Talk:ChampaignCountyBikes

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Here's the long version of the way I started going across campus, and how I talked my way through it.

I lived on Oregon, east of campus....

Oregon W. to Busey.

Busey South to Pennsylvania.

FOUR WAY STOP at Pennsylvania. Don't be afraid! Take your turn. Get out in the lane so they see you and know you're going straight.

Ride to the END ;-) Turn Right.

(There is a bike path. It veers right quickly, and about the fifth time it was obstructed or utterly debris strewn I just stopped bothering. It will also take you West for a while. Big however: when it ends suddenly, you'll be on the left side of the end ofa road,... and you need to turn right. No, it's not safe or effective; that's why I stopped using it. )

Turn LEFT at Gregory. Ride to the end. Or, keep going and turn LEFT at Armory. (We know how much fun left hand turns are.)

Ride to the end. Turn LEFT.

Turn RIGHT at STadium Drive - you will see it going under the railroad tracks. If there is a train going by, you can say "a train rode over me!" when you get to work!

CROSS Neil Street.

  TWO OPTIONS:  Go straight when it's green.  Take the first right turn.
   OR:   go right on Neil and go across and take the first left turn.  (If there's light traffic and you hate waiting for lights, this is legal and a little shorter.)  Then take the first right turn.

  Proceed down this one-way street until John street, which may still have a "bicycle crossing" sign.  Turn Left on John.  (It's a one-way street so you don't have to cross traffic to do so.)
  The next street is a one-way street; stop at the sign and then proceed when safe.

  SPRINT to Prospect Avenue.  This is the worst intersection, but basically, sometime within a minute (which only seem slike a long time in traffic), there will be a nice opening.  When the light is green on Prospect going North (the light you can see), it is *not* green going south (coming at you), so this is usually when it happens. (I sometimes have to **not** look at cars trying to be nice and "let me across" - because there are four lanes of traffic and the other three might not be clear.)

      Then SPRINT (just for fun, gotta do those intervals!) up that little hill to Westview School; stop at the 4-way stop and say howdy to the crossing guard, and then REALLY SPRINT (unless there are cars & kids) and get that bike up past 25 mph on the down hill. (THis is the most fun on the 45 pound Schwinn coaster brake bike.) 
    The light is Mattis... go straight through. Waft around and dodge the high school traffic; I usually go all the way to Country Fair unless something makes me want to turn earlier at Crescent (but then I have to take a left at the top of the hill). 
   Country Fair goes through to Springfield;  Go straight (usually if I coast slowly, the queue can get around me before I hit the other side, which is kinda narrow).  This is a "take the lane" situation sometimes. Dodge the debris on the right, and get around the dumpster.  Cars are generally NICE, honest.  Busses will be turning around that bend (near the TV station); I make sure it's really obvious what *I'm* doing.  

After that 100 yards things get nicer. The crosswalks have a long cycle - unless the walk thingy doesn't go on at all. The blinking "don't walk" goes for at least 15 times, and then it's solid for another 15 full seconds, for both lights. (I usually make the first one but not the second.)

   Get over those RailRoad tracks (it's pretty perpendicular), and CHARGE towards the stop light.  I generally grab the left side of the "right or straight" lane, because there is no straight, except for me because I go straight across and, unless it's recently snowed or there's traffic there, I  take the sidewalk for that block and a half to the college.  I'm turning right at the college anyway.  If I time it right I get to the driveway right before the right turn in between the light cycles, and turn right. 
   If I'm feeling brazen I take my lane and take the left; otherwise I go forward and don't take a left until later, and wind around the parking lots.  It's pretty much the same all around.  I end up in the C parking lot at the bike rack which of course would be a whole lot nicer if it were sheltered.