A cold Caldera is waiting for me in the fridge as I relax on the couch. I opted out of going to watch the game at a bar and instead have it on the radio—pretty representive of the support of my alma mater—I know what’s going on, don’t have to watch the ads or look at other fans.
What a Saturday! The morning started with a truly urban/suburban adventure. Andrew of Velo Coffee wanted to take an exploratory ride to Earth Fare to see if coffee delivery would be feasible. Around 8:30, Andrew, Andy, Quint and I headed east to the land of big-box stores and no bicycle lanes. Co-op Zac provided sag and photography throughout the ride, as well as take notes of dangerous intersections and stretches.
On the first leg, we took McCallie Ave through the Brainerd tunnels—which have “Bicycle in Tunnel” buttons and lights on each end. It’s the safest of the three (?) tunnels that cut through Missionary Ridge. Since we had an early start on a Saturday, traffic was relatively light. Chaotic, but light. The hills on Brainerd under and around the I-75 exit were somewhat treacherous, but we survived.
Ten miles, 40 minutes and two Wal-Marts later, we assessed the route from the Earth Fare parking lot and headed for Shallowford Road from Gunbarrel. Andy suggested we cut through by Academy Sports, which saved us from hitting the major intersection at Shallowford and Gunbarrel. We crossed over I-75 and barreled down Shallowford, which crosses Hwy. 153 and turns into Wilcox Boulevard.
The second leg had much less traffic. We still had some killed climbs and somewhat rough pavement in places, but the ride was calm and quick. My water bottle flew out of my cage upon hitting a bump, but fast-acting Andy scooped it up. After a big climb to the tunnel, we encountered a few unaware (stupid? Asshole??) drivers, and throughout the tunnel, which is downhill from our direction, I felt like a car was trying to overtake me.
While East Brainerd/Brainerd had heavier traffic, it seemed like drivers weren’t as surprised to see us. Well, they were suprirsed all right, but not as much as the drivers in and around the Wilcox Blvd. tunnel. After being spit out around Dodds and my former high school, we rode down Holtzclaw and decided to wheel over to Blue Plate for breakfast.
The ride was about 22.8 miles and took us around 1:40. Another long, task-oriented ride that felt great with GREAT friends. It was so strange to be out among the consumer capitol of Chattanooga on bicycles—we were definitely unique in that regard.
Have you taken a long suburban ride in areas where drivers don’t expect to see cyclists? How were you received on the road?
2 comments:
Que bueno, Loo. I like your purpose driven cycling! Last fall I biked 25 miles round trip to go to the doctor in East Knox County, but that ride was tranquil compared to the 5 lane traffic I battle in Argentina.
Just discovered your blog - enjoy the snow photos but I'm guessing it makes riding difficult when you're not ready for it. Your suburban ride sounds like it was quite the challenge! Did you feel like cars didn't even see you or were they surprised enough that they left you room to ride? I had to ride through a big box store area in the city last night and while there is a bike lane it is poorly maintained and too narrow - I was glad to be riding post rush-hour in the winter with less traffic.
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