downtown bike path

[AquaMan]

I ventured off of my regular path Sunday (I'm pretty conservative about staying on the same path while running or biking) and headed north thru Maple Park, Tracey Park, Central Park and ended up at 4th street  near Peoria where I couldn't see any connection to go farther, but I know others have described going much farther north.

That is really a nice route btw. I took the bike around the pond at Central Park and was alone except for an optimistic fisherman. It could use some attention to trash pickup though.

Anyway, where does it pick up again?

[carltonplace]

Its not marked but if you run down 3rd you can reconnect with the river trail in Newblock park or head North down Frankfurt and connect to the Osage trail head at OSU/Langston (which goes all of the way to Skiatook).

I do wish it was marked...the end at 3rd seems so abrupt and its not clear which way to go.

[sgrizzle]

http://www.incog.org/transportation/trailguide/trailsmap.pdf

[AquaMan]

Thanks. Looks like you have to ride on street thru downtown till you reconnect going either north to Skiatook or west to SS.

Time to do a little exploring.

[SXSW]

Agree, I wish either 3rd or 4th had dedicated bike lanes from at least Denver (Houston on 3rd) to Madison that connected to the Midland Valley trail.  Bike lanes on 3rd west of Houston across the I-244 viaduct to Rosedale and connecting to the Newblock Park trail would be nice as well.  

I'm also a proponent of decreasing the width of Cincinnati and Detroit by one lane and having a one-way bike lane on each street through downtown.

[TheTed]

When riding on streets downtown, which do you guys prefer, slower/narrower or faster/wider streets?

I prefer to stick to the narrower, slower-traffic streets (3rd, 6th, Boston, Elgin, etc).

But this seems to make many motorists irate, especially on 3rd and parts of 6th, where there's only one lane in each direction. The presence of a bicycle apparently forces motorists to gesture/speed/cross yellow lines just to get to the next red light 1/2 second sooner than the bike.

I could ride on the wide one-ways, where there's plenty of room for everybody, but those streets aren't nearly as comfortable. They can feel like expressways in places downtown (especially at the edges, where people speed up to 40mph).

[carltonplace]

When riding on streets downtown, which do you guys prefer, slower/narrower or faster/wider streets?

I prefer to stick to the narrower, slower-traffic streets (3rd, 6th, Boston, Elgin, etc).

But this seems to make many motorists irate, especially on 3rd and parts of 6th, where there's only one lane in each direction. The presence of a bicycle apparently forces motorists to gesture/speed/cross yellow lines just to get to the next red light 1/2 second sooner than the bike.

I could ride on the wide one-ways, where there's plenty of room for everybody, but those streets aren't nearly as comfortable. They can feel like expressways in places downtown (especially at the edges, where people speed up to 40mph).

Just because of where I live in proximity to downtown I almost always take Boulder going North into DT and Cheyenne South to home. Neither one of these streets is particularly busy and the street lights at every intersection seems to keep traffic under control. 

[carltonplace]

http://www.incog.org/transportation/trailguide/trailsmap.pdf

According to the map one should take 4th west to Greenwood North, and either on to the Osage trail or to Archer west to Houston North, snake north to 3rd West to Sand Springs/Charles Page trail. The streets listed have painted bike lanes...the only problem is that once you leave the midland valley trail there is no marker to direct you to these dedicated city streets.

[AquaMan]

That's the way I see it too. I was ready to turn around anyway, but surprised me that it just left you hanging there.

Note: saw a house in the neighborhood just north of 6th that was just starting to be remodeled and is being touted as in the Pearl district. About 950 sq ft two bedroom, 1 bath with no garage. $70K before remodeling. Not the nicest house on the block and not particularly well located. That is a good sign really.

[TheTed]

According to the map one should take 4th west to Greenwood North, and either on to the Osage trail or to Archer west to Houston North, snake north to 3rd West to Sand Springs/Charles Page trail. The streets listed have painted bike lanes...the only problem is that once you leave the midland valley trail there is no marker to direct you to these dedicated city streets.

Maybe they used to have painted bike lanes. Most/all of those streets have some type of gutter that may or may not be a bike lane. There's not enough paint left to tell one way or the other.

On four-lane streets there's plenty of traffic capacity for cyclists to take the lane, plus then you miss the gutter junk and cars parked in the bike lane.

[Red Arrow]

The presence of a bicycle apparently forces motorists to gesture/speed/cross yellow lines just to get to the next red light 1/2 second sooner than the bike.

Getting ahead of a bicycle allows me the luxury of not worrying if the cyclist will fall in front of me. 

It's not always about (thinking you are) saving time. Just having to follow someone slow can be irritating.  Applies to Pokie-Okie car drivers too (but not the falling off the bicycle part).

[Conan71]

When riding on streets downtown, which do you guys prefer, slower/narrower or faster/wider streets?

I prefer to stick to the narrower, slower-traffic streets (3rd, 6th, Boston, Elgin, etc).

But this seems to make many motorists irate, especially on 3rd and parts of 6th, where there's only one lane in each direction. The presence of a bicycle apparently forces motorists to gesture/speed/cross yellow lines just to get to the next red light 1/2 second sooner than the bike.

I could ride on the wide one-ways, where there's plenty of room for everybody, but those streets aren't nearly as comfortable. They can feel like expressways in places downtown (especially at the edges, where people speed up to 40mph).

I never really thought about it.  I'll ride about anywhere I know I'm not intentionally impeding traffic.  Usually when I come through downtown it's up Cincinnati after coming in from Skiatook and Sperry after heading out there from the west.  Truth be known, I like Cincinnati much better than the trail from Skiatook even with all the hills and cars.

Cincy is kind of fun to time on a bike to hit all the greens, results in some interesting sprints

[rdj]

Riding down a desolate Boston Ave early on a Saturday morning is a fun experience.  Something about Tulsa's version of a Canyon of Heroes. 

[nathanm]

Riding down a desolate Boston Ave early on a Saturday morning is a fun experience.  Something about Tulsa's version of a Canyon of Heroes. 

[sauerkraut]

I'm not a cyclist,  I'm a runner and I find myself running the same darn RiverSide trail section all the time. I don't have time to find another trail and also find a place to park my heap. The Trail along Charles Page Blvd is pretty nice it surprised me, but there are street crossings, even at that it's not bad- the problem is there is no place to park to use that trail. The only place I found to park is at the SandSprings May Warehouse drug store where they allow 11 spaces in the east lot for trail users. I have noticed a trail around highway 75 (north bound) SW of downtown, the trail looks nice but I have no clue where it goes to or how long it is and where you can park to use it. The big problem I find is parking to use the trails in Tulsa.