicken with one of those RR arms the other day. It was unintentional, doh.
I try to avoid taking chances on tracks: trains can take ~3 miles to stop.
2010-10-27 00:26:59
Now that the light at bksq is functional and there's some new pavement, the stretch of penn between elb and fifth is a lot easier to ride. And you don't have to wait a minute and a half for the walk light at the crosswalk.
2010-10-27 01:10:57
I'm coming from ELB, so I have to wait for the light in any case. Then I'm only on the trail a few hundred feet before I make a right at the next intersection (BTW, last week they TRIPLED the width of the curb cuts there which is nice!)
So, it doesn't make much difference but the trail is a little more convenient and gets me out of the way of the asswipes who feel the need to floor it to make up for all the time they've been sitting at that light.
2010-10-27 02:51:51
Hey Salty, you can also make a left at the new light behind Bakery Square--it's Dahlem or something, ride up almost as far as the East Liberty Bus garage and then right and pass through the BkSq parking lot and come out at the new light on Penn. Straight across from there. I haven't done this on a weekday evening, but it does bypass Penn Ave and also you've got much better sight lines at the light up the road.
2010-10-27 14:47:55
I believe they close the gates at that parking garage around 9pm.
2010-10-27 14:52:51
This is up by the hotel, the second pass through. I don't remember seeing gates, but it's possible...
2010-10-27 15:01:04
Gates that prevent access, or gates to discourage use and mainly just cause you to get off and walk four feet?
2010-10-27 16:05:38
It's a crying shame that you can't get all the way to MacPherson and W. Blvd through there.
2010-10-27 16:15:30
The gate is only on the far entrance though. If you make the left and then a quick right you ride right past the main entrance to the bakery square garage and continue through the lot. Then follow the directions above.
2010-10-27 16:42:48
I work at Bakery Square; the door I use is on ELB. and, holy crap, the few times I've tried to ride through the main lot was a whole lot scarier than anything that happens on Penn.
it's really never been an issue until yesterday, and if I were 5 seconds more patient that wouldn't have been an issue either...
2010-10-27 16:55:59