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Topic Summary

Posted by: Plantains
« on: November 28, 2010, 10:27:40 PM »

Maybe we should address this to the University in some form of a letter?
Posted by: sanders
« on: November 28, 2010, 08:31:26 PM »

yea just biked on university.....terrible snow plowing of bike lanes
Posted by: Plantains
« on: November 28, 2010, 06:48:07 PM »

I think it depends on your tires too. Like if you're using really wide tires, you should be running fairly low pressures so you can float over the snow, but if you're using narrow tires, I think in fresh pow higher pressure is working best as it "cuts down" to the pavement.
Posted by: Sal Atticum
« on: November 28, 2010, 09:20:47 AM »

This could explain the other cycle tracks I've seen before.  I take the same route except that I take 2nd and then 1st on the east side of Washington.  I generally take University in the winter only if I'm in a real hurry (I had an 8 AM seminar last fall, so being "in a real hurry" was pretty common for some reason).

Riding in the squirrelly stuff isn't all bad--it definitely improves your handling skills over time.

Posted by: OUWxGuesser
« on: November 28, 2010, 01:31:04 AM »

That's what I ended up doing... I'm commuting from near downtown to the west edge of campus.  Demers bike paths are also unplowed so I I've been going along University from downtown west to Washington St. Then I drop onto 1st Ave N and take that to the campus road that runs along the railyard.   The winter tires I have love the compacted snow/ice on those roads..  they get pretty squirly in the soft piles and ruts I found in the bike lane.

Posted by: Plantains
« on: November 27, 2010, 01:27:03 PM »

I take the back roads just to avoid the horrible driving skills this community appears to have. I love people making lefts without moving into the turning lanes.
Posted by: Bedwyr
« on: November 27, 2010, 01:19:10 PM »

Plus its amazing how every year a left-turn lane magically appears west of the Coulee after it snows.


I usually try to take back roads if I can help it.  Much less traffic.
Posted by: Sal Atticum
« on: November 27, 2010, 12:32:25 PM »

Not really. 
Posted by: OUWxGuesser
« on: November 27, 2010, 11:05:16 AM »

Speaking of bike lanes... do they ever plow them out properly along University?
Posted by: Plantains
« on: November 24, 2010, 08:36:23 PM »

Yeah Beek I remember you mentioning such projects. Yost has to be off the list now because he's getting a degree in working for the man which means that "he's interested" but isn't going to "get anything done" :P

It's one of those things that Garmin could probably offset the cost of their crappy bike specific GPS' with the same way that biketown(?) does...

Biketown, if thats what its called (hence the ?) is that project that either Trek or bicycling magazine organizes (or at least writes about) where some group gives a certain number of bicycles to one specific area or town and then asks them about their riding experiences. They tell all sorts of feel good stories which in turn is huge for the culture (in terms of advertising) since cycling is one of those things that the more people around, the easier it is to do (my example for that is spandex... MOST new dudes will show up in some baggy athletic shorts over their spandex because they aren't sure if its socially acceptable to wear such attire... then we just make fun of them until they wear spandex. And then everyone ELSE makes fun of all of us... for wearing spandex. But I digress.

It would be relatively simple (or seemingly so) for Garmin to "give away" (sidebar: Now that I think about it, this is something that Google would probably be interested in) GPS units to a group of cyclists with the understanding that their data will be tracked and used for research. This would (seemingly) EASILY tell community planners what to spend more money on and where to put it.

I STILL have a hard time going this high tech though because I am (obviously) adamant that there are much simpler solutions to improving cycling infrastructure and that is with some simple education. When I get home, I'm going to see if I can find a way to weasel my way into this somehow. Even if they let me talk for 10 minutes at some points reduction classes I think it would be making a difference. The biggest hurdle that I see is breaking down the wall that already exists between the motorist and the cyclist.

Come to think of it, what type of drivers education do we even have in this country? I wonder what the percentages are of people that get any "formal" training in motor vehicle operations PRIOR to getting their license? And I wonder what standards exist for those "private" driving schools?

Hmmm.... I have too many underdeveloped ideas.
Posted by: Sal Atticum
« on: November 24, 2010, 01:18:28 PM »

I'd love to do some sort of real bikeability study in this town, but since it's not my area, I don't know if I could get it funded, and I just don't have the time, I doubt it will ever happen.  I did a project for advanced GIS class to try to look at how bikeable Grand Forks is when comparing car-based routing and cycle-based routing (i.e., incorporating the lane/path/trail system), but I think it could be taken further by looking at what people actually do--essentially tracking them with GPS and having them keep a "transportation diary" to record their thoughts.  Once we understood how people ride, we could work on improving infrastructure.

Yost, I would talk to you about this, but is it even close to your area of interest?
Posted by: Bedwyr
« on: November 24, 2010, 07:44:12 AM »

Well you give some you take some.  ND and MN folks get Marge Gunderson (and/or Lake Wobegon references) tossed right back at them.   :lol:


Anyhow, for professional study re: bike lanes I know the research is out there, but I think it tends to fall more along the lines of environmental planning or engineering.  Sanders would probably see more of it at the graduate level.  My guess is U. Washington's CEE 580 would cover it somewhat.  Also:

http://depts.washington.edu/urbdpphd/land_use.shtml

$3.5mill from the National Science Foundation to research probably what we're talking about right now.
Posted by: Plantains
« on: November 24, 2010, 02:04:03 AM »

All due respect sir. No. That isn't true. That is a stereotype. If it would be anything it would be the fact that there are just more people to interact with where I'm from. Someone brought up a topic in which I have an opinion about, and I shared that opinion.

If you think that life "on the east coast" is everyone being mad at everyone all the time, then I feel sorry for you. But unfortunately, it's not uncommon for people from this area to have that impression, and that's awfully unfortunate.

My gf of 3 years is from Hutchinson. Born and raised. She has been living back in NY for 3 months now and loves it. We didn't decide to move there because everyone was all angry all the time, or because I'm from there. We decided to move there because we both really like it. Her parents have since in fact considered retiring there.

Sigh... for the record though, we're cool coz we've met and I think ur a cool dewd. But again, a point needs to made about the world outside of the midwest.

No problem.  I think it's a combination of a stereotype and a cultural influence though.  And I don't think it's "people being mad all the time".  It's more about a way of engaging a problem directly and not messing around than "being mad".  It's us Westerners (I'm from Wa. state) that perceive it as a short fuse.  So no, it's not a solid "you're from there, therefore..." but I do think it's a cultural trend.


I'm also teasing... :)

Yeah I knew you were teasing, but I get/have gotten stereotyped more here than anywhere else. When I was dropping Emmy off at medsci one day, some dude also with NY plates walked up to me and was all like... hey... where u from? I was confused at first and I was like Buffalo, and he was all like oh, I'm from the city. We chatted and he mentioned sort of under his breath... what do you think of it here? He said basically the same thing I just pointed out, that I get stereotyped an awful lot. He even said he went on a job interview (his wife is a professor so he's here sort of not by choice) and the guy said to him "I don't think Tony Soprano is gonna make it in this area"... I mean to me that's just shocking.

I'm not looking for a pity party, but really after awhile, enough is enough. Most of the people talking badly about anywhere have never been closer than wikipedia... but jeeze... people need to get over the fact that other people travel.

Anyways... back to bike lanes... there has to be more to discuss on this.
Posted by: Bedwyr
« on: November 23, 2010, 08:51:17 PM »

All due respect sir. No. That isn't true. That is a stereotype. If it would be anything it would be the fact that there are just more people to interact with where I'm from. Someone brought up a topic in which I have an opinion about, and I shared that opinion.

If you think that life "on the east coast" is everyone being mad at everyone all the time, then I feel sorry for you. But unfortunately, it's not uncommon for people from this area to have that impression, and that's awfully unfortunate.

My gf of 3 years is from Hutchinson. Born and raised. She has been living back in NY for 3 months now and loves it. We didn't decide to move there because everyone was all angry all the time, or because I'm from there. We decided to move there because we both really like it. Her parents have since in fact considered retiring there.

Sigh... for the record though, we're cool coz we've met and I think ur a cool dewd. But again, a point needs to made about the world outside of the midwest.

No problem.  I think it's a combination of a stereotype and a cultural influence though.  And I don't think it's "people being mad all the time".  It's more about a way of engaging a problem directly and not messing around than "being mad".  It's us Westerners (I'm from Wa. state) that perceive it as a short fuse.  So no, it's not a solid "you're from there, therefore..." but I do think it's a cultural trend.


I'm also teasing... :)
Posted by: Sal Atticum
« on: November 23, 2010, 08:14:42 PM »

Yeah Buffalo, NY

Ah ha.  I thought it was a cultural thing.  Yep, all us uber laid back people from out west just go "wow, jeez, he must be mad" when it's just the way life is out east.
This is funny, because Yost is the person against whom I measure people from Minneapolis...
realistic