On Fri, 27 Feb 2004, Donald Baxter / Iowa City, Iowa wrote:

> Having the experience of riding on such roads (high speed and narrow), and
> doing so for years in Atlanta and the state highways of Northern Georgia and
> Alabama and now Iowa, I can tell you that you would not be dead within a
> week.  Cycling with traffic is something that requires cultivation of trust.
> We cultivate trust as drivers that other drivers won't hit us--the same
> thing happens to cyclists. The feeling of insecurity with cycling under such
> conditions can cause a cyclist to do life threatening things just because of
> the fear.

Oh, I'm aware that cyclists and cars can mix pretty well.  But this road
is particularly treacherous.

There is no paved shoulder.  The shoulder is gravel, which is constantly
being pulled into the travel lane by trucks.  The lanes are narrow and the
pavement is breaking up badly, so drivers are all over the road as they
try to dodge the roughest patches.  Traffic is heavy and tends to back up
at a traffic light during rush hour, leading to drivers pulling out of
driveways quickly and with inadequate visibilty.  Two cement plants are
located along the road, so large cement trucks and semis (which *barely*
fit within the lane markings) are constantly travelling it.  The road is
posted at 45 mph, but the actual speed of traffic on it can be up to 60
mph depending on the time of day.

All in all, I'm surprised I haven't had an accident on it in my *car* yet,
much less on my bike.  I have had some close calls, mostly with people who
have been waved through gaps in the traffic and pulled out without being
able to see what's oncoming.

David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Volkswagen Diesel Westfalia
'86 Volvo 240DL wagon