Saturday, October 3, 2009

You Say Tomato...


I say bike lanes. What? Fall is a great time to ride not just to see leaves change color but for the fall colors in the foods you find and the different places you find to ride. Cyclocross brought us to the Madison area.

USGP Cross from Bikesafer on Vimeo.


Produce brought us to the Captiol square. Mrs. Bikesafer and I rode around Madison after a stop at their farmers market for some heirloom tomatoes to go with our fresh basil from the garden, 18 year old balsamic, olive oil and fresh mozzerella.

What an interesting place to ride. Bike paths all over the place, and bike lanes on almost every busy street. Not just bike lanes, we have those in Milwaukee too, but in Madison most of them are clear of debris and potholes, and more importantly DOORS. Almost every bike lane in MKE is unrideable because of the proximity to the door zone.
We also rode in our first ever protected and contra-flow bike lane on University ave. It was a good ride.

Madison Bike Lane from Bikesafer on Vimeo.


But with fall not only the leaves seem to change. The drivers are starting to get cranky. I got an earful yesterday from Mr. SUV, who passed into oncoming traffic to get to the stop sign a few seconds ahead of me only to wait there to bitch at me about "us guys", (cyclists) getting out of control.


I also learned that in SUV land, cyclists aren't allowed to use the roads. As he drove off, the wife or mistress or whatever yelled "you gotta be safe". Yes I agree, and how safe is it to pass (anyone) if you have to go into oncoming traffic?

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