Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Morning Commute: ETD 8:40 a.m. 18 min ride

This morning I rode my usual route to work which starts with taking Evergreen Avenue from Hoyne, across Damen to Ellen Street. I take this to Paulina and then get onto Milwaukee. I start my ride this way to avoid the backtrack to Six Corners and the congestion there. It’s also nice to have a few blocks of quiet neighborhood streets to start my ride.

On Milwaukee today, there were a lot of bikers out, which always makes me feel more safe. There were, however, a ton of helmetless riders, many of them on Divvy bikes. Glad to see these being used, but wish more people brought helmets for their rides. When I reached the intersection of Milwaukee and Chicago, my turn for work, I did my usual box turn where I take the green light across the street going south and then reorient my bike to the east. This intersection frightens me and I have stopped trying to make left turns with the cars there and just do the box turn.

Then comes the frustrating part of my ride: Chicago Ave. When the traffic is light on Chicago, I give myself a few feet away from the curb. Today the traffic was heavy and cars were reluctant to give me my space, which means I was riding over potholes and just bumpy bad road. At the top of the “hill” (Chicago & Halsted intersection), I ran into a fellow biker from Groupon who proclaimed “I think I am going to do the bridge today!” to which I replied “See you on the other side.” I see some bikers take the bridge over the river, but so many end up taking the sidewalk given how the street narrows at the bridge, and biking over grates is scary anyway.