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More Paris Cycling - Along Southern Rim



 
 
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  #1  
Old May 25th 04, 09:35 AM
Elisa Francesca Roselli
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Default More Paris Cycling - Along Southern Rim

So I finally returned Behemoth to her dealer last Friday for her
contrôle technique. This was a major project involving a trip with her
on the RER (suburban train) up to the Cité Universitaire stop (the first
stop in Paris intramuros when arriving from the South) and then a 7 km
cycling cruise westwards from there up to Auteuil. My only previous
experience of cycling Paris had been when I bought Bethie in November.
But that trip was the other way - eastward down rue de la Convention and
rue Vaugirard up to Luxembourg station. A quick look at the map revealed
that this route could not be used to return. The cycling map also
revealed a mysterious dotted line along the streets - boulevards Brune,
Lefebvre and Martial Valin, - that I wanted to take for Friday's voyage.
The key said "réseau à l'étude", cycling path nework under study. So
does that mean cycling yes or no?

An item on the local news a few weeks ago then came to mind. Mayor
Delanoe had ordered removal of a number of fine ancient trees in the
15th Arrondissement to accommodate a proposed cycling path. Inhabitants
of the neighborhood were demonstrating against cyclists, with banners
showing a barred-through bike. Motorists too were protesting that the
road was already too narrow for them without the cycling lanes and that
delivery trucks, etc. would no longer be able to stop in front of shops.
Spokespeople for the Mayor were claiming that the neighborhood would be
greener and fairer than ever when the proposed accommodations were
finished.

So I didn't really know what to expect.

First pleasant surprise: at Cité Universitaire, the RATP actually puts
its money where its mouth is about being access-friendly and provides an
_elevator_ to raise bike to sidewalk level (elevator is technically for
wheelchairs and prams, but no-one stopped me). Bethie, fully loaded,
easily tops 30 kg so that was extremely welcome, as I hate asking
passers-by for help.

On arriving above ground, I was at first disappointed. Yes, there is a
building site down the whole length of the avenues. It takes up about a
third the width of the street. No, there is no cycling path as yet. So I
desultorily wheeled Behemoth for a few blocks, then moved her out onto
the road in the bus corridor, held my breathe and kicked off.

Well, that bee-line through the 14th, 15th and 16th Arrondissements was
my best cycling experience to date. It was all straight so there was no
need to worry about signalling. There was a bus-corridor the whole way
so not much need to worry about cars. I was able to let rip in 7th gear
and max out the whole way. Behemoth comes into her own in those high
gears. Voluptuousness of silken pedals... I was so comfortably upright
that I didn't even get my usual sore wrists. Only an occasional traffic
light, spaced with considerate rarity, brought me to a halt but
restarting was easy on the level ground. I stopped twice just to check
my bearings but even this was not necessary as there was really no
opportunity for wrong turning. Just thunder along till you cross the
water and come to a giddy stop on the avenue de Versailles.

Now I'm wondering if those protesters weren't right? What need for a
specialized cycling lane on a route which already functions so well?
Granted, sharing a lane with buses is a Faustian bargain, but they make
much better companions than baby carriages. I DO NOT WANT TO SHARE MY
LANE WITH F*%^$**ING BABY-CARRIAGES!!! And having seen what happened
with the much hyped Coulée Verte, I worry about a repeat. Yes, give the
cyclists their lane; force them to share it with pedestrians,
roller-bladers and dog-walkers, simultaneously ban them from the roads
"because they have their own lane". Then let the lane rot and become
overrun with tree roots.

Up till now I have always been dumbfounded at cyclists opposing the
construction of cycling lanes, but I see the light. To top it off, we
also have the hostility of the natives who lost their trees, and the
delivery trucks who lost their stopping place, so they will presumably
be doing nothing to help us. Oh well, wait and see.

EFR
Ile de France

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  #2  
Old May 25th 04, 10:46 AM
trg
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default More Paris Cycling - Along Southern Rim

There's a problem in that they are constructing the tramway on those routes,
When that is finished, will they then remove the bus lanes since there will
be no need for the PC (bus that goes on those roads)?

BTW, there are some places where there already is a bike path next to the
bus lane, Blvd Brune for example, when descending towards the Palais des
Expos at Porte de Versailles. (unless it's been closed due to construction
of the tramway.). You're supposed to use the path in those cases, but I stay
in the bike lane, since as you've observed the bike path is filled with
parked cars, pedestrians, strollers, etc.

In those Elisa Francesca Roselli wrote:
So I finally returned Behemoth to her dealer last Friday for her
contrôle technique. This was a major project involving a trip with her
on the RER (suburban train) up to the Cité Universitaire stop (the
first stop in Paris intramuros when arriving from the South) and then
a 7 km cycling cruise westwards from there up to Auteuil. My only
previous experience of cycling Paris had been when I bought Bethie in
November. But that trip was the other way - eastward down rue de la
Convention and rue Vaugirard up to Luxembourg station. A quick look
at the map revealed that this route could not be used to return. The
cycling map also revealed a mysterious dotted line along the streets
- boulevards Brune, Lefebvre and Martial Valin, - that I wanted to
take for Friday's voyage. The key said "réseau à l'étude", cycling
path nework under study. So does that mean cycling yes or no?

An item on the local news a few weeks ago then came to mind. Mayor
Delanoe had ordered removal of a number of fine ancient trees in the
15th Arrondissement to accommodate a proposed cycling path.
Inhabitants of the neighborhood were demonstrating against cyclists,
with banners showing a barred-through bike. Motorists too were
protesting that the road was already too narrow for them without the
cycling lanes and that delivery trucks, etc. would no longer be able
to stop in front of shops. Spokespeople for the Mayor were claiming
that the neighborhood would be greener and fairer than ever when the
proposed accommodations were finished.

So I didn't really know what to expect.

First pleasant surprise: at Cité Universitaire, the RATP actually puts
its money where its mouth is about being access-friendly and provides
an _elevator_ to raise bike to sidewalk level (elevator is
technically for wheelchairs and prams, but no-one stopped me).
Bethie, fully loaded, easily tops 30 kg so that was extremely
welcome, as I hate asking passers-by for help.

On arriving above ground, I was at first disappointed. Yes, there is a
building site down the whole length of the avenues. It takes up about
a third the width of the street. No, there is no cycling path as yet.
So I desultorily wheeled Behemoth for a few blocks, then moved her
out onto the road in the bus corridor, held my breathe and kicked off.

Well, that bee-line through the 14th, 15th and 16th Arrondissements
was my best cycling experience to date. It was all straight so there
was no need to worry about signalling. There was a bus-corridor the
whole way so not much need to worry about cars. I was able to let rip
in 7th gear and max out the whole way. Behemoth comes into her own in
those high gears. Voluptuousness of silken pedals... I was so
comfortably upright that I didn't even get my usual sore wrists. Only
an occasional traffic light, spaced with considerate rarity, brought
me to a halt but restarting was easy on the level ground. I stopped
twice just to check my bearings but even this was not necessary as
there was really no opportunity for wrong turning. Just thunder along
till you cross the water and come to a giddy stop on the avenue de
Versailles.

Now I'm wondering if those protesters weren't right? What need for a
specialized cycling lane on a route which already functions so well?
Granted, sharing a lane with buses is a Faustian bargain, but they
make much better companions than baby carriages. I DO NOT WANT TO
SHARE MY LANE WITH F*%^$**ING BABY-CARRIAGES!!! And having seen what
happened with the much hyped Coulée Verte, I worry about a repeat.
Yes, give the cyclists their lane; force them to share it with
pedestrians, roller-bladers and dog-walkers, simultaneously ban them
from the roads "because they have their own lane". Then let the lane
rot and become overrun with tree roots.

Up till now I have always been dumbfounded at cyclists opposing the
construction of cycling lanes, but I see the light. To top it off, we
also have the hostility of the natives who lost their trees, and the
delivery trucks who lost their stopping place, so they will presumably
be doing nothing to help us. Oh well, wait and see.

EFR
Ile de France



  #3  
Old May 25th 04, 08:00 PM
Jacques Moser
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default More Paris Cycling - Along Southern Rim

On Tue, 25 May 2004 10:35:37 +0200, Elisa Francesca Roselli wrote:

Now I'm wondering if those protesters weren't right? What need for a
specialized cycling lane on a route which already functions so well?
Granted, sharing a lane with buses is a Faustian bargain, but they make
much better companions than baby carriages. I DO NOT WANT TO SHARE MY LANE
WITH F*%^$**ING BABY-CARRIAGES!!! And having seen what happened with the
much hyped Coulée Verte, I worry about a repeat. Yes, give the cyclists
their lane; force them to share it with pedestrians, roller-bladers and
dog-walkers, simultaneously ban them from the roads "because they have
their own lane". Then let the lane rot and become overrun with tree roots.


Why don't you also post this to fr.misc.transport.velo ? That NG could do
with a few good posts like yours to trigger some activity and good debate
!

Jacques
  #4  
Old May 26th 04, 02:01 AM
Bernie
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default More Paris Cycling - Along Southern Rim



Elisa Francesca Roselli wrote:


So I didn't really know what to expect.

Life's like that, no?


On arriving above ground, I was at first disappointed. Yes, there is a
building site down the whole length of the avenues. It takes up about a
third the width of the street. No, there is no cycling path as yet. So I
desultorily wheeled Behemoth for a few blocks, then moved her out onto
the road in the bus corridor, held my breathe and kicked off.

Well, that bee-line through the 14th, 15th and 16th Arrondissements was
my best cycling experience to date. It was all straight so there was no
need to worry about signalling. There was a bus-corridor the whole way
so not much need to worry about cars. I was able to let rip in 7th gear
and max out the whole way. Behemoth comes into her own in those high
gears. Voluptuousness of silken pedals... I was so comfortably upright
that I didn't even get my usual sore wrists. Only an occasional traffic
light, spaced with considerate rarity, brought me to a halt but
restarting was easy on the level ground. I stopped twice just to check
my bearings but even this was not necessary as there was really no
opportunity for wrong turning. Just thunder along till you cross the
water and come to a giddy stop on the avenue de Versailles.

Now I'm wondering if those protesters weren't right? What need for a
specialized cycling lane on a route which already functions so well?
Granted, sharing a lane with buses is a Faustian bargain, but they make
much better companions than baby carriages. I DO NOT WANT TO SHARE MY
LANE WITH F*%^$**ING BABY-CARRIAGES!!! And having seen what happened
with the much hyped Coulée Verte, I worry about a repeat. Yes, give the
cyclists their lane; force them to share it with pedestrians,
roller-bladers and dog-walkers, simultaneously ban them from the roads
"because they have their own lane". Then let the lane rot and become
overrun with tree roots.

Up till now I have always been dumbfounded at cyclists opposing the
construction of cycling lanes, but I see the light. To top it off, we
also have the hostility of the natives who lost their trees, and the
delivery trucks who lost their stopping place, so they will presumably
be doing nothing to help us. Oh well, wait and see.

EFR
Ile de France

A beautiful post! "

"Voluptuousness of silken pedals..." Your statement says a great deal. I hope you keep finding good places to ride. Cycling can be such a gentle adventure. You can smile while you flow along now . Stay well and stay alert.
Bernie



 




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