|
What a great trail in the Minneapolis area...
Visiting Minnetonka, Minnesota just west of Minneapolis and rode the
regional trail built on an old railroad right-of-way. WOW what a great ride... goes through historic downtown Excelsior, alongside Lake Minnetonka, beside dozens of parks, and into litte Victoria. This trail would make a *great* commuter corridor on bike. No stoplights, plenty of grade-separated crossings at the busier highways, and the traffic wasn't too bad on the trail itself. For at least eight months out of the year anyway, I'd think it would make a pretty nice option for a bike commute. Trail was beautiful... green and shaded most of the way and plenty of places to stop for rest/food/pictures etc. One thing I'll say about Minnesota... they really do parks and community planning right out here. brink |
What a great trail in the Minneapolis area...
Yeah, they do. Sold me on the whole city.
But the trails downtown really eclipse those in the burbs. The city trails connect all the important parks. You'd be amazed at the deep-woods solitude available in Minneapolis' city limits. |
What a great trail in the Minneapolis area...
brink wrote:
Visiting Minnetonka, Minnesota just west of Minneapolis and rode the regional trail built on an old railroad right-of-way. WOW what a great ride... goes through historic downtown Excelsior, alongside Lake Minnetonka, beside dozens of parks, and into litte Victoria. This trail would make a *great* commuter corridor on bike. No stoplights, plenty of grade-separated crossings at the busier highways, and the traffic wasn't too bad on the trail itself. For at least eight months out of the year anyway, I'd think it would make a pretty nice option for a bike commute. Trail was beautiful... green and shaded most of the way and plenty of places to stop for rest/food/pictures etc. One thing I'll say about Minnesota... they really do parks and community planning right out here. I've never understood the appeal of RR ROW trails, they're so boring. |
What a great trail in the Minneapolis area...
"Peter Cole" wrote in message . .. brink wrote: Visiting Minnetonka, Minnesota just west of Minneapolis and rode the regional trail built on an old railroad right-of-way. WOW what a great ride... goes through historic downtown Excelsior, alongside Lake Minnetonka, beside dozens of parks, and into litte Victoria. This trail would make a *great* commuter corridor on bike. No stoplights, plenty of grade-separated crossings at the busier highways, and the traffic wasn't too bad on the trail itself. For at least eight months out of the year anyway, I'd think it would make a pretty nice option for a bike commute. Trail was beautiful... green and shaded most of the way and plenty of places to stop for rest/food/pictures etc. One thing I'll say about Minnesota... they really do parks and community planning right out here. I've never understood the appeal of RR ROW trails, they're so boring. This one ain't boring... also very utilitarian as it is a very direct routes from city-to-city so it's good for getting from town to town... limited interaction with MVs so safer and less polluted... beautiful natural scenery interspersed with urban and suburban areas... This one is definitely more relaxing and mentally stimulating than driving on local roads IMO... brink |
What a great trail in the Minneapolis area...
Peter Cole wrote:
I've never understood the appeal of RR ROW trails, they're so boring. Well, to me the obvious answer is that it is the only land available. It lends itself to multiple use paths since there are already overpasses built, etc. Because it is a MUP, ours is cluttered with ambling walkers, people walking pets and generally not respecting an open lane for faster traffic. Even though I can go 7 miles to downtown with two stops on a MUP, if the weather's nice it is more hazardous than the streets because of all the slower traffic. |
What a great trail in the Minneapolis area...
"catzz66" wrote in message ... Peter Cole wrote: I've never understood the appeal of RR ROW trails, they're so boring. Well, to me the obvious answer is that it is the only land available. It lends itself to multiple use paths since there are already overpasses built, etc. Because it is a MUP, ours is cluttered with ambling walkers, people walking pets and generally not respecting an open lane for faster traffic. Even though I can go 7 miles to downtown with two stops on a MUP, if the weather's nice it is more hazardous than the streets because of all the slower traffic. Wondering about your "respecting an open lane for faster traffic" there.... the MUP I rode on yesterday wasn't terribly wide; it's the kind of path where you could pretty much comfortably have 2 bikes riding side-by-side one way pass ONE bike riding the other way - that about maxes the "bandwidth" of the trail which was probably no more than 6-7 feet wide most of its length. Do you feel that there should always be an "open lane" for you to pass peds, joggers, slower bikers? The signage I saw (and common sense agrees) said "yield to slower traffic on path" - makes sense to me. On roads, cars are required to yield to us on bikes when we're properly riding and have ROW. I'd think that the idea that people "not respecting an open lane for faster traffic" is a repetition of the idea frustrated drivers have about us when we take the lane or "force" them into having to go around us to pass. Since we're probably in agreement that this is something cars should and need to deal with, why wouldn't we hold the same courtesy toward slower users on MUPs? Maybe I've got your take on this wrong, help me out here. I'm not excusing people who block the entire width of a MUP of course, though that seems pretty infrequent. Usually it's more that one has to slow a bit to wait for a break to pass the slower traffic, just like cars do with us on roads. brink |
What a great trail in the Minneapolis area...
In article ,
"brink" wrote: This one is definitely more relaxing and mentally stimulating than driving on local roads IMO... There are a lot of trails around Minneapolis that fit that description. The Midtown Greenway, for example, essentially parallels Lake Street and is a much better experience. Less noise, no potholes, fewer stops. I have no problem riding with traffic most of the time, but I find myself riding on the trails more and more when the opportunity presents itself. -- My personal UDP list: 127.0.0.1, 4ax.com, buzzardnews.com, googlegroups.com, heapnode.com, localhost, x-privat.org |
What a great trail in the Minneapolis area...
Peter Cole wrote: brink wrote: Visiting Minnetonka, Minnesota just west of Minneapolis and rode the regional trail built on an old railroad right-of-way. WOW what a great ride... goes through historic downtown Excelsior, alongside Lake Minnetonka, beside dozens of parks, and into litte Victoria. This trail would make a *great* commuter corridor on bike. No stoplights, plenty of grade-separated crossings at the busier highways, and the traffic wasn't too bad on the trail itself. For at least eight months out of the year anyway, I'd think it would make a pretty nice option for a bike commute. Trail was beautiful... green and shaded most of the way and plenty of places to stop for rest/food/pictures etc. One thing I'll say about Minnesota... they really do parks and community planning right out here. I've never understood the appeal of RR ROW trails, they're so boring. I don't find streets and highways to be [opposite-of-boring]; I think of them as dangerous, because of a heart-stopping close encounter. the effect of which I will probably never be able to shake. I stick to sidewalks, side streets, and our one Rail Trail. All 2 miles of the latter. ;-) The MUP is flat and straight as an arrow for its entire length. Boring? To some, probably. But for a 2 mile stretch I can put completely out of mind: gravel trucks; cagers; intersections; driveways; road signs. I can safely center down and check in physical-me. The feeling of sudden freedom from burden that I get from being on the MUP is very much like having just paid bills: There! Done! Now I can loosen up and enjoy myself. I must add that timing is important. I avoid the MUP during periods when new-moms w/ strollers clog the path by walking four abreast, when human-with-canine-on-40-foot-leash is out and about, and generally when my finely tuned humans-per-acre gauge registers above 1. ;-) -- Michael |
What a great trail in the Minneapolis area...
brink wrote:
Wondering about your "respecting an open lane for faster traffic" there.... the MUP I rode on yesterday wasn't terribly wide; it's the kind of path where you could pretty much comfortably have 2 bikes riding side-by-side one way pass ONE bike riding the other way - that about maxes the "bandwidth" of the trail which was probably no more than 6-7 feet wide most of its length. Do you feel that there should always be an "open lane" for you to pass peds, joggers, slower bikers? The signage I saw (and common sense agrees) said "yield to slower traffic on path" - makes sense to me. On roads, cars are required to yield to us on bikes when we're properly riding and have ROW. I'd think that the idea that people "not respecting an open lane for faster traffic" is a repetition of the idea frustrated drivers have about us when we take the lane or "force" them into having to go around us to pass. Since we're probably in agreement that this is something cars should and need to deal with, why wouldn't we hold the same courtesy toward slower users on MUPs? Maybe I've got your take on this wrong, help me out here. I'm not excusing people who block the entire width of a MUP of course, though that seems pretty infrequent. Usually it's more that one has to slow a bit to wait for a break to pass the slower traffic, just like cars do with us on roads. brink There's a yellow stripe down the middle of the main path and in several places a separate lane on which is painted "peds only." There is plenty of room for people to walk. Still, people sometimes walk in clumps and wander over into the opposing lane. I am used to looking for oncoming traffic and timing my passes so that I don't come close to them whatever they are doing. That's all I meant. It is usually the walkers who wander over the dividing line and carelessly take up the whole path. I do feel that if the path is so narrow that two walkers could take up the lane, and ours isn't, that they ought to not block the entire path. I don't block up vehicle traffic on my bike when I am on the road unless it can't be avoided. Then, I try not to do it for any longer than I have to. |
What a great trail in the Minneapolis area...
Michael wrote:
Peter Cole wrote: I've never understood the appeal of RR ROW trails, they're so boring. I don't find streets and highways to be [opposite-of-boring]; I think of them as dangerous, because of a heart-stopping close encounter. the effect of which I will probably never be able to shake. I stick to sidewalks, side streets, and our one Rail Trail. All 2 miles of the latter. ;-) The MUP is flat and straight as an arrow for its entire length. Boring? To some, probably. But for a 2 mile stretch I can put completely out of mind: gravel trucks; cagers; intersections; driveways; road signs. I can safely center down and check in physical-me. The feeling of sudden freedom from burden that I get from being on the MUP is very much like having just paid bills: There! Done! Now I can loosen up and enjoy myself. I must add that timing is important. I avoid the MUP during periods when new-moms w/ strollers clog the path by walking four abreast, when human-with-canine-on-40-foot-leash is out and about, and generally when my finely tuned humans-per-acre gauge registers above 1. ;-) Funny, I had a terrific ride yesterday, it was mostly an urban loop, through many downtown Boston/Cambridge neighborhoods. I love biking in the city. I took a side trip on a MUP that runs along the river because I knew it'd be jammed with people -- through a big park filled with people speaking many different languages, cooking many different foods -- always fun. It seems there's always something going on in the city in the summer. When I want to honk, I just try to get through the 'burbs as fast as I can (not too hard here, despite sprawl) and get out to the back roads. We do have a long (20 mi?) rail trail. I rode it once, years ago. It was pure tedium. Different strokes, I guess. |
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:00 PM. |
|
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
CycleBanter.com