Yet another way home (Howard Street to Montgomery Ave to Cedar to...)

The short story version: From downtown go north on Howard, turn left on Montgomery (be careful in 2 blocks at Post & Montgomery) keep going on Montgomery across Monroe, turn right on Cedar after Trinity School & Church, turn left on Grace, then right on Nettleton where you can turn left on Dalton or up to Longfellow and find your way home.

longer version with pics from last month:
one of my usual ways home takes me north on Elm St to arrive at NW Blvd between Pizza Hut and a schoolyard.  There's a painted crosswalk here with concrete islands in the middle that offer a little refuge halfway across.

I try to hang back here and wait for traffic to clear in both directions before crossing, but I get impatient sometimes.  I'll get my front wheel close to the curb to encourage cars to stop; or start across when the eastbound traffic is clear but westbound isn't. But then one car will stop, the other lane will keep going, or drivers will slam on their brakes because the car in front of them stopped and they weren't expecting it.  (It's like this crosswalk appeared overnight.) So I try to avoid that.

I rode home from work with my wife a few times this summer, and she didn't like to cross here. So she found us another way. To avoid NW Blvd, I some times go up Howard St and Post all the way to the hill below Garland, then go over to cross Monroe by Skippers, but traffic can be heavy there also. There's no stoplight for a long stretch on Monroe to break it up. There is a light just a some blocks north of NW Blvd/Indiana but I could never remember what street it is, and I usually couldn't find it from Howard.

Debbie found it - it's Montgomery, and it turns out it offers an easy way to cross Monroe and get to Maple/Ash.

Up Howard:

Left on Montgomery:

Two blocks to Post.  I have to be careful here because the stop sign is hidden behind tree leaves. Approaching the intersection the first few times I missed it and just thought it was another uncontrolled lightly used street; but it's a North/South arterial. 

Keep going until Monroe.  I think a bike will trigger the stoplight sensor in the street here, but I usually go over and push the crosswalk button just in case. It doesn't seem to help. Either way it's a long red light on weekdays.

Stay on Montgomery until Trinity School/Church and turn right on Cedar:

it was a nice september day

On Cedar.

 Left on Grace:

That's Maple up ahead. Or Ash, I can't keep them
straight, easier to just call them the one-ways.

This route trades crossing busy 5 lane NW Blvd, for crossing busy 2 lane Maple & Ash. It's another opportunity to learn patience.  Which is difficult for me, but I'm getting better at it. Just wait for traffic to clear. But damn the arterials in town are all designed to keep vehicle traffic flowing, and not for motor and human powered vehicles or walkers to cross.

After the One-Ways, I'll head up Nettleton and then take my pick of the dozen or so ways to get home in the west Shadle neighborhood. Usually turn left onto Dalton to cross Cochran & Alberta.

Meandered around Audubon Park

The only thing I didn't like at first about this route were all the uncontrolled intersections on Montgomery and Cedar.  I don't know why it bothered me as it's not much different than other routes around town in that regard.

Weed Report: Columbia Plateau Trail

Thick and tall just past Lamont. Botanically speaking, I don't know if these are classified as weeds, or native plants/flora or even what the difference is.  I'll have to look into that. I call them either weeds or tules.  Whatever they are, they're a bit in the way.

A conference/vacation for the week of Sept. 22 fell through so I found myself with a few days off with no plans.  Sure, I could get some things done around the house, but there's always time for that in the future.  Originally, I planned on heading out on the trail and do an overnighter to see how far I could go in a day.  But then I don't know what got into my head and I scrapped that, just went out for a recon on the railroad rock to see how close to Washtucna I could get on a semi-loaded fatbike.  Shouldn't have listened to the weather people.

I started at the Martin Road Trailhead, knocking about 20 miles off from the start in Cheney.  Didn't take too many pics on the way.  There's a short, swampy section of overgrowth just before Lamont that I thought I could ride through, but it caught me off guard and I quickly came to a stop.  I thought the water was from the rain the night before, but this swamp might be a regular feature. There are tules/cattails on both sides of the trail here. I tried to push my bike through but sank into the mud up to my ankles. I don't know what happened to the railroad rock in this section, maybe it's buried under the mud. And it stank.  Might've been a combination of mud and cow manure, or whatever swamp gas is composed of.

Some pics further down the trail.

The bridge over the John Wayne Pioneer Trail

looking east-southish

west-northish over the JWPT

last pic before I turned around about 23miles from Martin
Rd Trlhd. Think a few miles from Benge

Saw lots of deer, owls. One coyote. And a porcupine that scrambled up a rock cliff but couldn't get any further up it.  So he stopped with his tail pointed at me.  Had me a little concerned, but I made it safely by. No wildlife pics, sorry.

As I got near Lamont on the way back I started looking for a way around the overgrown section, and turned right on a road (McFaddon Rd or near McFaddon Rd according to my GPS Topo map, unnamed in Google and DeLorme atlas) that led to the Lamont Rd/McCall Rd intersection. I hopped off the trail and took Lamont Rd.  Before I reached Lamont, I took Revere Rd to this little wooden bridge over the trail.  On the way out, I'd been startled to look back and see someone standing on this bridge watching me as I pushed the Pugsley NR through the tules.

Next time on the way out, I'll probably leave the trail at the Lamont grain elevator and take Lamont Rd to skip this section.  That will only have the shorter, swampy section to get around/through before Lamont.

I didn't hit a bad headwind on the way back like before, but by the time I got back to the Martin Rd I'd had enough of the trail. Texted my wife and told her I was over the trail.  Didn't want to see it again.

But you know...I'd spoken to Eric E. before I left. He was thinking of doing an overnighter in October. Possibly can get a day off later this month and go, too.  But the wheels are still turning...I'm thinking a 2-3 day trip should be enough time to make it to Pasco.  Maybe take the train back if possible or get a ride back.  Pencilled in for next year.

Riding on borrowed time - doh!

I was wearing through the back tire (Clement X'Plor MSO) on the Vaya fairly quickly, getting more pavement than gravel/dirt riding on it lately.  I skidded on it once or twice, too, which didn't help. Had a couple flats.  Then I noticed a little green showing through the tread, which I figured was part of the tire.

hmm...that green should look familiar...

I looked at various replacement tires in the 38mm + range like the Bontrager LT or H2, the various Schwalbe Marathons, Panaracer Pasela/Crosstown/Ribmo, Vittoria Randonneur, and the Clement X'Plor USH.  Maxxis has some promising looking tires in their Urban line. 

I decided to stick with the Clement X'Plor MSO (40-622).  I like how they handle, they grip nicely in the corners and over the gravel and debris in the street. And they match the front tire, which has plenty of miles left on it. I ordered the 60 tpi version instead of 127 tpi, thinking the 60tpi might last longer.  They're less expensive, too

First the question was, "would the new tire arrive before my old tire blew out"?

Then the tires arrived before the tire blew, a couple days went by, and the question became "will I get the tire actually put on before a blow-out?".  I'm not on real good terms with the rear derailleur, so I kept putting it off.  I tend to procrastinate. In the meantime, I tried to stay off busy streets.

I finally got them on last weekend.  Remember that green spot?  Turned out it was a Skab patch.  Somehow forgot that I'd run over a staple which left a little flap in the tire. I'd patched the tube with a Skab and glued the flap down.  Which eventually tore off. Doh! 

So lesson learned - sometimes it's best to replace the tire after a flat instead of gluing it back together. And do it pronto.

Alberta St. to NW Blvd

I usually ride down the wider left lane on the one-way section of Alberta between Driscoll and Northwest Blvd on my way to work. The funny thing about this left lane that was made wider for bikes - not many cyclists want to turn from the left lane onto NW Blvd.

I turn left onto Euclid a block before NW Blvd, preferring not to turn left with the two lanes of traffic. I make my way to Hemlock where I cross NW Blvd between the Chase Bank and Java Jitters.  I can either go east on NW Blvd to Belt or ride past the barrier where Hemlock is blocked off, and go south.

Other bikers like to ride down the right lane on Alberta and turn left onto NW Blvd, which I tried again last week.

The only problem I have with this, is I've seen drivers swerve over from the left turn lane, cross the right lane all the way to the right turn lane to TJ Meenach Drive.  I feel like I might get in the way of one of those drivers who forgot they need to be in the right lane. But my wife prefers going this way, as  she doesn't like to cross the 5 lanes of NW Blvd.  Well, there have been some vehicle/pedestrian collisions on NW Blvd.  She says she feels comfortable owning the lane and feels it's natural to go the way she would if driving.  Me, I don't like to turn left onto NW Blvd, but have no problem crossing the 5 lanes at Hemlock. Go figure.  I did feel this time that I rode the right lane that drivers were aware of me, though.

Below: Past the intersection.  A neighbor woman I work with also bikes this way and will take the sidewalk. A good option which I also take sometimes, with cars going by at 35+ mph.

So there you have it - NW Blvd two ways.

When I was a kid...

Growing up in Ephrata way back in the 60's and 70's, we kids rode our bikes everywhere. It's a small town maybe 2 miles long.  There was only one adult that I remember, the father of some kids a few blocks away from our house, who rode his bike to...work.  And most everywhere else in town.  It seemed odd to me.  Nobody else's dad did that.

Now it doesn't seem so different and I'm one of those guys who bikes to work.  It's great to see more grown-ups bike commuters than when I was a kid.

But it still feels a bit different sometimes to bike commute. When I broke a bone in my hand biking to work last year, a couple people actually asked me if now I was going to grow up and stop biking.  They weren't joking. I was taken aback and didn't know what to say. (Thankfully, I don't know too many people like that).  I never thought of biking as something you grow out of.  I more or less grew back into it.

That neighborhood kid's dad was onto something.

Avid BB7 Road disc brakes (Off the Beaten Path brake test)

The Salsa Vaya I ride the majority of the time has Avid BB7's which have great stopping power in varied weather conditions.  So I was surprised to read this statement over at Off the Beaten Path in "How to Brake on a Bicycle" (in the comments section, by the post author Jan Heine. The comments were closed by the time I read the post):

Based on our experience, at least the common Avid mechanical “road” disc brakes (BB7 “road” model) have much less stopping power than a good rim brake. We have tested a number of bikes with different rotors and pads, even had a local expert fiddle with one of the test bikes, but there was little difference. The brakes feel great at first, but as you pull harder on the levers, you only get flex in the brake mechanism, but no more braking power.

Bill Davidson has a nice little demonstration. He takes a bike with those brakes, pulls the lever for the front brake to the bars, and then pushes the bike across the shop floor. The wheel continues to turn. He then takes a bike with a rim brake, and the wheel won’t turn.

So I went to my bike, pulled on the front brake lever, pushed the bike, and voila! the front wheel didn't turn.  It sounds like Mr Davidson's demonstration is with BB7's, but perhaps from the wording "these brakes" the blogger just means generic disc brakes.  I didn't have to pull all that hard.  Either way, I'm wondering am I or they missing something?

I don't have any experience with good rim brakes except for the cantilevers on my good cross bike, so I can't compare the two types of brakes much.  But my experience is that the BB7's have more than adequate stopping power.  I especially like being able to grasp the brake levers easily from the hoods without applying too much force in order to stop quickly.  And I hate fiddling with and adjusting rim brakes, so I prefer the disc brakes.

The main thrust of this article was that their experiments found that "on dry pavement,  the front brake alone halts the bike over the shortest distance."  It's a little hard to tell just how scientific their tests are.  Their is an interesting exchange in the comments section between Robert Hurst, the author of The Art of Cycling (formerly the Art of Urban Cycling) and Mr Heine where Hurst challenges the findings and says his experiments have found the shortest stopping distance was with both brakes.  I think everybody does agree that you get the most stopping force from the front brake.

(Hurst's website is The Industrialized Cyclist and he has tons of info on his Bicycle Research page.)

Post Street

Since my ride home often takes me down Post Street, I've been wondering how the city was going to manage the connection between Riverfront Park and the new Centennial Tail section that will pass under the Monroe Street Bridge on its way through Kendall Yards.  I know slowing down to turn left onto Bridge St from Post can be dicey if there's traffic bearing down on you from behind.  

The Getting There column in Monday's Spokesman Review details plans to turn Post Street between Falls Blvd and Bridge Street into a one-way northbound street with a 12 foot wide bike lane on the east side of the Street Bridge.  There was also an open house (8/19 Getting There) last week  but I missed it.  There will be angled parking in front of City Hall; Post north of Bridge street will be still be two-way but with two lanes and a center turn land instead of the 4 lanes now and there will be parallel parking spots on both sides of the street.  I'm not clear if the bike lane is only on the bridge, or if it's from the Blvd to Bridge St.

This is how it looks now:

Sometimes impatient traffic behind will pass me, (you know they're in a hurry to get to the stoplight at Broadway).  I might feel a little bad about slowing down traffic, riding outside of the door zone.  Then one day I noticed the 20 mph speed limit sign halfway down the block across from the Avista building.  Now I don't care if I'm slowing down anybody since I'm usually going 15-20 mph here, and motorists should be going slower in this section anyway.  Especially with all the foot traffic.  I've been thinking the limit on Spokane Falls Blvd and streets in the downtown core should be 20-25mph also.

See the seldom noticed 20mph sign?

the weight restricted bridge

The street narrows here, so a one way might widen the lane a bit.

Past the Bridge, on Lincoln St.

This sounds like a good plan, I'm interested to get more details on it, hopefully next week.  I figure depending on my mood, in order to go west I'll either take the Centennial Trail or go up to Broadway.  It'll be good to have another option.