Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Bike Week Status Report

Dang! I feel a little bit guilty.

As I anticipated the upcoming Bike Week last Sunday, one of my hopes was, "I hope we have BAD inversion... but it doesn't matter because nobody's spewin' nasty emissions into the air."

Be careful what you wish for! Half of my wish appears to have come true.

Today is a yellow-alert air-quality day, and according to the DEQ website (click HERE to link), "The AQI may rise over 100 to the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (Orange) Category tomorrow." I believe the Air colors correspond roughly to the Terrorist colors... and orange is worse than yellow.

That was NOT one of the planned Boise Bike Week promotional events! Well, I may be breathin' it, but I'm not contributing to it. Some comfort.

Of course, I also hoped for a lessening of traffic. If that has happened, it's negligible... I've attached a couple this afternoon's traffic-cam photos. (All those people out there, voluntarily engaging in one of my least-enjoyed pastimes. It just makes me scratch my head in wonderment.)

5 comments:

db said...

I rode home tonight after 6, and could see that awful haze against the foothills. I'm surprised it's only at the "yellow" level.

Other than that, I had one of my best rides yet this year. Traffic had decreased enough by 6:15 or so that I could get across the trickiest parts of my commute without stopping at all. Even the light at Garrett and Chinden was brief!

Bikeboy said...

db... One of my preferred traditional routes has been Adams / Marigold / Garrett / Chinden / Joplin / Cloverdale. (Generally not as a commute, but as an exercise and pleasure ride... or "the scenic route.") Do you ride up Mitchell St.? Lately I've been occasionally crossing through the Garrett/Chinden intersection, then riding up that new Maple Grove extension to Mountain View and through that neighborhood, either getting out on Goddard or the Glenwood hill. (The road construction at Chinden/Cloverdale/Joplin, and at MapleGrove/McMillan has me scrambling for good detours. I recently "discovered" the Coffey Street ramp, too.)

Apertome said...

I take back what I said before about moving to Boise ;)

db said...

Yes, I do go up Mitchell. I used to go Garrett -> Chinden -> Joplin -> Cloverdale, but the construction has ended that for the time being.

I work in the business park across Cloverdale from HP, so I trudge up Mitchell, take the first right at the top of the hill (Skycliffe), and then wind my way through the neighborhood to Five Mile.

How do you ride from Adams to Marigold? The south-side Greenbelt?

I've not had a reason yet to ride up the Maple Grove extension, and I don't know where the Coffey Street ramp is - between Fairview and Chinden perhaps? What streets does it connect?

Apertome: Everyone has road construction, but Ada County officials seem to love it in excess...

Bikeboy said...

From Adams to Marigold... sometimes I use the south Greenbelt, other times I ride through the Fairgrounds using the main access road, or the bike path that runs parallel to Glenwood.

Coffey Street runs parallel to Glenwood and Garrett, in between. I know it has an intersection with Marigold. On the south side of Chinden, it goes up the hill and intersects with Mountain View, which is a "windy" residential street in that area. (It would be a bear to cross Chinden, I'm sure. I've approached it, the one time I rode it, after turning off Garrett onto Chinden.) It's a bit on the steep side - kinda like that short stretch of Joplin.