Mill City Explorer

On a recent commute home from work I was leisurely riding along the Hiawatha Light Rail line bike path. I hadn't traveled to work by bicycle in quite a while, and of course, the powers that be decided the record high for that day would be obliterated by 8 degrees Fahrenheit - a grand total of 97 degrees around rush hour. Regardless, I was enjoying a pretty peaceful ride until I approached the 26th Street crossing. For those of you familiar with the trail, it is probably the most dangerous crossing left on the entire route. As you can see below, cars have the ability to pull in between the striped bike crossing and the light controlled intersection with Highway 55.

Lets not forget the two LRT tracks crammed in there as well - trains in this section approach 55 miles per hour, one of the only locations on the line where this type of speed occurs. It's surprising that I have not witnessed more conflict at this intersection in the past. Today however, I was in for a bit of a show. A fairly aggressive cyclist had passed me not too long before approaching the intersection. I saw him begin to cross, when seemingly out of nowhere a car came screeching to a halt blaring its horn. The bicyclist calmly circled back around in front of the stopped car, where a woman had already bothered to jump out, screaming at the rider like a complete lunatic. The bicyclist pulled out his cell phone without saying a word, snapped a photo of the lunatic, and continued on his way (I'm hoping he's submitted the overreaction in photo to some bike blog by now). I rode through the chaos as it was happening, traffic had essentially stopped for this non-event. Gladly, no one was hurt, aside from maybe a couple of egos. It was however a reminder of how little control you sometimes have as a bicyclist - even when it seems you are doing everything right. Unfortunately, a more serious reminder occurred the following day in downtown. To drivers and bicyclists alike out there, please be alert! Also, to the lead-foots out there, slow down! The extra 30 seconds you are picking up isn't worth it - and you'll probably find yourself more relaxed if you just ease up on the accelerator a little...