Speeding along the road with wind whipping through my hair is one of the closest experiences I have ever had to flying. A bicycle is the only thing that can bring this experience to me.
Bringing a bike to Moscow is a good idea, and the two-wheeled invention is a favorite transportation method among University of Idaho students. However, there are a few things new city bikers should know.
First of all, downtown Moscow frowns upon bike-riding on the sidewalk. I know that I occasionally do so because it makes me feel safer, but in all honesty, Moscow is a pretty safe place to bike around. The people who follow the rules, written and unwritten, should have no problem zipping through traffic.
One of Moscow’s greatest bike areas is Paradise Path. The path runs from Pullman to Troy, all the way through Moscow. It is great to bike, walk, skate or board on, except in the areas where it needs to be resurfaced.
Claire Whitley
Like a regular road, Paradise Path gets worn out. Tree roots grow underneath and through the surface, and water can cause cracks and even sunken bits. So, it should be something that we, as a community, should work toward fixing up. We pay for roads to be fixed on a yearly basis, and Paradise Path is a road in its own right.
One of the worst spots along the path in Moscow is near West Park Elementary School, which is a portion of Paradise Path located between the Bruce Pitman Center and the Power Plant on UI’s campus. Roots have upturned several yards of the path, which makes a bike ride down it more than a little uncomfortable. With a little bit of work, Paradise Path could easily be one of the best bike paths in town.
It is also important for bikers to share the sidewalks and bike paths with pedestrians. On campus, it can be crazy with bikes flying past while walking up or down the quad. College bikers like to tempt fate and they often cut it very close in between groups of pedestrians. There are actual roads, rather than sidewalks that a biker can utilize to speed down that hill.
Line Street is a steep hill that leads straight down Sixth Street. It starts at the Idaho Commons, so there are quite a few yards of sidewalk to maneuver through, and with the IRIC building, construction may invade into Line Street a little bit. Anyone who bikes up Line Street will also get seriously ripped abs and legs. It is really tough, regardless of the gear a bike is in.
The point is that sidewalks aren’t the only places for bikers to ride around campus. It is also important for bikers to realize that pedestrians are a bit like herds of cats. They won’t move because they don’t think they have to, and they honestly don’t. It is up to the biker to accommodate the walker or runner or crawler, not the other way around.
At the end of the day, there is nothing quite like riding a bike through the cool Moscow pre-evening. So remember to not ruin that experience for anyone else. Abide by the rules and convince someone to repair Paradise Path, and you won’t ever need a car in Moscow.
Claire Whitley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Cewhitley24