1) The two traffic lanes on the arterial road are narrower, sometimes clogging traffic.
2) It is now illegal to make a right on red from entering side streets, which also clogs traffic and wastes time.
3) You'd better not make a right turn off the arterial onto a side street without craning your neck, because the biker riding straight through the intersection will take the right-of-way, even though, technically, it's not his.
4) Take-out pizza is now delivered on bicycles, with pin-point headlights and no tail lights, on dimly-lit side streets; I wonder how warm it is at this time of year?
5) Apparently some bicyclists ride drunk because "you won't hit it as hard as you would in a car." And see above, inadequate headlights and no tail lights.
As an added bonus, Pilote was reminded, as he made a mid-block left turn into a commercial driveway, that pedestrians don't stop for you. Trying to beat oncoming rush-hour traffic by timing your move? That's your problem, buddy. I'm afoot, and I look neither right nor left, nor do I slack my pace, because I have the right-of-way.
As previously posted, I love the walkability of small European cities. But they were built to be walkable, 1000 years ago or more. You park your car in the center of town and proceed on foot for the rest of your time there. Bicycles use the regular traffic lanes (which are tight and congested anyway).
Within minutes of arriving in Minneapolis, I missed downtown Chicago sorely, where bike messengers and pedestrians crossing against the light (not to mention jaywalking) take their lives in their hands. Roads are for cars.
* * *
Somewhat behind schedule, I was reminded of why I didn't care much for Minneapolis in the years I lived there. In 12 hours, the ambient temperature dropped from 55 degrees to 19, with a 10-knot wind gusting to 20. We got a dusting of snow too, which was still there 6 days later because the ambient never got above the low 20's. In Chicagoland, the snow doesn't stick until Christmas time, and we usually get a January thaw. I began this paragraph with "somewhat behind schedule" because Minneapolis usually gets a big, wet, dump in early November.
Spring doesn't come until May. Trees turn green before then, and flowering stuff flowers. But it doesn't get warm. By July, the heat is awful. There are no Great Lakes to perform a heat sink function; it just gets hot. Until September. May and September are lovely. To be fair, I know people who have lived happily in Minneapolis-St. Paul their entire lives. They love it. They can't imagine leaving such a livable metropolitan area. And I'll say this much for it: the automatic car washes stay open in winter, and they work. (Yes, your doors freeze shut.) In Chicagoland, go find a car wash that doesn't ice up, with an Out Of Order sign at the entrance, when it gets a few degrees below 32 F for a couple of days in a row. It was 15 degrees when I ran the Civic through the automatic car wash in Minneapolis.
* * *
I've raved about how much I love my Si before, and will now do so again. The TPMS dash lite finally came on for the new O.Z. Allegerrita wheel/tire package, but it took the aforementioned 36 degree overnight drop in ambient to do it. It was way too cold to fiddle with a pressure gauge, so I just gave each corner a 4-second shot of air. The light went out. Now that I'm back in the land of reasonable daytime temperatures, I'll take a gauge to them.
On the run home, the roads were dry and the weather was clear. You can buy more power than a Gen 6 Honda Civic Si has, but you can't use it without paying large fines. I averaged 67 m.p.h. over 450 miles, including two quick gas/comfort stops, one of which included adding washer fluid and air to the tires. And taking the "scenic route" down the Mississippi River with stoplights in towns. The car is always right there with me: shifting up or down, braking, cornering. And I can maintain very high average speeds. Plenty of room in the trunk and four doors for adults, child car-seats, school backpacks, &c. &c. &c. (It is amazing how much stuff a first-grader carts to and from school for gym class and a soccer program, along with a modicum of homework.)
On the run home, the roads were dry and the weather was clear. You can buy more power than a Gen 6 Honda Civic Si has, but you can't use it without paying large fines. I averaged 67 m.p.h. over 450 miles, including two quick gas/comfort stops, one of which included adding washer fluid and air to the tires. And taking the "scenic route" down the Mississippi River with stoplights in towns. The car is always right there with me: shifting up or down, braking, cornering. And I can maintain very high average speeds. Plenty of room in the trunk and four doors for adults, child car-seats, school backpacks, &c. &c. &c. (It is amazing how much stuff a first-grader carts to and from school for gym class and a soccer program, along with a modicum of homework.)
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