Monday, August 28, 2006
No Burley on the train!
Friday I took a little impromptu Caltrain ride. I went down the fancy-shmancy camera store on Cal Ave in PA and got hassles on the way there and back. Apparently you can't bring a stroller onto the train unless you can break it down and put it in the luggage compartment. I think technically it is possible to fold the Burley down, but I'm pretty sure it requires an engineering degree.
The conductors* said they'd let me slide since it wasn't during commuter hours (they obviously felt that they were being very generous). But to sum up: mommies can't ride to the station and bring their babies on the train and then ride somewhere else.
*To be technical, their badges now say " proof-of-payment enforcement office" or some such ridiculousness, since all they do now is occasionally check for tickets and harass bikers. (Don't get me started on the whole proof-of-payment bidness.)
The conductors* said they'd let me slide since it wasn't during commuter hours (they obviously felt that they were being very generous). But to sum up: mommies can't ride to the station and bring their babies on the train and then ride somewhere else.
*To be technical, their badges now say " proof-of-payment enforcement office" or some such ridiculousness, since all they do now is occasionally check for tickets and harass bikers. (Don't get me started on the whole proof-of-payment bidness.)
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
The great Jefferson barrier
It's just about unthinkable to ride a bike on Jefferson, and it's difficult to get across it except where there are traffic signals. This makes it extra-hard for me to get to Whole Foods, particularly since for some reason the road that runs parallel to Jefferson and runs behind WV is broken up. This forced me to go through the gauntlet of first-day-of-school traffic at McKinley/ North Star (that's another post for another day, or maybe later today).
Friday, August 11, 2006
The San Carlos Dead Zone
Wow, it's been a while since I posted. I didn't do much commute-riding during the big heat wave. But I'm back in the swing now.
Today I rode from the REI in San Carlos to downtown San Carlos. I guess I should have just taken Brittan to Laurel, but there's no bike lane there, so I went down Industrial (where there's a nice new bike lane) and got into the turn lane to Holly. If there's a cut-through under the train station for cyclists, I wish I'd known about it. Then I rode across El Camino and turned left (backtracking) onto Laurel without a bike lane or even good shoulder. Blech. Too many left turns, not enough bike lanes. Anyone know a good way to cross that region between El Camino and Industrial?
Today I rode from the REI in San Carlos to downtown San Carlos. I guess I should have just taken Brittan to Laurel, but there's no bike lane there, so I went down Industrial (where there's a nice new bike lane) and got into the turn lane to Holly. If there's a cut-through under the train station for cyclists, I wish I'd known about it. Then I rode across El Camino and turned left (backtracking) onto Laurel without a bike lane or even good shoulder. Blech. Too many left turns, not enough bike lanes. Anyone know a good way to cross that region between El Camino and Industrial?
