You may or may not like the commercial or the business that it's for....but the fact that this exists is proof positive that bikes are transportation and not just toys or exercise equipment.
Showing posts with label biking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biking. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2015
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Midtown Redesign....from my perspective.
There has been a lot of discussion about a big project that is coming to Midtown in the next couple years. The long and short of it is that they are going to rip out all of Virginia Street and the sidewalks and get a chance at a total redo. There is contention about what should take priority.
One side of the coin is to stay auto-centric. Cars would be the focus, with travel lanes and parking getting the majority of the space with only ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) minimum requirements for sidewalks (e.g. narrow sidewalks). So, pretty much what it is today with just slightly wider sidewalks.
The other side of the coin is more in tune with making Midtown into a pedestrian friendly environment where people want to come hang out and shop. While it does require giving up a limited (small) number of on street parking spots, it gives back with 10 foot plus wide sidewalks, bicycle infrastructure, and room for benches, trees, and dining / display space for merchants. Traffic lanes would be narrowed and speeds reduced to help facilitate pedestrian and bicycle movement.
Some people / businesses (who I will not point out) have argued that the auto-centric design is the only way to go. They continually rally on the necessity of on street parking and how removal of a single spot will be the end of them (either business wise or as a customer trying to use midtown).
In light of this....I decided to spend Saturday night (a busy time?) in Midtown, in the way I use it and see what I found. Here is the short version of the story....
We visited Craft, Public House, Junkee, and Brasserie St. James.
My focus...beer with friends (and Junkee is just always fun).
While rolling around Midtown between 8-10pm this is what I observed with respect to parking. And for the record...I was biking, two folks were walking, and one buddy was driving from place to place.
We had a great time. Everyone got around just fine. The consensus was that walking works...but the sidewalks suck and you often have to step into the street. Biking also works but you better be willing to throw your lot in with traffic and force some respect....because it isn't freely given. Driving works just fine. Parking wasn't a problem.
So there's one night in Midtown.
I'll try to do a mid-day for comparison at some point soon.
One side of the coin is to stay auto-centric. Cars would be the focus, with travel lanes and parking getting the majority of the space with only ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) minimum requirements for sidewalks (e.g. narrow sidewalks). So, pretty much what it is today with just slightly wider sidewalks.
The other side of the coin is more in tune with making Midtown into a pedestrian friendly environment where people want to come hang out and shop. While it does require giving up a limited (small) number of on street parking spots, it gives back with 10 foot plus wide sidewalks, bicycle infrastructure, and room for benches, trees, and dining / display space for merchants. Traffic lanes would be narrowed and speeds reduced to help facilitate pedestrian and bicycle movement.
Some people / businesses (who I will not point out) have argued that the auto-centric design is the only way to go. They continually rally on the necessity of on street parking and how removal of a single spot will be the end of them (either business wise or as a customer trying to use midtown).
In light of this....I decided to spend Saturday night (a busy time?) in Midtown, in the way I use it and see what I found. Here is the short version of the story....
We visited Craft, Public House, Junkee, and Brasserie St. James.
My focus...beer with friends (and Junkee is just always fun).
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| So many options! |
While rolling around Midtown between 8-10pm this is what I observed with respect to parking. And for the record...I was biking, two folks were walking, and one buddy was driving from place to place.
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| Completely underutilized street parking, no bike infrastructure....and does that even qualify as a sidewalk!? |
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| More unused parking.....less than a block from Brasserie St. James. A location often sited as a parking problem area!? Double bonus for catching a Hummer just blowing through Midtown at like 50 mph right next to a billboard that says "Too many pedestrians die on our roads"!? |
We had a great time. Everyone got around just fine. The consensus was that walking works...but the sidewalks suck and you often have to step into the street. Biking also works but you better be willing to throw your lot in with traffic and force some respect....because it isn't freely given. Driving works just fine. Parking wasn't a problem.
So there's one night in Midtown.
I'll try to do a mid-day for comparison at some point soon.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
A 24 Hour Trifecta!
Now normally a trifecta this time of year should include skiing (especially when we finally have some snow)....but you take what you can get. Instead my latest attempt included lunch time kayaking at the Rock Park Whitewater Park, a trail run this morning, and the morning bike ride. Nothing spectacular, but I'm counting it!
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| Yeah...pulled out the kayaking gear. It's been a while. Found out that neck gaskets disintegrate in Reno. Definitely got some cold water down the back! |
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| How do you not go kayaking when the flows pop above 2000!! Sorry...this is the best I can do...didn't bring a camera. |
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| The dog got me up at 4am this morning. Couldn't go back to sleep. Might as well run in the dark on icy single track! Also...it wasn't a 60.2 avg. temp (more like 28)....gps just lives in my pocket |
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| And the obligatory ride to work completes the trifecta. |
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Blitzing Bend, OR (1/2 Marathon, mtn bike, road bike)!
Hope everybody had a great extended weekend. Wifey and I squeezed every ounce of fun out of ours. A mid-day departure Friday got us to Bend, OR by around 8pm to meet up with some friends from Olympia, WA. In classic Bend style we began the evening at local brew pub. There were a gaggle of people from Reno also in town and some friends who live in Bend so it was quite the organizational nightmare....and in the end Wifey and I just ended up having a relaxing beer with just the two of us. Perfect way to ease into the weekend. Growlers were purchased and festivities continued with friends back at the hotel.
The next morning the girls registered for their 1/2 marathon and an we visited McMenamins for some breakfast....with beer! A good belgian in the morning to start things out right. The girls then headed out for shopping and my friend and I met up with the Reno / Bend crew to hit some fabled mountain bike trails. This isn't us but you'll get the idea! Of course, good beer rounded out the evening (10 Barrels "pray for snow" and there "CDA" were the evening favorites)!
The rest of the trail network might not be quite as flowing and jumping...but the trails were some of the best I've ridden (and remember I was just in Moab). I think we may have a new spring break destination (if it's not under snow).
The following morning we dropped the girls of for their race and grabbed the road bikes. This time it was out West Century Drive towards Mt. Bachelor. Notice the "Mount" in front of the name. Yep, 2000 ft of climbing in 20 miles. No warm up and no rest. My dad would have been proud cause I definitely "built some character" on this one. So did the poor guys we took with us who had never road biked in his life! To his credit he rode it well, smiled the whole time, and thanked us for the intro. Another rider he spoke with told him he might want to get better friends! I sort of agree!
Once we completed the 40mph+ downhill return we meet up with the girls (who had already found a brewery...shocking) and had another great round of beers and some well deserved dinner. Some additional shopping occurred because the girls needed jewelry (that involved more $$ than they could carry while running)! The evening ended way to quickly and Monday morning after a bite to eat it was time to say farewell and head back to Reno. Unfortunately, I wasn't too good at bringing out the camera, but I'll see if I can't come up with a pic tor two later.
The next morning the girls registered for their 1/2 marathon and an we visited McMenamins for some breakfast....with beer! A good belgian in the morning to start things out right. The girls then headed out for shopping and my friend and I met up with the Reno / Bend crew to hit some fabled mountain bike trails. This isn't us but you'll get the idea! Of course, good beer rounded out the evening (10 Barrels "pray for snow" and there "CDA" were the evening favorites)!
The rest of the trail network might not be quite as flowing and jumping...but the trails were some of the best I've ridden (and remember I was just in Moab). I think we may have a new spring break destination (if it's not under snow).
The following morning we dropped the girls of for their race and grabbed the road bikes. This time it was out West Century Drive towards Mt. Bachelor. Notice the "Mount" in front of the name. Yep, 2000 ft of climbing in 20 miles. No warm up and no rest. My dad would have been proud cause I definitely "built some character" on this one. So did the poor guys we took with us who had never road biked in his life! To his credit he rode it well, smiled the whole time, and thanked us for the intro. Another rider he spoke with told him he might want to get better friends! I sort of agree!
Once we completed the 40mph+ downhill return we meet up with the girls (who had already found a brewery...shocking) and had another great round of beers and some well deserved dinner. Some additional shopping occurred because the girls needed jewelry (that involved more $$ than they could carry while running)! The evening ended way to quickly and Monday morning after a bite to eat it was time to say farewell and head back to Reno. Unfortunately, I wasn't too good at bringing out the camera, but I'll see if I can't come up with a pic tor two later.
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