[CMI-CM] winter biking

[Cope Cumpston]

Arun -- sorry to hear about your accident. I've developed a snow strategy in
the four winters I've been biking in this town, which  mostly consists of
figuring out where streets and sidewalks *are* plowed. The University is very
good at this (which may not help you depending on where you have to go).
Florida / Kirby sidewalks are usually plowed clean before the streets are, as
are sidewalks inside campus. When I'm in doubt I walk my bike. It's a pain.

Lack of plowing is more dangerous for pedestrians than for bikers, I think --
people have to walk in the streets (including school kids) -- and as we know,
those drivers out there are crazy. I've had a number of close calls in the last
week because drivers seem to be angry at *me* for crowding *them*.

Maybe IMC will take this on as a worthy story. I'd be up for a winter bikeride
to publicize it (during daylight hours, let's not be suicidal) -- but I doubt
this community will take anything like that seriously. It would be useful to
hear from city govt's what they consider their responsibility re: plowing.

anyway -- for what it's worth, it's a serious issue for the dozen or so of us
who *do* bike through the winter . . .

Cope Cumpston


Arun Bhalla wrote:

> Riding around town during the past week, I realize more than ever how
> needed Critical Mass is in this town, especially in the winter.   Last
> Wednesday I was biking from Urbana to downtown Champaign in the snow,
> and I was cursing the cities the whole way for doing a poor job in plowing.
> I've been lucky not to have fallen at all (yet!) this winter, and I'm
> afraid I've cursed myself.  Maybe I have.  On my way back from WEFT tonight,
> I was biking down Lincoln Ave. along the campus, and it didn't even look
> to have any pretense of being plowed.  Even with my lights on, this car
> plows into my right side.  Fortunately the driver had been stopped, and it
> was snowy, so she wasn't driving as fast as she could have been had it been
> better weather or not at a stop sign.  I don't really think I did anything
> wrong (except for not getting her info), but it seems like perhaps another
> case of drivers having to pay more attention to bicyclists, especially in
> bad weather.  I'm okay, but the bike is mostly okay... Bruce will have to
> replace a few gears and other parts to get it back in new condition.
>
> Arun
>
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--
Copenhaver Cumpston
 Art Director
University of Illinois Press
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