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Sonja,
Your observations are showing why Greensboro's bike map can be useful. The part of Eugene Street you mention seems like it would be a nice quiet street, but if you check our map, it's labeled in orange: "least suitable" for biking. A better alternative is just one block away and is signed as bicycle route #9. If you go southeast on Parkway and then turn right on Fisher Park Circle, you'll get to downtown via Greene Street and miss the skinny part of Eugene. You've still got to go uphill, but it might be a little more gradual than Eugene.

Sonja,

Bike to work week is better for those less than 10 miles from work --- and even then its a little suicidal in Greensboro. Things are improving and some areas have decent bike lanes, but its almost impossible to cross town safely.

I've done the ride from NE Greensboro (think Laddies and Dukes) to the Zink Imaging (remember the old Konica-Minolta plant?) a few times. Its about a 25 mile ride. There is no good way to ride this, plus to be at work on time (6:30a) I leave the house at ~5a and ride with a light. The good news is that almost no one is on the road, the bad news is that sleepy morning drivers don't always see that blinking red taillight....I'll wait until Friday before attempting again simply because I can't put 3 hours of riding onto most other days of the week....or pick up the kid from day care (he only gets the bike trailer on greenways -- not going up Battleground!)

Good luck with ride to work week..

Thanks for that reminder, Peter.

Here's a link to that map, for anyone who doesn't already know where it is: http://www.ncdot.org/it/gis/DataDistribution/BikeMaps/default.html

Last night, I sort of planned in my head the route I would ride today, but when I got to Eugene and Battleground this morning I realized I hadn't really thought about it enough, at all. So I bushwhacked around downtown Greensboro a little bit, about like I often do in the car.

Does this sound crazy? A lot of the time I feel safer on narrow streets because I think the drivers will be more attentive there. And with all of those pedestrian crossing signs in the road, I figured that stretch of Eugene would be a good bike route. Is it "least suitable" because the better way to the same destination is so near it?

Sonja -- The key to making sure drivers see you is to make yourself more visible. From the photo in your blog, it looks like you are wearing dark clothes, with no headlight, taillight or reflective gear. I have been bike commuting in Raleigh for more than a year (22 miles roundtrip) and seldom have trouble with drivers not seeing me. I wear a neon yellow vest in the mornings and a bright yellow or orange jersey. I also have a bright headlight, 2-3 taillights, and reflective ankle bands. If drivers don't see me, they're blind.

Tom

Hi Tom,

If I were going to make bike commuting a regular thing, I would probably figure out some safety clothes. For this week, I thought my dorky blue windbreaker would be bright enough. Chances are if I'm here past dark, I'm going to get a ride from someone anyway.

It is always so scary to see people on bicycles at night wearing dark clothes -- they are practically invisible.

It's funny that you mention lights -- when I came home from work last night, my boyfriend met me with a shopping bag. He got me a headlight and tail light as "Bike to Work Week" gifts, so from now on, I'll be set in that department.

Do you have those lit up even during the day? I can see why it would make sense, the tail light especially, but I am sure I would forget to turn it off and run the battery dead. Then it would get dark out and I wouldn't have a light anymore.

If I ever buy a cycling jersey, I'll make it an orange one. But I worry about buying gear that might suggest I am a skilled or dedicated cyclist -- that would give people absolutely the wrong impression.

Sonja
Please keep riding this week and try to make sure you do so 1x a week for the summer, you'd be amazed at how quickly you become adapt at commuting by bike. I live 8 miles from work and commute by bike at least 1x, usually 2x a week. It takes me just 10 minutes longer to cycle in than to drive my car, my route through subdivisions has no traffic lights vs. all those on Battleground. The days I ride in are great- I arrive awake and alert and by the time I get home any stress from work is gone. It may take you some time to find a quiet, car-free route but it is worth it.

Sonja,
Glad you made it home. There are lots of elements that contribute to how safe a street is for cycling (or how safe it makes a cyclist feel, which is often different). What's more, different riders feel comfortable in different situations. For the City's bike map, we tried an evaluation system called Bicycle Level of Service that accounts for pavement width & condition, traffic volume & speed, etc. As with most technical tools, sometimes its results made sense and sometimes they didn't, but it was a useful starting point for evaluating our existing conditions.

Your "dorky blue windbreaker" might be OK for daytime riding. But I have a poster on the wall that shows the following distances a driver will first see you at night, based on the color of your clothing. Unfortunately, dorky blue gives drivers not so much time to react:
Blue - 55 ft
Red - 80 ft
Yellow - 120 ft
White - 180 ft
Retro-reflective (could be called "dorky bike vests") - 500 ft

For comparison purposes, a typical vehicle traveling 40 mph would take over 180 feet to stop, AFTER the driver sees you. That's why you've got to be bright at night.

One final piece of news: Since biking in a thunderstorm is dangerous, we're postponing the Bike-to-Work Day activities scheduled for May 16 until Friday, May 30.