Wednesday, April 25, 2007

First rate work, officer.

I was running a bit late tonight so I decided to take the train part way home, to save time. When I take the train home, I ride all the way to the Warehouse District station so I can get on first and don't have to squeeze my bike past the hoards of commuters that get on at Nicollet Station. I was riding down 9th Ave downtown in the bike lane, passing car after car after car. Traffic was ugly, but I was flying.

I came up to a parking ramp that spills out onto 9th. As usual, there was a Minneapolis cop there making sure everybody gets out in a civil fashion. I slowed down in the bike lane and waited for the cop to see me. Once he did, he waved me forward and said, "Go ahead." Then he followed it up with "Be careful. You're fuckin' crazy." I was riding in such a non-crazy manner, I can only assume he meant for biking downtown at all. I thanked him for his concern and pedaled on.

I hung a right onto Hennepin, home of the two-way bike lane. One of very few two lane bike lanes in Minneapolis, at least as far as I'm aware. Just wide enough to park a cruiser in.
cop parked in bike lane
Now, I realize there could have been an emergency inside and this was the best option for everybody's safety. But...

Date: April 25
Mileage: 11
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
April mileage: 265
Year to date mileage: 1174

6 comments:

KM said...

Is there a Dunkin Donuts in that block?

rigtenzin said...

True irony.

Smudgemo said...

I'd rather ride around the cruiser than get chased down by one.

Anonymous said...

Heh, I saw that actually. They *love* to park in the bike lanes on Hennepin Ave. SUCH a pain.

Frostbike said...

At least they were parked. Yesterday I took the same route and some asshole was actually driving in the bike lane, coming at me head on. I veered way over to the side to keep from getting squashed, and he actually waved at me as if to say "thanks"! I flipped him off, naturally.

Nathan said...

I can't think of a time I've gone down Hennepin there and not seen a cop car in the bike lanes. Maybe it's just the time of day I tend to be there.