Excitement! Thrills! Chills! Commuting?

In 2007, Buffalo adopted a "Complete Streets" policy for future road construction.  Four years later, reconstruction work on Main Street / Bicycle Route 517 was completed as far south as Humboldt Parkway.  This stretch of road is now Buffalo's longest and newest on-road bicycle route.

Did I mention it's also a truck route?

And a bus route?  You'll want a mirror, to take in sights like this:

You'll have about 10 seconds to enjoy it before they commence extreme tailgating, honking, and swerving past, halfway between lanes.

Instead of bike lanes, they built these lovely medians:

The lanes are just narrow enough, at 11-14 feet wide, that most cars can't safely pass a bicycle while remaining in lane.  Yet, just wide enough so they think they can.  You will scream with exhiliration and terror as semis fly past within inches of your elbow!

Be aware that Buffalo has a law against biking on the sidewalk.  City code section 413-2B states that:

No person shall drive, ride or leave any vehicle, other than a baby carriage, upon any portion of any sidewalk or ride, drive, or lead any livestock or draft animal upon any portion of any street designated or considered as a sidewalk, as herein provided, except in crossing the same for the purpose of entering of leaving any premises fronting thereon.

 It's as though our founding fathers were talking smack: "What, is that a giant carriage containing a giant infant?  Or does someone need to grow up and get off the sidewalk?!"  Nonetheless, most residents would rather be humiliated by our founding fathers than crushed by their neighbors:

 I stopped biking on the sidewalks after an incident on this block (above).  A woman ran out of the Steer and nearly sent us both flying.  Actually, I was the one who was out of place, so I nearly sent us both flying.  Bikes, like any vehicles, belong on the road.

This guy made a valiant effort for a few blocks:

But in the end, he got forced onto the sidewalk just like the rest:

Bonus bike trap: If you're riding this route for the sheer difficulty, you're probably thrilled to see the white stripes in the photo above.  To the average motorist, those stripes scream BICYCLE GET OUT OF MY LANE AND INTO THAT BOX!  Actually, the box ends at the curb a few feet later, and motor traffic will not let you back into the through lane without a fight.  Kudos to the traffic engineers who thought up this fiendish puzzle.

Leaving Buffalo, it gets more exciting.  Which lane should you use to turn left?

Turn left onto the sidewalk?  Is this a route for bicycles or baby carriages?

Or left onto Bailey Ave, like this guy?

 He's on his regular commute from Elmwood to UB North. He says this city has the worst bicycling conditions of any he's lived in.

More locals ignoring the signs:

Even with a helmet, this guy would rather operate in baby carriage mode:

Where would you ride?

The last time I make this mistake

My wife drove her mom to surgery today and waited there with her. That meant I had to get myself from the west side to UB (Main St. campus) without the car. I could have transferred from bus to train, but I had to drop off a prescription on the way, and pick it up on the way back home. That would have meant two buses and a train each way, or a lot of walking. Instead, I opted to save at least an hour by riding the bicycle. The weather was clear but not too hot. I needed the exercise. What could go wrong?

For starters, the pharmacy is due south of Delaware Park. Going from there to UB, I could have gone West, out of my way around the park, but this wasn't some joy ride. I took the direct route: Delavan to Main (NYSBR517), and it was pleasant for a few miles. There was one youngster driving a car at me in the right lane, but I saw him in the mirror and managed to convince him to change lanes by inching left a bit. The next close call was before Hertel. The car driver beeped and yelled. I pointed at the open lane to our left and yelled back. He grudgingly moved over half a lane, and buzzed a couple of feet from my elbow. After that, I wasn't going to take another chance. I took my keys out of my pocket and held them out in my left hand, at car door level, for the last mile. It did seem like cars became more cautious and respectful. I can't help but believe most drivers worry more about their paint job than my safety.

After work, I decided to take the parkside route home (Beard, Depew, Parkside, Tillinghast, Colvin, Amherst, Nottingham, ...), even if it was out of the way. Again, it was pleasant for a while, although it was harder work because of a headwind. There was one absurd moment: the traffic light at Tillinghast and Colvin won't change green except for motor vehicles and pedestrians, so I had to park my bike in the middle of the street, run over to the pedestrian button, then run back and hop on my bike for the green. When I got to Nottingham and Delaware, I realized the pharmacy was due South on Delaware, and most of it has a bike lane, so I might as well go for it. Not like it's any fun dodging joggers and children on park pathways, or riding in-lane on Elmwood. The Delaware bike lane is a foot narrower than national highway safety guidelines, and although the road is posted at 30 MPH, drivers regularly exceed 45. Even worse, they regularly veer into the bike lane as they approach Forest. Not wanting anyone to squeeze me without noticing, I rode just inside the stripe of the bike lane, and convinced a good many drivers to use the vacant left lane. Almost at Forest, I could see a minivan in my mirror, veering into the entire bike lane, so I changed entirely into the through lane to avoid being struck.

The bike lane ends abruptly at Forest. Even worse, it's a pretty serious uphill (for Buffalo). After about six drivers had passed me using the left lane, number seven pulled up close behind me, beeping and yelling. What can you do when someone intimidates you with such superior firepower? I held my ground, pointed at the left lane, and yelled at them to use it. Of course, they chose to straddle two lanes and buzz me closer. This was less than a block before the pharmacy.

After I picked up my prescription, I was still shaken. I unlocked the bike and kept the keys in my left hand, outstretched at car door level. Two blocks later, on Lafayette, a couple of cars crossed the double yellow line to pass me. Of course, they were still waiting at the red light at the end of the block when I arrived. A voice hailed from one of the queued cars, "Hey *******!" I turned, enraged, "Hey YOU *******!" I thought at first it was the old man driving, but it was his leathery-skinned passenger. [paraphrasing:] "Why don't you ride closer to the edge of the road?" "Because there are all those parked cars, and people open their doors suddenly without looking." "Well, you have to look out for them." "They open them too quick. I'm not going to go head over heels over someone's door!" "Well, I ride a bicycle all over the place, and I ride closer, and it's not a problem." "Well, I'm the only person I know who hasn't been hit by a car door, and that's why, because I don't ride in that space." I forget how it ended. I think the light turned green, I just told him to **** off, and I rode off, keys outstretched. They passed me a block later without incident.

I could draw a lot of morals from this story. Number one should be, if you take my life into your hands by passing too closely, your car's paint job will suffer. Except, I don't want to ever be in that situation again. I'll be driving when I can, bussing when I can't. So how about: each time you intimidate a bicyclist, or take cavalier risks near them, you're driving them to drive. Do you want another 6x12 foot obstacle in the traffic jam? Another consumer of gasoline helping push prices toward $5/gallon? A huger oil-driven trade deficit? Climate change? Sprawl? Cancer? Obesity? Does anyone? And yet, when you discourage the most effective alternative, that's the choice you're making. To that leathery-skinned ******* and the two beeping buffoons: thanks for picking the cancer route. I wish I had a choice.

A heart-pounding ride through Buffalo NY

In 2007, Buffalo adopted a "Complete Streets" policy for future road construction.  Four years later, reconstruction work on Main Street / Bicycle Route 517 was completed as far south as Humboldt Parkway.  This stretch of road is now Buffalo's longest and newest on-road bicycle route.

Did I mention it's also a truck route?

And a bus route?  You'll want a mirror, to take in sights like this:

You'll have about 10 seconds to enjoy it before they commence extreme tailgating, honking, and swerving past, halfway between lanes.

Instead of bike lanes, they built these lovely medians:

The lanes are just narrow enough, at 11-14 feet wide, that most cars can't safely pass a bicycle while remaining in lane.  Yet, just wide enough so they think they can.  You will scream with exhiliration and terror as semis fly past within inches of your elbow!

Be aware that Buffalo has a law against biking on the sidewalk.  City code section 413-2B states that:

No person shall drive, ride or leave any vehicle, other than a baby carriage, upon any portion of any sidewalk or ride, drive, or lead any livestock or draft animal upon any portion of any street designated or considered as a sidewalk, as herein provided, except in crossing the same for the purpose of entering of leaving any premises fronting thereon.

 It's as though our founding fathers were talking smack: "What, is that a giant carriage containing a giant infant?  Or does someone need to grow up and get off the sidewalk?!"  Nonetheless, most residents would rather be humiliated by our founding fathers than crushed by their neighbors:

 I stopped biking on the sidewalks after an incident on this block (above).  A woman ran out of the Steer and nearly sent us both flying.  Actually, I was the one who was out of place, so I nearly sent us both flying.  Bikes, like any vehicles, belong on the road.

This guy made a valiant effort for a few blocks:

But in the end, he got forced onto the sidewalk just like the rest:

Bonus bike trap: If you're riding this route for the sheer difficulty, you're probably thrilled to see the white stripes in the photo above.  To the average motorist, those stripes scream BICYCLE GET OUT OF MY LANE AND INTO THAT BOX!  Actually, the box ends at the curb a few feet later, and motor traffic will not let you back into the through lane without a fight.  Kudos to the traffic engineers who thought up this fiendish puzzle.

Leaving Buffalo, it gets more exciting.  Which lane should you use to turn left?

Turn left onto the sidewalk?  Is this a route for bicycles or baby carriages?

Or left onto Bailey Ave, like this guy?

 He's on his regular commute from Elmwood to UB North. He says this city has the worst bicycling conditions of any he's lived in.

More locals ignoring the signs:

Even with a helmet, this guy would rather operate in baby carriage mode:

Where would you ride?