BobbyG

A new bike lane prompted me to try a new route home last night. It was 11.5 miles versus my usual 9 miles. But I arrived home at the same time as usual. This was due to:

-Fewer and more favorably timed traffic lights.

-Fewer cross steets.

-A flatter, street with a gradual elevation change.

-Using a Mixed Use Path along a flat, old railroad bed.

The flatness is a big deal, here in hilly Colorado Springs.

There was more traffic on the "new street" than on my usual routes, but because the bike lane is a full traffic lane wide, that was not an issue. And then on the MUP, there was no traffic, and the paved trail had been redone over the last two years so it is smoother and wider than before.

On the way in to work in the morning I tried a short, downtown section of the new street, but because my ride is generally downhill in the morning, I didn't realize the "flatness" of the street.

The scenery is about average for my commutes.

I can't wait to try it in the rain and snow!

Steely Dan

i had similar experience after i moved earlier this year.

my old route was only 5 miles, but it was 100% on city streets with traffic and stop lights and stop signs and jaywalkers and double parked cars and delivery trucks galore. it typically took ~25 minutes.

my new route is 8 miles, but 6 of those miles are on a lightly-used MUP along the river with long interrupted stretches where i can really open up the throttle (the longest is 2 full miles completely uninterrupted). it typically takes ~35 minutes.

so despite my commute distance growing by 60%, my time increase has only gone up 40% thanks to the long uninterrupted MUP stretches where i can really kick it into high gear. that's an overall average speed increase of nearly 2 mph.

acidfast7

This is one thing I miss the most about CPH. If you hit one green and go 20 kmh then every light is green going into the city core.. Stop once and don't ever stop again they also have bike lane radar to help you go exactly 20kmh.

noglider 

That's brilliant.

Congratulations, @BobbyG. That's truly good news.

rumrunn6

was thinking the same thing but that paved trail probably doesn't get plowed?

Bikewolf

It’s not always about a new route. E.g. summertime may prompt one to take a longer route; perhaps because of the daylight time / sun power you feel more energetic.

Hope your new bike lane gets maintenance over the years.

BobbyG

Still in Chicago?...or where in Chicago? Which river?

BobbyG

Nice!

BobbyG

I ride studded tires in the winter, and have ridden portions of the trail on the weekends in the snow. It shouldn't be any worse than the seldom traveled side streets on my other routes.

Steely Dan

yep, still on the northside of chicago. we moved from edgewater to lincoln square, roughly 2.5 miles SW of our old home.

the MUP i now ride on runs along the north branch of the chicago river/north shore channel.


i made a quick and dirty map:

BobbyG

I grew up in Lincolnwood, between Pratt and Touhy on East Prairie Road, about a half-mile west of your route. My grandmother lived on Spaulding near Kedzie in Albany Park next to the Ravenswood L terminal, now the Brown Line. When I was home last spring my cousin and I drove up McCormick Road and I could see the mixed-use path had been beefed-up since I saw it last. And of course none of that was there when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s. In fact my folks grow up in Chicago used to call the North Branch the drainage canal. In high school I used to go to The Varsity Theater in Evanston,l it was a Revival house showing older films. And I often rode my bike to the lakefront anywhere from Howard Street to Lake Cook Road. I bet the trail is a godsend with all the traffic.

Steely Dan

the varsity theater building still exists, but the theater itself closed decades ago.

the first floor was converted to retail, now housing a gap and a mattress firm.

quite a downgrade from its heyday as one of the fanciest movie palaces in the burbs during the golden age of film.

the varsity theater these days: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0489...7i13312!8i6656



yeah, i've really come to enjoy it. it's super low stress because it's so lightly used.

the only annoying thing about it is catching a yellow at cross streets like touhy or oakton, those light cycles are agonizingly long.

down in the city, from lawrence up to devon, the cross streets all have MUP underpasses at the bridges, so no lights at all for 2 miles.

i'll be interested to see how well maintained it is during the winter months.