Some Trail Hypocrisy

Once upon a time, there were a couple of recreational trails in Santa Fe -- the Arroyo Chamiso Trail and the River Trail. The first trail followed the arroyo from Sam's Club up to Siringo Road, and most of the same route was better served by Siringo Road. The River Trail, at the time, was a sidewalk through a park. It was much easier just to bicycle along Alameda.

I lobbied hard, well, maybe not hard, but I lobbied for more money to go to road improvements. There's a certain mindset both motorists and many bicyclists get into that bicycles belong on the trails not on the roads. It's not terribly prevalent in Santa Fe, but it still exists. As part of the on-road subcommittee of the Bicycle Trails Advisory Committee, I helped push through some sharrow placement, red-light trigger symbols, and some additional striping, (though striping is controversial in the eyes of some road purists such as John Forester). The roads in Santa Fe have actually come a long way in accommodating cyclists, and I'm proud of my own, very tiny, part in the process.

Recently, I served on the Citizen Advisory Group for the Metropolitan Planning Organisation's "Bicycle Master Plan." Mostly I just said, "wow, that looks great Tim," because Tim Rogers has an astounding knowledge of the trails and roads in the Santa Fe area. I normally pick a route, and I ride it for years. I don't often look for easier ways to get places. Tim has an amazing passion and capacity for seeking out little connections between trails and roads. Most of the Bicycle Master Plan concerns itself with making these connections official trails, though the on-street facilities are not neglected.

However, I have to admit that over the years between the two committees, I have found myself on the trails more often. My haughty, Effective Cyclist, anti-trail stance has eroded a little.

Here's what's happened. The trails, which were once ignorable recreational facilities, have begun to stretch themselves all over the city. First of all, the rail trail, which was once a terrible mud bog after it rained, was paved, so from the Arroyo Chamiso trail near our house, we can now bicycle all the way down to the railyard park near the center of Santa Fe. (It also passes by both of Second Street Brewery's locations). The River Trail, once a small section of sidewalk through a park where you would have to dodge people doing Tai Chi, now follows the river all the way to Frenchy's Field near our house. They are about to complete one underpass, and once they do that, I can get down to the feed store for chicken food and be on a trail about 75% of the way. Doing so means avoiding two, heavily traveled two-lane roads with insufficient shoulders, (in places).

I am most surprised by my affection for one section of trail that is nearing completion that runs from Zia Road paralleling St. Francis Drive before arching up to the intersection of Galisteo and St. Michael's Drive. Tim likes to point out that they could have saved a great deal of money if they just ran the trail to the bottom of Galisteo St. As it is, the trail dumps out onto the sidewalk at the intersection, which is a shitty design. Who has the right of way in that situation? It's one of those places where, officially, you should become a pedestrian. I, however, scan for turning traffic in all directions, bike halfway across the crosswalk, and then try to position myself to cross the intersection with the traffic. On the way back down this trail, I'm biking against traffic, which is fine except that it crosses another intersection, and I have to look out for turning traffic that might not be looking for a vehicle coming from the wrong direction. There is a reason bicycles are supposed to behave like a vehicle. I can't quite bring myself to dismount my bicycle and walk it across the crosswalk, though when a trail dumps out at an intersection and crosses with the crosswalk, that's the official, safe thing to do. Once again -- it's a bad design. Mid-block crossings are much better for bike trails.

What the trail does for me, however, is get me out of a morning rush hour flow of traffic that is heading directly into the sun. Here in the piñon/juniper country, there are no tall trees to block the sun, and it literally shines straight down the street in the morning. Add to that all the people who only take the time to scrape a small circle of frost off their windows and the people who are dealing with their children who are late for school and are answering texts and spilling coffee in their laps -- well, let's just say I don't mind being off on a trail, in spite of its design flaws.

This year, the city should complete an underpass that will connect this little stretch of trail to the Rail Trail. It will go under St. Francis, a major eight lane road cutting north-south across Santa Fe. Once that's done, I'll be able to avoid all the sun-blinded, taking-my-children-to-school traffic. Currently my road choices crossing St. Francis involve Zia, (Capshaw Middle School), Siringo, (Santa Fe High School and St. Michael's High School), or Alta Vista, (E.J. Martinez Elementary). I'll be quite pleased to avoid all those crazed parents speeding along at 45 mph in a 25 mph zone, not to mention my daughter will be able to bicycle to middle school next year, (if we hit the lottery for our transfer request), without getting on a major road.

The trail in the photo at the top of the blog is a strange little bastard section of trail that parallels Camino Lejo. There's really no compelling reason to take it over the road, but I often do. It's nice to listen to the birds back in there on my way up to work, and occasionally I see coyote crossing the trail, and there have been bears sighted near the trail, though I have yet to see one there.

And finally, I'm excited that they're planning a section of trail that will allow hikers and bicyclists to get all the way up to the ski basin without getting on to Hyde Park Road.

So, I've become a bit of a hypocrite given my clamor for better road conditions and the degree to which I enjoy the quiet and relative solitude of the trail. I have to admit that I'm pleased to live in such a small artistic community that places enough value on trail systems to spend money on them in the current economic climate.

(And I would encourage everyone here in town to vote for the bond in March to continue expanding our bikeways).