Ride Report--Switchin' It Up

I've lived at my apartment and commuted to the same place of work for 2 years now. My commute has always taken me along 86th, north/south on Ditch Rd., and then 96th from Ditch all the way to College Ave.


Overall, it's some pretty busy roadway, includes some elevation with overpasses (not that I'm against elevation, but having to climb and spin-out on descent on my way to work can overwork the ol' sweat glands, and no one likes to sit next to a foot-smelling bike commuter in an office meeting), and most treacherously, includes the fluster-cluck of an intersection at 96th and Meridian.

I had tried 91st when I first moved to Indy a few years ago since I saw it on a safe routes map, but quickly wondered how it was rated as "safe" since the shoulder was soft to say the least, the pavement was chossy, and it was generally a narrow road.

They'd evidently repaved it at some point, and it'd gone pretty well unnoticed by me until this morning when I decided to try the 91st St. route again. Much better.

The road is still narrow and lacking a shoulder, but simply improving the pavement makes a huge difference--previously, if you wanted to ride the white line to allow traffic to pass, you would be best served owning a mountain bike--this is no longer the case. The elevation is much more relaxed, and the 91st & Meridian intersection is much calmer than 96th & Meridian. For those who still aren't all too comfortable claiming your rights to the road, it might be a little tight for you, but overall, it was a much calmer and more relaxed ride to work, simply due to some new pavement.

Moral of the story: shake up your routine on occasion and enjoy a new route to work. You might find a few new streets can make your morning or afternoon a lot less drab than it might come to be after a couple years of riding the same route.

Bikeclicks.com's SafeRides map

I'm gonna bump this old article; it's one of the first posts we made here on Indy Cog so it didn't see much traffic, and I thought that it should get a little more. The weather is warming up, more cyclists are out and about, and more motorists have their windows down to yell at us.

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Bikeclicks.com has integrated with Google Maps to create what they call their Safe Rides Map. It allows users to report incidents with cars, dogs, what-have-you, so that other cyclists can be forewarned. If a pattern emerges of incidents and accidents on certain roads or areas, other cyclits can be informed to take a different route. So far, it's mainly Louisville that is being reported, but it'd be great to get some active Indy-based users on here sharing road info.

Go here to check it out.

Here is the write up from their page:

Bring us your Buzzings, Dog Chasings & Angry Drivers

Ever been "buzzed" by a car? Yelled at by an angry driver? What about getting chased by Kujo? No matter the incident, accident or worse, we think angry drivers, accidents and badly behaved dogs suck.

Now you can warn other cyclists about your on the road experiences using our Google Maps mashup that allows cyclsits to report incidents, accidents and even (god forbid) fatalities involving vehicles or dogs in one place. And the best part is, rather than leaving this useful information languishing on some police report or only griping about the incident to your riding buddies; you can share it with the entire community so we can all begin to get a clearer picture of what we all experience out there. That really bad corner where there always seems to be an issue with visibilty, or that neighborhood where the dogs have chased down dozens of cyclists, the daily random "angry driver rant" directed at cyclists, or the fact that you have indeed been "running the gauntlet" of morning commuting on that backroad you thought was safe.

So share up friends, and hopefully all of us will ride a little bit safer and better informed tomorrow.

Ft. Wayne Task Force for Bikes and Other IIB News

From Inside Indiana Business:

Task Force Created to Improve Bicycle Transportation Plan

Mayor Tom Henry has announced the creation of the Bike Fort Wayne Task Force to work on improving bicycle infrastructure. The group is made up of 40 members in the fields of education, nature, law enforcement and transportation. The task force will advise city staff in the writing of a bicycle transportation plan. Members plan to meet approximately six times from now through October with a public open house in late fall.

Some great stuff happening up in Ft. Wayne. I've a few friends up there; I'm almost tempted to visit them so I can ride around a bit.

Grants to Promote Walking, Bicycling to School

The Indiana Department of Transportation has awarded $320,500 to seven schools and communities to provide safer ways to walk and bike to school. The next round of applications for this federally funded project are open through the end of May. More than $3 million is available for programs that encourage walking and bicycling to school, as well as infrastructure development.