hoss10

I think I'll post this here as the guy had panniers on his bike. Last Sunday I was driving through Toronto, on the 401, when I saw off to my right an OPP cruiser which had pulled over a guy ridding on the highway. Now to realize how incredible this is, one has to know the infamous 4 oh 1, in Toronto it has, I think 18 lanes of highway, and is one the fastest most congested super highways anywhere. I don't even like driving on it on this guy thought he would tour on it. Wow!

jeff-o

It's actually only 4 lanes in each direction when you're close to Toronto, and 3 lanes in between cities. For the parts where the express and collector lanes are running parallel (In Toronto), it's 6 or 7 lanes in each direction. Oh, and when the traffic is light, it moves at 120 or 130 kph, the speed limit is 100.

Not only that, there's a toll highway (for the people who wish to pay for the privilege) that runs pretty much in the same direction but that's smaller than the 401, and moves just as fast.

marcusbandito

Hey I've toured all through the U.S. Sometimes the only road to take is the highway, and the laws allow bicycle travel especially in parts of the southwestern U.S. It always sucked and I got crazy flats from all the peices of steel belted truck tires that had exploded over the years, but the trip must continue.

bnet1

Yup, Marchusbandito you are correct. It is legal to cycle on the interstates in New Mexico between cities. The shoulders are generally (at least on I-40) as wide or even wider than the lane of travel. Even with the posted speed at 75MPH you are a good distance away from traffic.

JohnCub

https://www.wemsi.org/tr_10.html

billh

St Louis is essentialy an island for bicycles, completely enclosed by three rivers, the Mississippi to the east, the Missouri to the NW, and the Meremac to the SW. All three have multiple bridges but very few of them are designed for bicycles. Cross-country bicycle tourists have a tough time getting through the city without going on the interstate.

darkmother

Hey, look at it this way, when the guy gets smoked, he probably won't suffer. In fact, he will probably never know what hit him.

jeff-o

Bottom 3 pics are express + collector lanes. Hmmm, lousy weather, too.

ghettocruiser

Fastest? Be glad you were there on a Sunday. Most weekdays the traffic moves closer to 40 or 50kmh across the top in the afternoon rush. In fact the other day I was putting along at 30kmh in my car, and comparing the slow and steady pace to the 80kmhr-drag-race-to-the-red-light antics on the arterial roads, I'm not so sure this guy wasn't onto something.

palmertires

A friend of mine tells a similar tale for Kansas City, from her cross-country bike trip last summer. I think she was going to stop and visit some distant relative living there, but when she found out how difficult it would be to get to a certain part of the city from where she was, she just rode around it and on to Montana.

Black Bud

I'd worry less about the speed limit on one of those highways than the width of the shoulders!

Most high-speed highway/ road shoulders are almost as wide as a lane! And, there is NO cross-traffic (on a divided highway) to worry about...just the off-ramps (which a skilled cyclist could likely handle just fine, thank you!).

If there are such wide shoulders, and there is no other useful way to get to your destination, and the law allows (it doesn't here in CT )...why not??