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Permalink Reply by David Barish on June 21, 2013 at 8:53am

Howard

I am not much of a hater at any level.  However, like the other David I have a problem with people who think they are entitled.  This is because they hold themselves above the rest of us.  The post is very entitled,

There should probably just be a protected bike lane on wabash. Until then, its just gonna happen and everyone should be cautious of all their surroundings.

So, until somebody else fixes the problem I am going to be a danger to everybody.  My analogy, although crude, was accurate.   Had the guy written that he had been doing it but really didn't realize what a stir he caused, had he shown some regard for others, had he indicated in any way whatsoever that he would take this into consideration, had he said that he does this a 4 am when there is really no traffic on the street,  had he said that having read this thread he will give Dearborn a try,  I am certain you would have perceived my tone as much less misanthropic.  However, he didn't seem to care about us.  If there is a hater amongst us I think its our proud salmon.  It really doesn't matter whether he is a fellow cyclist.
h' 1.0 said:

Do you hate all humans equally or do cyclists enjoy some sort of special status?

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on June 21, 2013 at 9:10am

Is it possible to bring this discussion back to the topic of why someone would ride against traffic on Wabash in the first place?

I never ride on Wabash, but I can see why people would.  It appears to be the best way into the Loop from the south.  It looks like there is a dedicated bike lane between Cermak and Harrison, which just ends there, not connecting to any other bike-friendly streets. I'm not sure what the bike lane designers were thinking. If Google Maps is correct, it appears that Wabash is two-way south of Harrison.  If you ride northbound in that vicinity, there don't appear to be any great choices, hemmed in by State and Michigan as it is.  The best option looks to me like 9th -> Plymouth -> Polk -> Dearborn, or maybe make a left on Harrison, then go to Dearborn.  Not sure how bike friendly Harrison is...

I don't see any salmoning on Wells, a street similar to Wabash (one-way s/b, running under the train tracks), so my guess is that the traffic engineers just flubbed on Wabash.  ATA, this looks like another small lobbying effort for you (as if you don't have enough on your plate already).

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on June 21, 2013 at 9:29am

Well, no.  I did see the other discussion.  I was working my way through Google Maps and came to the same conclusion about other routes.  The thing I hadn't seen (or missed) was that there is this bike lane to nowhere (sort of like staircases at the Winchester Mystery House) that seems to be the root cause of the problem.  If that can be fixed, then perhaps salmoning will be reduced.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on June 21, 2013 at 9:49am

"Skip" is living up to his name!

h' 1.0 said:

Somebody skipped reading most of the discussion :-)

Skip Montanaro 12mi said:

Is it possible to bring this discussion back to the topic of why someone would ride against traffic on Wabash in the first place?

I never ride on Wabash, but I can see why people would.  It appears to be the best way into the Loop from the south.  It looks like there is a dedicated bike lane between Cermak and Harrison, which just ends there, not connecting to any other bike-friendly streets. I'm not sure what the bike lane designers were thinking. If Google Maps is correct, it appears that Wabash is two-way south of Harrison.  If you ride northbound in that vicinity, there don't appear to be any great choices, hemmed in by State and Michigan as it is.  The best option looks to me like 9th -> Plymouth -> Polk -> Dearborn, or maybe make a left on Harrison, then go to Dearborn.  Not sure how bike friendly Harrison is...

I don't see any salmoning on Wells, a street similar to Wabash (one-way s/b, running under the train tracks), so my guess is that the traffic engineers just flubbed on Wabash.  ATA, this looks like another small lobbying effort for you (as if you don't have enough on your plate already).

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Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on June 21, 2013 at 9:59am

Sigh.   Either you don't get the point or you don't care about the rest of us...

The problem isn't Bicycles riding the wrong way hitting bicycles riding the right way.  Its a much larger problem.  In order for riders to be safe, drivers have to anticipate that Bicycles are on the street and in  known and predictable places.  This is a question of training drivers to look.    Riders in unusual and wrong places sets back this training.   Not all of us have your cat like reflexes and instantaneous judgment.   We need the cars to know where we are and play along.

Its hard to track exactly where the injury caused by this will happen.   But it will.    Bicycles should NOT Salmon upstream particularly on busy streets.  It is a bad practice that hurts all of us.   And I hope to heck this is one of the ticket target priorities for the City.

h' 1.0 said:

Well, Dan Korn does this much better than I.... but I hope someone almost opens an almost-hospital soon for all of the almost-injured cyclists who are almost hit by cyclists travelling upstream on the stretch of Wabash in question.

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Permalink Reply by Julia 3.5/7.5 mi on June 22, 2013 at 2:20pm

Saw this article today: http://gothamist.com/2013/06/21/in_defense_of_salmoning_on_a_bike.php 

I don't salmon streets myself and I generally get pretty annoyed when others do - I prefer to take the lane on State street to ride up to State/Jackson. This article actually made some points that I consider valid - and I can see the attractiveness of salmoning to the author. Then again, if you're only going a block (like the last route the author posted) can't just you walk your bike on the sidewalk???

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 22, 2013 at 4:58pm

Darwin Award candidate - guy salmoning on Kedzie south of 119th this a.m. (40 mph speed limit, drivers often faster, narrow lanes). Riding on this section of Kedzie with the flow of traffic could make this guy a candidate. Salmoning increases his chances on this bike-unfriendly street.

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