The Chainlink

Nearly every morning, I witness 40-foot trucks driving on the Lake Front Trail. The trucks take up the entire width of the path, and knock over tree branches onto unsuspecting joggers and bikers. They are creating a dangerous situation by funneling two way running/biking traffic into the narrow shoulder, while blocking view of the oncoming lane. I should also note that the trucks are moving, and not just parked on the trail. How are they even getting access to the trail, and who is continuing to allow this to happen?

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lol, you obviously have never met me…

Crazy David 84 Furlongs said:

Not that a skinny, athletic  tights-wearing bottle water drinking member of the elite would know this....

Holy crap, that was bad.

Mike Schwab said:

That ad helped pay the bills and fund future projects from one of America's greatest documentary directors.  Unlike most beer ads, it didn't use sex, celebrity or lame humor to try to move suds.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Holy crap, that was bad.

An absolute classic!

Mike Schwab said:

I am sure you mean "bad" in a good sense.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Holy crap, that was bad.

Mike Schwab said:

One of the New Belgium guys at Saturday's TdF described one of their beers as a "Bud-Light Style Pilsener" and I almost took off running in the other direction...

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

The fact that it's piss-water Bud Light being delivered is just salt on the wounds.

in it to win it 8.0 mi said:

Probably wouldn't be such an issue if it were a Fat Tire truck delivering some nice Ranger IPA!

Of course - it's not like Adam likes to complain or anything... :)

Lisa Curcio 6.5 mi said:

I am sure you mean "bad" in a good sense.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Holy crap, that was bad.

Mike Schwab said:

Police,Chicago park district, sanitation,fire trucks,and various bar oswners private vehicles...stay safe.

That is a common problem for craft beer sellers. How to describe it in novices terms (not sure if you are a novice). See it regularly at Hopleaf: Guy orders a Bud and the bartender points out some alternatives, mumbling something to the extent of "It's light, like a Bud".

That Blue Paddle was a pretty good pilsner, btw. Nothing like a Bud-Light.



h' 1.0 said:

One of the New Belgium guys at Saturday's TdF described one of their beers as a "Bud-Light Style Pilsener" and I almost took off running in the other direction...

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

The fact that it's piss-water Bud Light being delivered is just salt on the wounds.

in it to win it 8.0 mi said:

Probably wouldn't be such an issue if it were a Fat Tire truck delivering some nice Ranger IPA!

I wanna do a little math. You say you encounter 3 trucks (each weekday, I presume, as you said commute) from Wilson to the Loop. Let's say you exit LFT at Monroe. This is 6.8 miles according to Google Maps, so 13.6 miles roundtrip. 

In a 2011 report on Lakefront Trail counts [PDF], Active Transportation Alliance noted that 1,435 cyclists were counted passing between Oak Street and North Avenue beach on a weekday between 6-9 AM. 

Let's assume that 3 trucks are seen every 13.6 miles (your round trip) and that half of the people who cycled past this count location in the morning make a trip that long. The other half, making a trip of 6.8 miles, see 1.5 trucks. 

718 x 3 trucks = 2,154 truck encounters each weekday, plus

718 x 1.5 trucks = 1,077 truck encounters each weekday, equals

3,231 truck encounters each weekday. 

That blows. 


Cameron 7.5 mi said:

The trucks are few enough and far enough between that they don't really bother me. Having to pass a couple of delivery trucks during my morning commute barely registers on my list of daily annoyances. As for the park district trucks, lawn mowers, and other landscaping trucks, that work really needs to be done during daylight. The disruption to morning commuters isn't a big enough problem to be worth investing in the sort of light systems it would take for grounds crews to work at night. In my Wilson to Loop commute I see maybe 3 service trucks on busy day, I don't see that few trucks as a major concern.

I ride every day from Addison to Monroe starting at about 7:30 a.m.  I have seen one truck this week. Last week I saw zero.  I don't remember the week before.  Nice math.  Unless other people are seeing the trucks I should be seeing, though, it does not work.  

Steven Vance said:

I wanna do a little math. You say you encounter 3 trucks (each weekday, I presume, as you said commute) from Wilson to the Loop. Let's say you exit LFT at Monroe. This is 6.8 miles according to Google Maps, so 13.6 miles roundtrip. 

In a 2011 report on Lakefront Trail counts [PDF], Active Transportation Alliance noted that 1,435 cyclists were counted passing between Oak Street and North Avenue beach on a weekday between 6-9 AM. 

Let's assume that 3 trucks are seen every 13.6 miles (your round trip) and that half of the people who cycled past this count location in the morning make a trip that long. The other half, making a trip of 6.8 miles, see 1.5 trucks. 

718 x 3 trucks = 2,154 truck encounters each weekday, plus

718 x 1.5 trucks = 1,077 truck encounters each weekday, equals

3,231 truck encounters each weekday. 

That blows. 


Cameron 7.5 mi said:

The trucks are few enough and far enough between that they don't really bother me. Having to pass a couple of delivery trucks during my morning commute barely registers on my list of daily annoyances. As for the park district trucks, lawn mowers, and other landscaping trucks, that work really needs to be done during daylight. The disruption to morning commuters isn't a big enough problem to be worth investing in the sort of light systems it would take for grounds crews to work at night. In my Wilson to Loop commute I see maybe 3 service trucks on busy day, I don't see that few trucks as a major concern.

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