An adventurous morning bike commute.

Ok, I will admit that the commute today was challenging.  The neighborhood roads in Reno are never on the plow list, so they become hard packed, rutted ice.  I didn't stop for a picture of this because it is best to concentrate on not eating it.  The studded tires on the Xtracycle definitely help, but you can still find yourself kissing terrafirma in short order.

Once you make it to more traveled roads you might find a two-track type area where you can at least get out of the ruts.  You then have to be very careful in regards to overtaking traffic.  They too are focused on the two-tracks and don't tend to pass very safely.

Finally, I make it to the river path.  It is usually plowed within 24 hours of any snow!  It was clear sailing from here, or so I thought.  This is what I encountered on the rest of the commute....

The path had a road closed sign at the ice rink.  A construction crew was doing some concrete cutting.  You can't go around the other side of the rink so you're forced to cut through.  I walked to be polite.  Really there was nothing to the "construction" that required a closure.  The worst part was their large truck blocks your view of traffic in the cross walk (or more importantly, traffics view of me trying to cross).

A bit farther along, just across the bridge at John Champion Park, another road closed sign!?  This one you really have to go through, as there is no way back that doesn't involve a 2 mile detour on roads that aren't friendly even on nice days.  Apparently they are scooping out something in the river and hauling it up the path.

The only bad part about this one is envisioning how much damage this does to the path.  It's not build to handle 10 ton trucks!

When I finally got to Rock Blvd. (which has bike lanes)....the bike lanes are the location the snow is pushed to.  This leaves you exposed and basically riding in traffic, so it's a bit nerve fraying.

So that's how a standard 6.5 mile commute turns into an adventure!  A few obstacles never hurt anyone eh?  They did make what is normally a ho-hum commute into something interesting!

Yet another River Path Closure for the Summer.

It seems like they can't help but close a portion of the river path for the best riding times over the last few years.  Here's the latest closure for the building of the Southeast Connector bridge.

Please pass this information on to other bike groups, thanks.
Patrice Echola
RTC WASHOE
1105 Terminal Way, Suite 211
Reno, Nevada 89502 (775) 335-1904


Dear Stakeholder:
Beginning today, Wednesday, March 20 the pedestrian and bicycle trail along the Truckee River from Spice Island Drive at Cottonwood Park east to Larkin Circle will be closed. The path on Sparks Blvd. from Big Fish Dr. (Legends Mall) south to Greg St. will also be closed. Users will need to use an alternate route.  The Truckee River path will remain closed until mid-Summer 2013.  Attached is a map of the closure.
The closure is needed for the safety of motorists and construction crews as work continues on the RTC’s SouthEast Connector Project. Construction crews will be working with heavy equipment in the area to build the Truckee River Bridge.
For more information please contact the project office at 775-398-5059 or e-mail info@SouthEastConnector.com. Responses will be returned by the next business day.  Additional project information is available at www.SouthEastConnector.com.
Thank you for your patience and support. We look forward to working with you on this project!
Sincerely,
The Project Team

The SouthEast Connector Project is the RTC’s largest local public works project and includes building a regional road from the intersection of Greg Street and Sparks Boulevard south to South Meadows Parkway and Veterans Parkway. The first phase of construction builds the bridge over the Truckee River from Sparks Boulevard to just south of Clean Water Way and is currently under construction. The next phase will build the new roadway from Clean Water Way south to Veterans Parkway.  This phase - approximately 4.5 miles - is still under development, which involves obtaining environmental permits and the design of the roadway facilities.  This is the RTC’s first Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) project and resulted in approximately $6 million in value engineering benefits on the first phase. SouthEast Connector provides a significant economic investment in our community and creates immediate jobs during construction.

Here's the area they're talking about:

Basically from the letter A to the east end of the trail....Hopefully, we'll at least get decent bike facilities on the Southeast Connector for our trouble!?