Sawtooth

Maybe I want to be like Slvoid when I grow up (no offense), maybe I am just having a mid-life crisis; but I want to ride in the freeway. I know, that is assinine, but I absolutley love riding the bike around cars that are stuck in traffic. Irresponsible???? Yes. Quasi-Suicidal???? Perhaps. Still, the idea won't go away. There is a five mile stretch that backs up and rolls along at about 10-20 mph every time there is a snow storm. I could get on, ride along with the cars, exit and be completely gone before anyone can do anything about it.

I really might need some discouragement from this idea.

IBreakCellPhone

If you have my luck, the day you try is is the day everyone's going 80.

Sawtooth

Ha! That is exactly why I am pretty sure it is a stupid idea. If I could be certain of the flow, it would be a given. But with the 1/2 mile+ entrance ramp up a hill and around a corner, there is no telling.

osirisdon

Hell nah man!

Just do it, get it off your chest. Just be carefull. Is it legal in your where-abouts?

Sawtooth

Not sure. I will have to check on that. Wasn't really one of my concerns. Maybe I am just feeling spunky today.

bullethead

I've heard that for some people adrenaline is like heroin- let me know how it is.

Jarery

Take a video cam strapped to your helmet !!!!

Sawtooth

I could pretty much guarentee that those would be a pretty fast 5 miles. I would need to be able to overtake traffic at 3-5 mph in order to feel safe. I do suppose that a policeman could get out to the right and pace me all the way to the exit and then lay down the law. I need a plan for that.

CB HI

Would that not mean - never growing up?

slvoid

What the... I was having fun biking around the bridge roadways during the transit strike here and most days, the bridges are packed enough that cars are only going around 30mph anyway but I don't ride on the freeway!

Here, watch this video. https://www.digave.com/videos/monster.mpg
Somewhere around the 5 minute mark, they end up on the freeway, tell me that looks like a good idea...

jyossarian

I've ridden on the freeway*. It's no big deal.


* During the 5 boro bike tour when they closed the freeway to car traffic.

Mars

Can I have your stuff if anything bad happens?

TCNJCyclist

I doubt that it would be legal around a major city like Boise. In NJ, bikes are banned from freeways in most sections of the state (with the exception of very rural areas).

A few months ago, some friends of mine got caught out on a ride later than they wanted and decided to ride back on Route 29 since it seemed like the shortest route (two lanes, no shoulder, kind of winding, 50+ mph speed limit). They said it was one of the worst rides ever.

slvoid

I want sawtooth's computer.

CB HI

But that looked like the safest part of their ride. One guy gets squeezed between a car and a cab in nearly stopped traffic. Riding at night with no lights, fighting head on traffic.

At least on the highway, they were riding the correct direction, and did not split lanes as much, plus no red lights to run or pedetrians to dodge.

wagathon

The only way south, along the coast from Orange County to San Diego, is the freeway from Las Pulgas to Oceanside Harbor. It's 5-lanes on each side and moves pretty fast so you'll want to stay on the shoulder unless you want to end up a hairy pizza.

I got a ticket in N. Cal. once for "obstucting a highway." It wasn't until years later when it cropped up and somehow interfered with me renewing my license and by then, I had no idea what it could be about, e.g., no car license and nowhere close to where I live and causing an obstruction didn't ring a bell.

It was a long time after the DMV removed the citation from my driving record that I remembered being hassled by a CHP about bicycling on the highway when there was an alternate bike route available.

Cyclaholic

Does the freeway have a shoulder? I ride freeways all the time but they have shoulders which are often wider than a lane, so it's relatively safe.

jyossarian

Did you see the part of the video where they got buzzed closely by cars on the FDR (the freeway) that were moving pretty quick? While it may look cool, it's actually a pretty stupid idea. The FDR has some tight lanes, the speed limit's 45 mph, but people typically go 60+, lots of blind curves and no breakdown lane at all. It's tough to drive the FDR let alone ride a bike on it w/ traffic.

MarkS

If its a real freeway, federally subsidized and all, its hard to believe that it would be legal. You might have gotten away with it before the days of cellular phones, but now you'd find the white and blacks waiting for you as came off the freeway.

Consider also that your presence there might endanger drivers on snow and ice as they brake and skid away.

If you're going to have a midlife crisis, can't you just shave your head, get some tattoos, buy a gold watch and chain, and have a tawdry pointless affair with someone 20 years your junior called "Bambi" like everyone else?

HopOnPop

Beware of opening doors.

spunkyruss

That was my first thought.

"Honest, officer, I didn't see that poor bicyclist coming. Traffic was stopped and I was just opening my door to stretch my legs. I didn't even think bicycles were allowed on the freeway."

Having said that, it sounds like a helluva good time to me .....JUST WATCH OUT FOR DOORS!

supcom

State law (and perhaps municipal ordinance) determines whether is legal to ride on a freeway. I believe there are five states that permit freeway use by cyclists. My state, Texas, is one of the five. However, the city of Dallas has an ordinance prohibiting freeway use by cyclists. This is a good thing as anyone who has driven in Dallas can honestly say!

Freeways have nice wide shoulders, so riding on one is not as big a deal as it may seem. There tends to be a lot of trash on the shoulder though, and its noisy, so it's not much fun. If there's snow, the shoulder might be pretty limited and/or icy.

I've ridden on a freeway and some similar highways that differ only in designation. It was a means to an end and in each case there was no feasible alternative. I didn't get the rush that sawtooth expects and exited at the first opportunity. It was, as far as I know, legal to ride where I did.

ahpook

Come visit Santa Clara county here in northern california. We have the state's only "Expressway" system, which are intermediate roads between surface streets and the big freeways like 101 and I-280. Three lanes in either direction, stoplights that are timed for slow rush hour traffic (== fast bicycles), decent shoulders to ride on. I hit 27mph on the flats this morning and left the traffic -- even the carpoolers -- in the dust. (For a block or two)

Scratch that itch without hitting a true car-only freeway, says I.

bennyk

This doesn't even sound like very much fun.

Sawtooth

I guess you are right about the black and whites. I am not sure about the Bambi thing, however .