was this on the eastside or a crossing of the ship canal?
It was on Emerson PL coming up to 15th from Magnolia. I assume that they were using it to get to the sidewalk to cross over Ballard Bridge. I’m fine stopping for commuters on Ballard Bridge. It’s a bad way to get across the ship canal, but with the alternate routes adding at least 20 min to the ride, it’s fair that riders use it to get to work and back. But this being a group ride where the purpose it to get a workout, I figured they should be heading over to the Fremont bridge, where they don’t have to ride a quarter mile on a sidewalk that was never designed for bikes.
Several of the people in the group apologized as they passed. Could have been that they were just following the ride leader and didn’t know that this was the route there were being taken on.
[quote=TimArchyLime]It was on Emerson PL coming up to 15th from Magnolia. I assume that they were using it to get to the sidewalk to cross over Ballard Bridge. I’m fine stopping for commuters on Ballard Bridge. It’s a bad way to get across the ship canal, but with the alternate routes adding at least 20 min to the ride, it’s fair that riders use it to get to work and back. But this being a group ride where the purpose it to get a workout, I figured they should be heading over to the Fremont bridge, where they don’t have to ride a quarter mile on a sidewalk that was never designed for bikes.
Several of the people in the group apologized as they passed. Could have been that they were just following the ride leader and didn’t know that this was the route there were being taken on.[/quote]
I’m not into policing where people can ride their bikes, but I do think that it would be more courteous for group rides to break into 5-ish person groups when in crowded areas, joining back up into a massive peloton only when well outside the city.
That or just don’t start rides in the middle of town.
Sounds like it. I think most experienced riders in Seattle would do basically anything to avoid taking the Ballard Bridge in any circumstance, much less on a group ride.
I’ve always seen sidewalks as a last option if nothing else is practicable. The idea of routing a group ride to use them for a significant distance when other options are available is irritating.
I always liked the P83 solution of riding across in the traffic lane. motor vehicles didn’t like it so much, and the occasional bike who crashed on the bridge didn’t like it either.
[quote=TimArchyLime]It was on Emerson PL coming up to 15th from Magnolia. I assume that they were using it to get to the sidewalk to cross over Ballard Bridge. I’m fine stopping for commuters on Ballard Bridge. It’s a bad way to get across the ship canal, but with the alternate routes adding at least 20 min to the ride, it’s fair that riders use it to get to work and back. But this being a group ride where the purpose it to get a workout, I figured they should be heading over to the Fremont bridge, where they don’t have to ride a quarter mile on a sidewalk that was never designed for bikes.
Several of the people in the group apologized as they passed. Could have been that they were just following the ride leader and didn’t know that this was the route there were being taken on.[/quote]
Sounds like your real beef is with the city of Seattle.
It’s too bad we can’t burn that bridge to the ground.
I was telling sup yesterday that its a tragedy that the Ballard bridge is shittier for PEDs & Cyclists than the 509/1st Ave South Bridge connecting South Park to Georgetown over the Duwamish River.
1st Ave South bridge has this wide & separated Ped/cycle path on one side with gradual sweeping ramps independent from the auto approach on both sides. It’s a gem in an area that doesn’t really deserve it. One side sorta connects to a bike path while the other dumps you in the middle of car hell in Georgetown. I rarely, if ever, see any pedestrians or cyclists using it because lack of connectivity and location.
So unfortunate that the two drawbridges aren’t swapped.
Sounds like your real beef is with the city of Seattle.[/quote]
Meh. That’s a cop out. We all have to use the infrastructure and that means we should all be respectful about it. I don’t buy the argument “well, if they designed it right I’d be able to do this. So I’m going to do it anyway and screw all the people who I inconvenience by doing it. They should be mad at someone who worked for the city in 1917 and not at me for being an asshole today”.
But, yeah. The city could do better. Though I’m hesitant to complain about the city too much considering that this is by far the most bike friendly city I’ve ever lived in.
Selling a univega mixte for $200 on craigslist, I’m expecting to get talked down anyway which is why I have it priced that way.
Some absolute shit just asked me to “replace the drop bars with a regular (flat???) bar, change the brakes and shifters to mountain bike style, and reduce the price by $50”…
Fuck you dude, that’s like $100 worth of work. What the fuck?
“Great idea, what’s your PayPal for a consultants fee?”
CL sport trolling
i’ve really enjoyed switching from Craigslist to Facebook marketplace for selling things. Way less bullshit since its tied to a personal account and around here seems to be 400 times more people using it.