RiverSide Jogging Trail

[charky]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

quote:Originally posted by charky

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

All depends on how far you go out the KATY.  There are approximately six or seven including Chas. Page near Newblock park if you run all the way to highway 97 in Sand Springs.  

Yeah...I should have qualified that. I've only run the entire out and back of the Katy once...when marathon training. I usually only go 3-5 miles west on the Katy...then turn back.

Busy street crossings don't bother me...just pay attention.

You may also be confusing folks by referring to crossing SW Boulevard. Its actually 11th street at that point. It becomes SW when it crosses the river and turns southward.

I love that stretch if it weren't for the south winds carrying the refinery smells. Very small town feel to it.

Huh. I was just using Google Earth to look at it. Over SW Blvd...then under 244 and the Red Fork...then a hard turn right to the rail road bridge.

Maybe it's mislabeled on Google Earth?

Regardless...nice...usually quiet...stretch of trail.

[Conan71]

It's a nice ride out the KATY to Hwy 97, then over the river and back in on Avery Drive through the refinery and back to 17th St.  You have to dodge a LOT of roadkill though on the turns west of the Chandler Park entrance...Ghack!

[nathanm]

quote:Originally posted by cynical

they're not always attentive to four wheeled vehicles, traffic lights, city buses, etc.  

Last time I was biking in that section..in the shoulder no less..I found the drivers quite attentive. To the point of kindly advising me at high volume to please "get the f*** out of the road."

I guess they wanted to make sure I could hear them as they sped past.

[sauerkraut]

quote:Originally posted by nathanm

quote:Originally posted by cynical

they're not always attentive to four wheeled vehicles, traffic lights, city buses, etc.  

Last time I was biking in that section..in the shoulder no less..I found the drivers quite attentive. To the point of kindly advising me at high volume to please "get the f*** out of the road."

I guess they wanted to make sure I could hear them as they sped past.

Runners have the same problems- I never run on streets anymore  I stick to the trails, it's nicer and safer. I did run on streets a long time ago when I did not feel like driving all the way to the jogging trails and I had beer cans thrown at me and all sorts of other stuff was thrown at my way, so I quit running on streets and run only on trails,- I'm not into cycling so I can't speak for them, but I believe bikes have the same legal right to the streets & roads as do cars, Runners do not.. I have not rode my bike in over 10 years it's been in storage. I'm hooked on running, the good thing about running is runners don't get flat tires. []

[charky]

quote:Originally posted by sauerkraut

quote:Originally posted by pfox

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

One wide trail hasn't necessarily improved pedestrian flow along the river.

Now, groups of walkers and joggers can fan out five or six wide, people can let their dogs out on a longer leash, and parents can ride abreast of their four kids on little bikes.

The path will eventually be marked, designating a lane for wheels and a lane for feet...but you are right, No one knows where to walk/ride right now.

The "New" section seems to be poorly designed IMO from what I seen, the trail splits into two trails then back into one wide trail then back into two and then back into a wide trail. Why not just build one wide trail and paint a yellow line down the center and be done with it?

I ran part of the new trail section today from the Pedestrian bridge north to SW Blvd and it's marked and painted now. Trail section closest to the river is designated for runners...trail section closer to Riverside Dr. is for cyclists (and it has a center median).

Nice touch of adding the dog water bowls to the bottom of the water fountains.

Sad to see the Rivers Edge closed down. []

[waterboy]

Really, Charky, its called the 11th street bridge because it connects to 11th street. If Google calls it SW Boulevard its because they don't live here. It doesn't become SW Boulevard till it hits the west side of the bridge.

The same confusion exists on the 21st street bridge which connects with 23rd street on the west side of the river.

Its not an accident that they are marked like this. The river curves slightly and both of those streets are not due east/west orientation.

[sauerkraut]

The jogging trails in Indianapolis have dog water bowls at bottom of the drinking fountains, at least the Monon trail does- I don't know about the other jogging trails in the area... I think dogs should stay in the dog parks, but that's just me. Too many careless dog owners and poop is left all over. Indy has a nice jogging trail system http://www.indygreenways.org/monon/monon.htm

[nathanm]

quote:Originally posted by sauerkraut

I think dogs should stay in the dog parks, but that's just me. Too many careless dog owners and poop is left all over.

Aside from the thankfully rare few who let their dog roam all over (on long leashes, as if that makes everything better) and harass other trail users, my only problem with dogs are the owners who leave their doggy's little presents lying on the trail (or in the grass nearby).

Every time I've been on the bridge to Jenks, there has been poop everywhere, except once.

[charky]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

Really, Charky, its called the 11th street bridge because it connects to 11th street. If Google calls it SW Boulevard its because they don't live here. It doesn't become SW Boulevard till it hits the west side of the bridge.

The same confusion exists on the 21st street bridge which connects with 23rd street on the west side of the river.

Its not an accident that they are marked like this. The river curves slightly and both of those streets are not due east/west orientation.

That's cool and I believe you. But the street sign does read SW Blvd. where you cross to pick up the trail.

[cynical]

quote:Originally posted by charky

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

Really, Charky, its called the 11th street bridge because it connects to 11th street. If Google calls it SW Boulevard its because they don't live here. It doesn't become SW Boulevard till it hits the west side of the bridge.

The same confusion exists on the 21st street bridge which connects with 23rd street on the west side of the river.

Its not an accident that they are marked like this. The river curves slightly and both of those streets are not due east/west orientation.

That's cool and I believe you. But the street sign does read SW Blvd. where you cross to pick up the trail.

If you drive downtown from the on 244/75 from the west and get off on the 7th Street exit, the first intersection you reach after the curve shows Heavytrafficway to the left, 7th Street straight ahead, and Southwest Blvd to the right.  So the bridge that we geezers call the 11th Street bridge is really Southwest Blvd.  Yes, I always called it the 11th Street bridge, but Southwest Blvd is the street that crosses the river on that bridge.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by cynical

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

Cyn, thanks for the head's up on on the trail tear out at CCN, I ride a road bike as well but have not ventured south of 71st for some time.  I was thinking about riding from the boathouse at Riverwest Festival Park out to NSU and back Saturday.  How long of a stretch do you need to divert onto Riverside near the casino?  Only thing I don't like about that is all the people flying along at 55 to 65 through the "s" turns between 81st & 91st.

The construction at the casino is mainly happening around the contractors' entrance at the south end of the property.  They have the trail closed a couple of dozen yards on either side of that entrance.  

At first, they blocked off the outer southbound lane of Riverside with orange barrels to allow bikes and runners to use that lane.  I guess it caused a problem, because they now have only blocked the shoulder.  I managed to snake through there yesterday, but there's not enough room for two bikes between the sign bases and the cut out pavement.  If you need to get through you can, but you have to get over a curb on the north end of the construction -- on the south end the curb doesn't exist so you can access the trail from the shoulder and vice-versa without having to stop unless you care about goathead thorns. Kevlar belted tires are a help.

Going back southbound I got on the shoulder at the existing north entrance to the casino parking lot (north of the smoke shop) and stayed there until I got past the construction.  I had to play in the traffic at the 81st Street intersection, but that was about it.  I don't ride against traffic so I stayed out of the shoulder going south.  You do see riders on Riverside from time to time, but as you say, the drivers are going fast and aren't always attentive to two-wheeled vehicles.  With cell phones being used for texting, they're not always attentive to four wheeled vehicles, traffic lights, city buses, etc.  

The only other way is to carry the bike across a couple of canyons left by the construction.  I don't recommend it, though I saw some cyclists doing that.  It's a good three or four foot dropoff.

I made the NSU route today.  Nice, long ride.  There was another bicyclist at the entrance to the casino at 81st, he suggested I could ride through the parking lot.  The "snow fences" were down at the construction entrance and people were going around the construction signs.  Worked like a charm, kept me out of traffic.  I suppose if one did it completely non-stop, it's about a four hour round trip.  I stopped a few times along the way each way.

[Enid]

There are a few street crossings on the Katy trail.  They are well marked, but if youre cycling they will slow you down.  Its a great trail to run for marathon training.  If you start at 41st and riverside and go to the end of the Katy its almost 10 miles.  Flat and fast and most of it is protected from the wind.

[waterboy]

quote:Originally posted by cynical

quote:Originally posted by charky

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

Really, Charky, its called the 11th street bridge because it connects to 11th street. If Google calls it SW Boulevard its because they don't live here. It doesn't become SW Boulevard till it hits the west side of the bridge.

The same confusion exists on the 21st street bridge which connects with 23rd street on the west side of the river.

Its not an accident that they are marked like this. The river curves slightly and both of those streets are not due east/west orientation.

That's cool and I believe you. But the street sign does read SW Blvd. where you cross to pick up the trail.

If you drive downtown from the on 244/75 from the west and get off on the 7th Street exit, the first intersection you reach after the curve shows Heavytrafficway to the left, 7th Street straight ahead, and Southwest Blvd to the right.  So the bridge that we geezers call the 11th Street bridge is really Southwest Blvd.  Yes, I always called it the 11th Street bridge, but Southwest Blvd is the street that crosses the river on that bridge.

When you take that exit, I think they mean it directs you towards SW Boulevard. If the signs say SW Boulevard on the bridge...they need to change it straightaway. I'm in no mood for more change in my street life.[] No one calls it the SW Boulevard bridge anyway.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to have dual bridge names, huh? Avery bridge would be a better name.

[charky]

quote:Originally posted by Enid

There are a few street crossings on the Katy trail.  They are well marked, but if youre cycling they will slow you down.  Its a great trail to run for marathon training.  If you start at 41st and riverside and go to the end of the Katy its almost 10 miles.  Flat and fast and most of it is protected from the wind.

Now that we've been talking about it...I've run it a couple of times over the past week. That first mile (from the Riverside/11th St. Bridge intersection) has several hills...but otherwise...it's a generally flat run. You run by an old police car graveyard as well.

[sauerkraut]

That Katy trail does sound real good, I need to check it out, I never been there. I'm just a runner, I don't do any cycling. Street crossings are always the pitts I don't like to stop for vehicle traffic it cuts into my time & throws off my pace. When I ran in the 5K race on the Heritage Trail in Hilliard, Ohio the trail has a few street crossings but cops were stopping the traffic so runners in the race could run without stopping. Back when I lived in Texas and ran the Fort Worth Trinity Trail in the early 1980's I ran 5 miles down and 5 miles back and then I rode my 10 speed bike a few miles to cool off, but I got away from cycling it got to be too much hassle hauling the bike along everytime I went running. I have not rode my bike in over 10 years it sits in storage.[B)]