Lesson #1
Okay, kiddies, follow along with me.
In Downtown Minneapolis, on Hennepin Ave, there are several lanes.
Between 11th St and the river, if you’re in a car, you can drive in the lanes going towards the river. If you’re in a bus, you can drive in the lane going away from the river. And between the bus lane and the driving lanes, between 11th St and 2nd St, there is another lane. This lane is for BICYCLES! It is not a lane for cars driving alongside the buses. It is not a left turn lane for cars in the driving lanes. It is a two-way bicycle lane. Got it? Good.
The other night, I was biking towards the river. It was a weekend evening, and I was between 7th and 6th, and a big truck was coming towards me at speed in the bike lane, heading away from the river. (I’m using towards and away from the river because Mpls is built on a tilt) It started honking it’s horn at me to get out of the way, because obviously I was the one in the wrong. I wonder which suburb they had come downtown from. Following behind them was a smaller car filled with women with big hair. Meanwhile, the cops were too busy standing around outside of Block E to do anything about this.
Related posts:
What suburb? Obviously somewhere in Anoka county. Watch out, it’ll be Vikings season soon! Then the pickup drivers will be confused AND drunk!
Holy shit. Scary. Assholes.
I’ve been there man. What Idiots!
Yes, that’s a bike lane on Hennepin, just like the one on Marquette is a bike lane as well. So why do bikers heading towards the river not use it as soon as they reach 11th street? Instead, many of them just continue to slow down the right lane.
Actually, the bike lane on Marquette is a one-way bike lane heading away from the river, not towards it. The bike lane on 2nd Ave is a one-way heading towards the river. Following the rules of the road, bikers on Marquette heading towards the river should stay on the right side of the road, not in the bike lane.
And don’t forget, bicycles ARE traffic, not an impediment to traffic.
Unfortunately there seem to be many drivers that don’t ‘get it ‘ with respect to the bicycle lanes in DT Minneapolis. I was hit by a car on August 1 when I was in the bike lane at 2nd Ave and 6th Street. Dude turns left in front of me and WHAM - over the hood I go. I was fortunate and got away with bruises and scrapes. The design of some of the lanes DT leaves a bit to be desired. But, then again, the lack of awareness to cyclists (bright red jersey, bright orange bike, clear day) also leaves a lot to be desired. Anyway - be careful out there.
Closed circuit to Lex: Hi! How have you been?
Jim