Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tim on June 21, 2013 at 3:09am

Well said Gabe.

I came across another salmoner today. That makes it 5 for 5 in the mornings this week. It was more fun today because there was a limo and a van both trying to back up in the left lane and a lot of cars double parked on both sides.

Also,

If you have to spit while riding, please look behind you first. I was stuck behind a guy going south on DesPlaines when he decided to spit, so I got the over spray. He was wearing earbuds so he didn't hear me yell at him for a 1/4 mile. 

I am so glad it's Friday!

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Permalink Reply by Tricolor on June 21, 2013 at 5:11am

Curry House is nice.  Since Chutney Joe's closed it's my go-to place for lunch when I can wrangle my coworkers to get Indian.

Between Dearborn and the Lake in the loop Wabash is the only street that's not multi-laned chaos, which explains why so many people use it, even if you can't hear a thing with all the noise trains make, not to mention the darkness from the elevated structure.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Keating on June 21, 2013 at 6:07am

On the subject of rogue bicyclists, the bicyclists who ride on the east side of Dearborn across from the Dearborn Bike Lane drive me crazy. I don't understand why some insist on doing it. It defeats all the work that was done convincing people that the DBL would clear up traffic.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on June 21, 2013 at 6:49am

The Dearborn protected bike lane was pitched and sold by CDOT and ATA as a design panacea for all road users. What the design failed to take into account was the vagaries of cabs, cars, police, pedestrians, buses, valets, and even bicycles. At what point do you declare that a failure of design or will it always remain a flawless design which is undermined by everyone's inability or unwillingness to use it as the designers intended and hoped?

Mike Keating said:

On the subject of rogue bicyclists, the bicyclists who ride on the east side of Dearborn across from the Dearborn Bike Lane drive me crazy. I don't understand why some insist on doing it. It defeats all the work that was done convincing people that the DBL would clear up traffic.

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Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on June 21, 2013 at 7:13am

My comment:

The Dearborn protected Bike Lanes were intended to make it more likely that the 99% of the population which constitute those that are not the "brave and daring cyclist" might feel more comfortable riding in the loop.  As for it being a "failed design", that's the comment of someone who wants to see it fail because, frankly, they want to keep urban bicycling an "exciting private club" for the brave few.   it is FAR FAR FAR to early to declare it a failure.   Maybe it needs some more tweaking (such as banning valet parking on that side of Dearborn), but it is far from a failure.  

Of course, the CM crowd will continue to ride in Dearborn on the other side, because their real goal is anarchy

Kevin C said:

The Dearborn protected bike lane was pitched and sold by CDOT and ATA as a design panacea for all road users. What the design failed to take into account was the vagaries of cabs, cars, police, pedestrians, buses, valets, and even bicycles. At what point do you declare that a failure of design or will it always remain a flawless design which is undermined by everyone's inability or unwillingness to use it as the designers intended and hoped?

Mike Keating said:

On the subject of rogue bicyclists, the bicyclists who ride on the east side of Dearborn across from the Dearborn Bike Lane drive me crazy. I don't understand why some insist on doing it. It defeats all the work that was done convincing people that the DBL would clear up traffic.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on June 21, 2013 at 7:25am

Wow, pretty talented David.

In one paragraph, you were able to mischaracterize my words, my motivation for choosing the words I chose, and still have room to continue your anti-CCM rant.

David crZven 10.6 said:

My comment:

The Dearborn protected Bike Lanes were intended to make it more likely that the 99% of the population which constitute those that are not the "brave and daring cyclist" might feel more comfortable riding in the loop.  As for it being a "failed design", that's the comment of someone who wants to see it fail because, frankly, they want to keep urban bicycling an "exciting private club" for the brave few.   it is FAR FAR FAR to early to declare it a failure.   Maybe it needs some more tweaking (such as banning valet parking on that side of Dearborn), but it is far from a failure.  

Of course, the CM crowd will continue to ride in Dearborn on the other side, because their real goal is anarchy

Kevin C said:

The Dearborn protected bike lane was pitched and sold by CDOT and ATA as a design panacea for all road users. What the design failed to take into account was the vagaries of cabs, cars, police, pedestrians, buses, valets, and even bicycles. At what point do you declare that a failure of design or will it always remain a flawless design which is undermined by everyone's inability or unwillingness to use it as the designers intended and hoped?

Mike Keating said:

On the subject of rogue bicyclists, the bicyclists who ride on the east side of Dearborn across from the Dearborn Bike Lane drive me crazy. I don't understand why some insist on doing it. It defeats all the work that was done convincing people that the DBL would clear up traffic.

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Permalink Reply by Max on June 21, 2013 at 7:59am

This is what I do, the intersections at 8th/Polk/State Street or Harrison/State Street are very precarious (used to do Harrison and State Street) and 9th and State Street is much more straightforward.

Also Curry house is pretty good.

Tony Adams 7 mi (dirtbag hipstr) said:

I agree with Tim. There are no good northbound routes between the Lakefront Path and Dearborn.

What I do to get to Dearborn when going northbound into the loop on Wabash:

1. Turn left (west) on 9th - taking it to Plymouth

2. Turn right (north) on Plymouth to Polk

3. Turn left (west) on Polk half a block to the southern terminus of the Dearborn lanes/circus.

(Bonus feature: Well hidden, pretty good Indian/Nepalese joint at 9th and Plymouth - the Chicago Curry House.)

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 21, 2013 at 8:00am

I'll second that suggestion and add another option for folks coming in further south.  At 14th/State, you can duck into Dearborn Park, go north on Plymouth Court (nice cul de sac/cut through under Roosevelt Road), then continue as Tony noted below. 

Another notable spot on Plymouth Court, if you're a jazz fan, is Jazz Showcase in the old Dearborn station just south of Polk.

Tony Adams 7 mi (dirtbag hipstr) said:

I agree with Tim. There are no good northbound routes between the Lakefront Path and Dearborn.

What I do to get to Dearborn when going northbound into the loop on Wabash:

1. Turn left (west) on 9th - taking it to Plymouth

2. Turn right (north) on Plymouth to Polk

3. Turn left (west) on Polk half a block to the southern terminus of the Dearborn lanes/circus.

(Bonus feature: Well hidden, pretty good Indian/Nepalese joint at 9th and Plymouth - the Chicago Curry House.)

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

I prefer not to talk about Dearborn in the context of this thread. The ends simply do not justify the means. I really don't care about the other options.  Salmoning on Wabash which is already treacherous for all (car, bike foot) with the elevated structures taking up space.  Would the failure of the Streets and Sanitation to pick up your garbage justify throwing your trash on the street?  I understand a controlled minimal (1-2 block) salmon run on a dead side street done with extra caution.  A loop street during the day?  You have to be kidding me.

The unapologetic post from a resident salmon vexes me. You are basically saying that you are urinating on the street but are aware of the wind direction so you know you will not get sprayed.  Since its a one way street nobody else expects you to be lowering your zipper so its very likely that somebody is inadvertently going to wind up metaphorically wet and actually injured.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on June 21, 2013 at 8:27am

14th does not go through to State, but 14th Place does. To get over to Plymouth from there does require riding on State either half a block south to 15th from which one can cut north through Cotton Tail Park* or up ~ a full block to 14th Street.

I tried it a few times and found it to be far too much rigmarole to be worth the bother. It is pretty fun though to ride that whole stretch of Plymouth. It is like someone dropped an affluent suburban subdivision (except with urban sized lots) into the south loop.

*This park belongs to kids and dogs so if anyone rides through there in anything resembling a hurry I will personally hunt you down and give you a lecture that will make you weep with remorse.

h' 1.0 said:

Sounds like you can take 14th to State from Wabash? Does this require riding on State?

Anne Alt said:

I'll second that suggestion and add another option for folks coming in further south.  At 14th/State, you can duck into Dearborn Park, go north on Plymouth Court (nice cul de sac/cut through under Roosevelt Road), then continue as Tony noted below. 

Another notable spot on Plymouth Court, if you're a jazz fan, is Jazz Showcase in the old Dearborn station just south of Polk.

Tony Adams 7 mi (dirtbag hipstr) said:

I agree with Tim. There are no good northbound routes between the Lakefront Path and Dearborn.

What I do to get to Dearborn when going northbound into the loop on Wabash:

1. Turn left (west) on 9th - taking it to Plymouth

2. Turn right (north) on Plymouth to Polk

3. Turn left (west) on Polk half a block to the southern terminus of the Dearborn lanes/circus.

(Bonus feature: Well hidden, pretty good Indian/Nepalese joint at 9th and Plymouth - the Chicago Curry House.)

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Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on June 21, 2013 at 8:34am

+1.

The urination analogy is quite good....  although in many ways it is worse than that as it also supports the "presumption" that bicyclists do what they want and to hell with the consequences.

David Barish said:

I prefer not to talk about Dearborn in the context of this thread. The ends simply do not justify the means. I really don't care about the other options.  Salmoning on Wabash which is already treacherous for all (car, bike foot) with the elevated structures taking up space.  Would the failure of the Streets and Sanitation to pick up your garbage justify throwing your trash on the street?  I understand a controlled minimal (1-2 block) salmon run on a dead side street done with extra caution.  A loop street during the day?  You have to be kidding me.

The unapologetic post from a resident salmon vexes me. You are basically saying that you are urinating on the street but are aware of the wind direction so you know you will not get sprayed.  Since its a one way street nobody else expects you to be lowering your zipper so its very likely that somebody is inadvertently going to wind up metaphorically wet and actually injured.

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Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on June 21, 2013 at 8:40am

What I hate are self-entitled jerks who engage in conduct that puts the rest of us at risk.   Anyone who Salmons (particularly in the loop and particularly at speed) on a regular basis is a self-entitled jerk that puts the rest of us at risk.   If your definition of cyclist is someone who rides a bicycle, I don't hate cyclists.  If your definition of cyclist is someone who rides with reckless abandon and no consideration for others, than yes, under your "perverted" definition of cyclist, I guess I hate cyclist.

The good, albeit tragic, news is that the reckless cyclists aren't posting for the long term.   TO paraphrase an old adage, there are old cyclists and bold cyclists, but there are no old bold cyclists.

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